Posted on 05/16/2010 10:47:23 AM PDT by blam
The West Is Facing A Debt Crisis And It's Now Or Never For The American Empire
Gregory White
May. 16, 2010, 12:28 PM
Historian Niall Ferguson spoke with the Big Think about where the world's future is heading, with the end of the American Empire very much in the cards.
Ferguson feels there is still a chance for Western dominance of the next age, if the U.S. can serious trim its budget deficit because it has a political advantage over China due to its pluralistic democracy.
Ferguson also spoke with the BBC late last week on how the same issues of fiscal constraint are now being faced by the UK's new coalition government, saying he thinks the weak alliance with find it tough to push through difficult measures.
From the Big Think, where plenty more from Ferguson is also available:
[snip]
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
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What American “Empire”?
Europeans have their silk panties in a twist about the idea of “American empire” because we have military bases all over the place.
So I say give them what they want. Withdraw all US troops from Europe, Korea, Japan, etc. Let these clowns fend for themselves.
Anyone who uses the term American Empire has lost me. Not reading this piece because it’s probably stupid.
The only paths out of the current world economic situation are a long, grinding recession (10 years or so) or a shorter but devastating depression. The world will attempt the first and may experience both before eventual recovery.
Following next will be the decline of China due to an aging population. Then America will ascend again as we boomers die off. Self-correction by demography is immutable.
The one King Lincoln started....
there will be NO AMERICAN RECOVERY AND ASCENSION until after the american people admit to the errors of socialism. In other words, americans must embrace conservatism and capitalism once again. The momentum is currently in the opposite direction. If we can’t get american minds to stop that momentum and turn it around, there will be no more america as we know it.
I am not optimistic. Yes, republicans are likely to win big this coming election. but that has little meaning so long as republicans are rinos.
I think the ‘now’ choice was bypassed when Bush got his Prescription Drug program through Congress. Tough choices could have been made then, but we choose to take the other road. O is only putting the accelerator to the floor.
We never had an “Empire”.
Should have been done a while ago. We can't be the nanny of the world.
Too expensive and Europe has enjoyed their social spending because we have been subsidizing their safety.
Our debt is going asymptote.
Your CLARITY is very good.
More like an un-Empire. Or a preemptive anti-Empire. Saddam started throwing his weight around, we blew him out of his jockstrap. Welcome to the bigs, butt-boy!
Same with Pineapple-face, the Huks, Greek and Turkish Communists, and the Norks. The Iranians and Chinese still have theirs coming. And Putin, if he starts that Imperial Russian crap again.
The ones that got away were the North Vietnamese politburo. Wish we could have saved the Southerners -- but then most of the good ones got their act together and found a boat. Nothing wrong with that. At least we killed a million or so Vietnamese Communist cadres. That's why Singapore, Thailand, and Malaysia are free countries and the Straits of Malacca are open.
However, Bernanke's been blasting down the (now informally-kept) M3 aggregate which he'd run up previously, so stay tuned.
Those guys are gonna make me poor with their gyrating.
Be careful, we had that attitude back in the 30s, didn’t work out too well in the end. A penny of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
Any one who believes that debt is a good thing is a fool.
Exactly! Where is it?
[. . .we have military bases all over the place.]
The U.S. has protected Europe for 65 years against Russia. This, and feeding off the American economic engine, has allowed Europeans to experiment with socialism, “green” economies, and suicidal immigration and “human rights” policies. The continued economic meltdown will force worldwide austerity. That will likely include a U.S. military drawdown. A solution for NATO would be to turn every citizen 18 and older into an armed reservist.
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