21st Century United States

[Rockslinger]

As the Sun starts to set on the first 10 years of the 21st century, it is obvious that the first decade of the 21st century has not been kind to the United States of America. The main root causes are INCOMPETENCE and GREED. Here are some examples.

1) 9/11.
2) The "Tech Wreck" of 2002.
3) Columbia disaster in 2003.
4) Hurricane Katrina destroys New Orleans.
5) Enron.
6) The messy Iraqi war.
7) The messy Afghany war.
8) The financial meltdown of 2007-9. Virtually all U.S. banks are insolvent. Madoff goes to jail. GM and Chysler bankrupt.

The good news is that the U.S. is TOO BIG TO FAIL.

 

[Cycleguy007]

Wooo hoo!

Oh wait... I thought you said 21st Sextury! My bad... carry on.

http://21sextury.com/home/

 

[Rockslinger]

Yep. Just like the Roman Empire. Too big to fail.

Who will supplant the U.S. (maybe the PRC)? Or, will we descend into a century of chaos?

 

[Rockslinger]

I guess, unless you're being dominated by a superpower, you're in "chaos".

Was thinking of Rome when the "vandals" took over.

 

[james t kirk]

Canada needs an economically strong United States. Our system is dependent on trade with the US of A and so I wish them nothing but prosperity. The current recession is living proof to how tied our economy is to theirs. This recession was entirely caused by unregulated banking practices in the United States. It sunk them hard, and fast, and dragged us right along with them. (Hell, it dragged the rest of the world, save Britain where they were just as stupid as the Americans.)

There is no doubt in my mind that the Canadian way of doing things is superior to how they do things in the United States. We're in the middle, and the middle is always a good place to be and I truly believe that our government functions better than theirs, however, we ARE dependent on them and what scares me is just how fucked up they are right now (and have been since Clinton left office). (I'd give anything to have Bill Clinton back in office and so would 70% of the United States I'm sure. I wish the Dems had of picked Hillary over Obama truth be told. She was the better choice, buy they were taken in by Obama's gift for "good speech". (Sad but true. I'm starting to think that Obama is all show and no go. We'll see how he makes out on Health Care.))

Anyway, to the topic at hand, I firmly believe that the US of A has within itself the ability to get back on track, and to conquor its deficit. The problem is that the American people and their government lack the political will to do it. They've become too accustomed to the Free Lunch. They don't want to cut spending across the board, and they don't want to raise taxes. So in essence, they're going to be fucked and with them goes Canada.

The only thing Canada can do is to try and find other markets for our goods and services. A blind man can see that.

 

[y2kmark]

1) 9/11.
2) The "Tech Wreck" of 2002.
3) Columbia disaster in 2003.
4) Hurricane Katrina destroys New Orleans.
5) Enron.
6) The messy Iraqi war.
7) The messy Afghany war.
8) The financial meltdown of 2007-9. Virtually all U.S. banks are insolvent. Madoff goes to jail. GM and Chysler bankrupt.

The good news is that the U.S. is TOO BIG TO FAIL.

1) To Big? Might be a question of how you define failure really.
2) Read the poem "Ozymandius" by Percy Shelly, a lot of the above is a more or less direct result of being a little to full of ourselves.

 

[FOOTSNIFFER]

The only thing Canada can do is to try and find other markets for our goods and services. A blind man can see that.

You hit the nail on the head there...and I sincerely hope we get our heads out
of our collective asses in this country and do just that. Alot of the US's and our prosperity has been made possible only by the avalanche of savings of people from russia, germany, japan, the middle east and china and it's only a matter of time before this abates. Growth is overseas; brazil of all places have just had their credit rating raised to one notch below investment grade, with AAA imminent for gawd's sake. I really hope we wake up.

