This is one of the main differences between the US in the 1930’s and the US in the 21st century. During the 1930’s the US was a self-sufficient nation. It was self-sufficient in manufacturing with large trade balances with the rest of the world. It was self-sufficient in energy. During World War II the US supplied all of its allies with fuel and was the largest exporter of oil in the world. The US was also self-sufficient in capital. It was the world’s largest creditor nation. Today we find ourselves at the opposite end of the spectrum. We are no longer self-sufficient in manufacturing. Much of our manufacturing base has headed overseas. We now import many essential goods from raw materials such as lumber to finished goods. We are no longer a creditor nation, but have become the world’s largest debtor nation sucking in 80 percent of the world’s available savings. We now need to import $1.5 to $2 billion of capital a day to keep our economy running. In the area of energy we must import nearly 60 percent of all our energy needs."
What does this say? We what?
Frightening...
....."if World War Two were to come again there wouldn't be enough domestic textile capacity to put all the boys in uniform"....so says my father-in-law who retired after almost 40 years in the Carolina's textile industry....and BTW anybody who's ever seen what happens to a small town when the mill closes down knows how devastating it is in human terms.....and in a larger sense what is the long term strategic outlook for a country when it's citizens no longer know how to weave cloth, or how to make steel, or how to build ships or how to grow food?....
Good luck to everybody!
Stonewalls
It may just be time to change everyone in Washington, D.C. and our State capitols so we can get America back together again. The Tea Party is coming closer everyday.