Posted on 02/28/2005 11:54:16 PM PST by beyond the sea
The U.S. economy is headed toward crisis, and the political leadership of the country – if it can be called leadership – is preoccupied with nonexistent weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East.
The U.S. economy is failing. The afflictions are serious. They could be fatal even if diagnosed and treated. America is losing the purchasing power of its currency and its ability to create middle-class jobs. Story Continues Below
The dollar's sharp decline and projections of continuing trade and budgetary red ink are undermining the dollar's role as reserve currency. A number of central banks have announced that they will be diversifying their currency holdings and will not be buying dollars at the same rate as in the past. This will put more pressure on the dollar. At some point, the flight will begin. Instead of buying fewer dollars, central banks will sell dollars, hoping to get out before the dollar hits bottom.
Suddenly, the advantage of being the reserve currency becomes a nightmare, as the world's accumulations of dollars are brought to market. An enormous supply and weak demand mean a very low exchange rate for the once almighty U.S. dollar.
Overnight, those cheap goods in Wal-Mart, which are the no-think economist's facile justification for Wal-Mart's decimation of communities, small businesses and employment, shoot up in price.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsmax.com ...
America's Superpower Status Coming to an EndWell, doom-and-gloomer Paul Craig Roberts has it HALF right.
END Superpower status, ENTER HYPERpower status.
Heaven forfend you should find yourself on the minority side of an issue!
I don't understand your comment. You are saying that because this person seems to hate President Bush, he is therefore dishonest about his numbers? If you are not disproving his economic numbers and showing the dishonesty there, you must be making that assumption.
Is that a wise assumption to make? 
644$
Keep in mind thats HDTV. 32".... 644$
Does the shoe fit?
They either hold them just as they do now, as currency reserves. Or they spend them on real exports from the US. There are no other options.
If they want tons of export goods, it doesn't make much sense to worry about lots of imports or loss of US jobs. If they hold them, it doesn't make much sense to worry about loss of US purchasing power over our own imports.
If they all do the same thing at once, they get a vastly worse price. They sell dollars back into the US, when it is weak. Meaning we wipe out the overhang on relatively favorable terms. (The effective US money supply is also goosed, unless the Fed deliberately counteracts this).
There can indeed be economic dislocation costs from changing the direction of flows, from changing the detailed pattern of demand, helping this and hurting that industry or service. And there can be financial disruption. But none of these things are the cause of US prosperity and economic growth.
That is caused by real productivity of US workers and industry. Which is high, about the highest in the world, and increasing. The US economy continues to grow 3-4% per year like clockwork. Can we have a recession for a year due to dislocations, and slower growth for a couple years? Certainly. We had that when the stock market fell. But it didn't end the world, nor did the economy stay down for long.
Because, for the nth time, US prosperity is caused by US work, not by foreigners' currency speculations.
Those who bet against the continued vitality of the US economy are always wrong. As wrong as those who bet against the US military, proclaiming quagmires everywhere. They do not understand the underpinings of US successes. They imagine they are all some kind of trick, smoke, exceptional and temporary. They are nothing of the kind.
As far as I recall . . .
1] No nukes have been found in Iraq.
2] The "Bioweapon labs" -- they now admit that those were not such.
3] Re chemical weapons--what traces or shells have been found have been unearthed and dated back to the 1980w Iran-Iraq War. (see note below re Ricin).
Paul Craig Roberts is NOT wrong about no WMDs being in Iraq. What little tie there is to WMDs have to be taken within the following context: at the start of the war, we equiped the troops with anti-chemweapon gear. It was never used, and never found in any up-to-date useable fashion. No nukes, but I believe some Ricin was found in the Kurdish areas or near the Iranian border. For practical purposes, Paul Craig Roberts is correct.
Numbers are numbers. His hatred, if that is what it is, may come from his analysis of the effect of Mr. Bush's policies and actions, and as such is an honest assessment and reaction. The Partisan folks out here tend to assume hatred for the president first, leading to dishonesty in an effort to get rid of him.
And I can agree with one thing: partisanship clouds the judgment. But it works both ways.
Darn, I wish I could fit this into a tag. :o(
No problem-- it's an important issue.
Who rattled your cage?
Are all 52 cards in your deck the same one?
In that article, what real numbers does he submit to back his claim? Mostly it is generalities thinly disguised to bash Bush.
But I won't argue with you further, if you choose to believe what he predicts, then that's your business. For me, in this article, I see him as writing just another Anti-Iraq war, Anti-Bush piece as he has often done before, and not as a substantial numbers based article that backs his claim.
Point of clarification, WT.
Might it possible possible that Mr. Roberts thinks, as I do, that GWB is a likable, well intentioned dolt, but simply despairs of the fact that he was ever gifted with the presidency?
"Not found" does not mean "never existed."
Read Mr. Roberts' biography in post #162.
Are we to take your opinion above that of such a renowned writer and author like Paul Craig Roberts?
You should post your biography next to that of Paul Craig Roberts and let us decide which one of you has more "credence", as in the words of Howlin.
This sounds like another 1980's ronald reagan will kill us all rant.
Yep. It never fails. Throw a stick at a bunch of dogs. The one that yelps is the one that got hit. :)
Nope, you don't. "Honest about his economic numbers" doesn't mean making up numbers, it means distorting his interpretation of them for political purposes. I have NO reason to trust Roberts. I have plenty of reason to distrust him.
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