The US will recover, but if they don't soon get a real handle on their deficit, then they'll be royally screwed by 2020. Read the very detailed article on this financial armageddon scenario written by William Cline of the Petersen Institute if you want to get a fact-based picture of just how the debt train can derail the country in ten years time. He wrote the article with the help of staffers from the congressional budget office and the american enterprise institute, so the figures on which the report was written are quite credible, and scary.

 

[Aardvark154]

Who will supplant the U.S. (maybe the PRC)?

Although it is to paraphrase PM Trudeau like sleeping with an elephant, is there anyone nuts enough (oh wait I can think of one poster) who honestly believes that Canadian-Chinese relations would be as close or as generally amicable as the Canadian-U.S. relationship has been

 

[Aardvark154]

The US will recover, but if they don't soon get a real handle on their deficit, then they'll be royally screwed by 2020.

Do you suppose that President Obama and Speaker Pelosi are paying any attention? Are those who believe they are doing this delibrately acually correct?

 

[WoodPeckr]

Do you suppose that President Obama and Speaker Pelosi are paying any attention? Are those who believe they are doing this delibrately acually correct?

Do you have a better solution to handle the massive clusterfu*k left them by your Imbecile-in-Chief Dubya???....

 

[Rockslinger]

brazil of all places have just had their credit rating raised to one notch below investment grade, with AAA imminent for gawd's sake. I really hope we wake up.

Brazil is an amazing turnaround story. I can remember when they had hyperinflation and their telephone system didn't work properly.

I can also remember when the U.K. was a basketcase (maybe they are again) but Thachter tamed the unions and they found North Sea oil.

 

[WoodPeckr]

It's more a result of all the good that comes not being dependent on offshore oil that helped both Brazil and the UK.

 

[onthebottom]

Clearly we're doomed

pop quiz, in what year will per capita gdp in Canada surpass per capita GDP in the US?

OTB

 

[Malibook]

Clearly we're doomed

pop quiz, in what year will per capita gdp in Canada surpass per capita GDP in the US?

OTB

The way the US is debasing the US peso, it could happen sooner than you think.

When will foreigners who are buying US debt for negligible returns and getting crushed on the exchange rates throw in the towel and say enough is enough?

In what year will the US national debt pass 100% of GDP?

In what year will unfunded liabilities in the US pass 500% of GDP?
Whoops, sorry, already around 700%.

How many hundreds of billions in toxic commercial real estate paper and residential ALt A and Option arm paper will have to be bailed out next year?

 

[james t kirk]

Clearly we're doomed

pop quiz, in what year will per capita gdp in Canada surpass per capita GDP in the US?

OTB

Eliminate the top 2% of wage earners in either country and it already does.

 

[onthebottom]

Eliminate the top 2% of wage earners in either country and it already does.

But why, 80% of millionaires in the US are first generation, 70% of billionaires..... clearly they are adding value.....

Anyone notice that the dollar went up with the Dubai news? What does that tell you?

OTB

 

[Malibook]

Anyone notice that the dollar went up with the Dubai news? What does that tell you?

That tell me that even the US peso does not go straight down.
How much did it go up?

That bounce was a tiny little blip on a big down trend.
It was not a major reversal and it was not even a significant rally.

The US peso has had some significant rallies and will have some more but this tiny little bounce is nothing more than routine daily fluctuations.

 

[onthebottom]

That tell me that even the US peso does not go straight down.
How much did it go up?

That bounce was a tiny little blip on a big down trend.
It was not a major reversal and it was not even a significant rally.

The US peso has had some significant rallies and will have some more but this tiny little bounce is nothing more than routine daily fluctuations.

We don't disagree on the direction of the USD, my point was that it's still seen as the safe haven currency.....

OTB

 

[WoodPeckr]

We don't disagree on the direction of the USD, my point was that it's still seen as the safe haven currency.....

OTB

Was a much better haven when Bubba was in charge!.....

Your boy Dubya really blew this BIGTIME as your DICK would mutter on occasion.....

 

[Rockslinger]

Speaking of reversal of fortune. I can remember when the Canadian dollar was called the "Northern Peso".