A lot becomes clear when one realizes that even a Moderator on this site is in paranoid crisis mode and has forgotten how to analyze rationally. The idea that the US is in a DEPRESSION is ridiculous. However, I do note that the US invaded Iraq when most of the world knew it was both a bad idea and morally bankrupt. The US also elected George W. Bush twice. This is what scares all of us about the US, your nation is dominated by media drumming up crisis and bad news, and an eroding education system that is obviously underpinning the slow collapse of an economic empire. The solutions to the US problems ( and they ARE mostly US problems, not World problems as so many Americans falsely believe ) are quite obvious. This current aging baby boomer generation has to stop their greed and self righteousness and pay their own freight. That means higher taxes, particularily for the rich ( individuals and corporations ). And your government has to stop spending money on useless projects like Wars that are unnecessary. You have an economy that funnels the economic efforts of the majority to your richest 1%. So it should come as no surprise that when the bailouts occurred that a good portion of the money went straight to the pockets of the 1% ( eg CEOs and executives of major corporations, including the failed ones ). Stop blaming Obama, its the system you all believe in, where the "survival of the fittest" is in play, but the "fittest" bend the rules to rig the game these days.
"even a Moderator..." you do know that Mods have to deal with a lot of garbage and periodically snap due to job stress. That's why we get a new Mod once in a while. you do make a really good point about US.
The Canadian economy is doing well, moderate but real job growth, and no housing crisis at all. We benefit somewhat from growing emerging markets ( this isn't going to stop for years ). Our historically high taxes have moderated somewhat. The one potential thorn in our future is the US economy. I think we all know that with success that people can get narcissistic and stop listening to other people. This may be for short periods of time or much longer. I feel that as a country the US has taken on this persona, we can all see it if we take a detached point of view. We are all hoping that Americans can change their country for the better. With George W. Bush at the helm, there was no hope at all, hopefully he's the end of an era that won't be revisited.
Yes, America has been unfortunately lately. We had that terrible president Bush.. then elected 10 TIMES WORSE DICKHEAD ODUMBO.. who offered us "hope and change" to correct the bad things Bush did.. unfortunately it was all a scam. History will show Odumbo among America's worst presidents ever.... though it's hard to imagine anyone who can "out-bad" Woodrow Wilson.
I am very sorry to report that the current leadership of the USA is foul and incompetent. Inertia is a hard nut to crack, and US is running toward Rome status. All you got is hope, as there is no sign yet that the lights have been turned back on in DC. Outside of Wall st. and the financial sector, the US is very capable of taking care of business. Unfortunately, those two entities (gov.t lackeys and financial sector tyrants) just mentioned are a great millstone around the country's neck. Stop blaming the average hardworking American. The core problem is corrupt, banana republic national leadership.
An intelligent analysis. The more government tries to pretend they can fix this, the worse it will get. Our US government debt is a minor problem that can be easily resolved, but that's not our biggest problem. When the economy finally turns around, a lot of it is going to correct itself as long as we don't start a few more wars and do more tax cuts. I'm much more worried about the overleveraged banks. If they put the wrong bet down on Portugal, Spain, Greece, etc. and the bailouts stop, the whole banking system could collapse. Then what--another government bailout? Give more free money to the banks at zero% interest? If AIG, GS, BAC and C were put into receivership in 2008, as they should have been because they were insolvent, we'd be on our way to a real recovery. This is just delaying, hoping the problems will magically disappear.
The world is a competitive place. The US is productive, not everyone personally, but as a whole. If it is not competitiveness, then it is entrenchment. If we really crashed the economy to save it, it would be like tripping in a marathon. There are plenty of other runners happy to step on us to get ahead. I don't buy an 18 months turn around from collapsing Rome to hayday America by a purge.