“WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. firms are experiencing the worst business conditions in 27 years as the year-long recession worsens, a survey showed on Monday. The U.S. economy tipped into recession in December 2007 and there are worries the downturn, triggered by the domestic housing market crash, could be the worst since World War Two.”
Well, Hey, I know how to fix that. First, let’s turn over ALL our manufacturing to China so we can have cheaper goods, then let’s borrow back most of the money we pay them for the stuff we don’t make any longer, so we can keep on buying more of it. Then, let’s print up about 10 trillion dollars to pay back the loans, finance a 7 year war, and bail out all our manufacturers who are going broke, and all our banks that are going broke because all our manufacturers had to let go all the employees who were paying off all those mortgages to all the banks.
Oh, wait. We’re already doing that? That’s why housing prices have crashed and why unemployed people can’t buy them at any price? Golll-eeee, who woulda thought?
The mess we were getting into was obvious before it happened but those who stuffed us all into it are untouched by it. They made vast fortunes doing it and our “leaders” who let it happen all fed at the same trough.
Two things would have prevented this. The first is tariffs. Putting tariffs on competitive foreign goods to make them cost the same as what our manufacturers produce, would have saved our manufacturing, our banks and our housing industry. This “One-world economy” stuff is a falsehood created for the profit of a few at the great expense of the rest of us.
The second is taxes. Greedy states jacked up the taxes so high on our manufacturers that they left the country by the thousands in order to continue to compete with the steady increase in cheaper foreign goods, that were flooding in because of our lack of tariffs.
Democracies cannot compete in manufacturing with Communist nations because Democracies don’t employ slave labor. The Communists do. Wealthy countries cannot compete in the price of goods with poor, “third world” nations because wages are much higher in the wealthy countries. This is why many companies farmed out the assembly of their products to poor countries, and from there it was only one more step to move the manufacturing processes themselves to the poor countries.
The fix for the world economy is simple and can be stated in one good, old-fashioned and much assaulted word: Protectionism! When all nations protected their own economies first, by putting tariffs in place, by reaching trade agreements with other nations limited to specific products instead of giving away blanket free trade like now, the world thrived.
The whole point of global free trade is that it will eventually result in most nations reaching economic equality, where average people pretty much everywhere all make about the same average wage, and there will no longer be rich nations and poor nations. Does anyone recognize Communism? What must happen before this pipe dream is seen for what it is?
There can never be equality between nations. How? Does anyone see the Saudis giving up their wealth, ever? Will Mexico stop being eternally corrupt? Will Russia stop trying to dominate the world? Will the Islamists stop trying to drag the entire world down to their abysmal level? NEVER! It can never happen. The One World Order isn’t a dream, it’s a nightmare.
As usual, our economic woes have been caused by our politicians, our inept government, which hopes to sell $2 trillion in Treasury bonds to China to finance the bailout in the false hope of jump-starting our economy. China’s own economy is tanking because everyone else’s is, and *so what if* we don’t sell those bonds? Half the bailout money has been handed out already in advance of the bond sale, and the rest will be too. So what if? $2 trillion won’t be covered by credit and the dollar will be devalued, inflated. The only thing propping it up now is unemployment, as strange as that sounds.
When people have no money to buy, prices come down to meet what they do have. So far, all those extra $billions aren’t in actual circulation but are in the form of debt to foreign nations, so we don’t yet have rampant inflation. We will, though, when makers of foreign goods start refusing to accept our dollars at the value we place on them at home.
Something interesting…. G. Bush, right before leaving office, imposed a 100 percent import duty on many products from the European Union. I guess he doesn’t like Roquefort cheese much as he loaded a 300% tariff on that. But the point is that he knew all along that we needed tariffs in place and refused to apply them simply to avoid problems and dickering overseas.
I think we’ll soon see tariffs and more and higher tariffs to level off our economy and I expect other nations to follow suit, if they don’t beat us to it. We’re in for another round of inflation, no doubt, but that’s what will put the world back on its feet.
I agree with Obie that things will get worse before they get better, and just when depends on his level of understanding of the nature of the problem.
Not a shred of disagreement on this one Mr Sheep. Globalisation is crap for the ordinary people of the richer nations. Wealth, like water, only flows downhill.
Remember that bit in Goodfellas when he is cleaning out the boot (sorry, trunk) of his car? That’s French cheese that is!
I have to agree with you both there, its complete shit. We will all be printing money soon to pay our depts. This term “jump start he economy” the more we use it, do you think it is less likely to work? The powers that be continue to use and so do the media as if telling the public that all it takes is a little exertion, my fear is that in trying to “jump start the economy” we are more likely to flood it and stall getting no where.
Outstanding essay! You’ve well explicated my own thoughts.
Of course, this administration is making a huge deal about the economic downturn for a reason: that of advancing their socialistic agenda.
My family never lived it up during the boom times. We had our belts fixed quite tightly as we saved for our retirement (no plans from our employers). And since Mr. AOW lost his job over a year ago in the earliest days of the crash, we’ve tightened our belts more, even resorting to skipping meals and utilizing Angel Food Ministries.
Our budget busters are twofold: (1) health insurance premiums through COBRA and (2) real estate taxes. And we don’t live in a McMansion, either! No, indeed. We live in a 1930 house without central air conditioning and with only a single bathroom. No additions to the house either. Yes, we do have a bit of land with the house, but the county will not let us subdivide and sell off that back portion without paying — GASP! — a $9000 fee just to have a preliminary hearing.
Well, enough whining from me. But you see the situation for this family. And that situation will only get worse. BHO cannot solve the problems of our nation and will only make those problems worse. Once the trap closes, people may wake up — too late.
3 out of 3, that’s not exactly Gallup poll results but I happily accept them.
And with thanks.