Well, all I have to go on is history and so far, the US always comes back after looking into the abyss. Hopefully that trend continues, but it's certainly not guaranteed.
Always hazardous to claim "this time it's different"... but this time it REALLY IS. Doesn't seem that to you? As I see it, the BIG political "tipping points" in American history... Revolutionary War, Civil War, Women's Suffrage, and NOW... Please fill in the blanks if I've overlooked something important in my off-the-cuff recollection.
Good one! Sarcasm always appreciated. He's part of the "tipping point" all right... just not the way most are hoping for.
If the country goes the way of Obama, then the beginning of the end is surely here. If his radical spending (Bush's spending which was complained about is a drop in the bucket) pushes people to take action, then we could buy ourselves another 20 years or so before we face a similar "do or die" scenario.
Oh, do you not see anything wrong with the money that is being spent? And Obama wants to add free health care into the mix?? Where will this money come from? Oh, that's right.... it comes from future productivity.
He is fixing the economy which was in major disrepair and neglect for the past 6 years or so. Your political blinders, plus a hope that traders will "get theirs" keeps you from knowing this. Good luck shorting America this year.
The president doesn't have that much power. Thank God. Basically, government has a lot of power to make things a lot worse but little incentive and even less power to make things better. The political class loves crisis for the simple reason that people are much more willing to give up liberty and endure sacrifices when there's a crisis. This consolidates power in the hands of the political class. It's no different in America. The constitution used to get in the way of this power consolidation activity, but they've been slowly chipping away at it for decades.
Who said that I'm shorting anything dumbass? Also, you're talking about two seperate issues. I believe the market might do very well short to medium term, considering we are selling out our future to keep consumers speding right now. All of this borrowed money will be paid back somehow. Either it is paid back through higher taxes, or through inflation. There is no way around that. I'll be fine but I'm worried about the kind of future that my newborn has to look forward to. I will have to tell him that the taxes he pays are because people in previous generations wanted everything handed to them by a government that couldn't pay for it.