What's Going Right With the Economy

Economic Change in the Air

The national economic model we have all lived with off and on for the last 50 years is unsustainable. The federal government cannot continue to cut taxes, deficit spend, borrow from its people and from foreigners, encourage excessive consumption, discourage saving, and pay for it all with inflation. The chickens are coming home to roost and we will all feel the pain. If we are lucky we may just rotate slowly into a more sustainable economic model; if our luck has run out, we will eventually experience an economic depression that will leave us globally weaker and poorer, both collectively and individually. The current pain may only be a small burp or it could signal something much more serious. Only time will tell, but eventually we will get the big one if we don't mend our ways.

Lee of WI @ May 09, 2008 11:08:22 AM

What's Going Right With the Economy

What a preposterous lead-in statement. You are an idiot!

Dave of @ May 09, 2008 11:04:44 AM

half empty or half full?

So this is one of those proverbial "the glass isn't half empty, it's half full" stories? Well, when that glass is sitting on my kitchen table with milk in it, its HALF EMPTY. When the 3 little mouths want their milk, IT'S HALF EMPTY, it's ALWAYS HALF EMPTY. The JUG is always HALF EMPTY in the fridge. The $3.80 gas in the tank is always HALF EMPTY. When I reach for the carton of eggs in the fridge it is always HALF EMPTY. I'll let you know when I need a new TV or car, but, meanwhile, my savings account is HALF EMPTY!

Truck of VA @ May 09, 2008 03:32:29 AM

No one likes to have to change their behavior, so any large scale change in relative prices will make people unhappy. Fortunately, food and energy have consumed a smaller portion of a typical family budget for some time, so the current run up will not necessarily be catastrophic for most folks. Unless the Fed overreacts to the downturn and floods the economy with large increases in the money supply, I expect overall price changes to remain moderate and the increases in energy and food prices to stop. We will get used to what the new prices are and change our lifestyle to match it. And then we will complain about the next "change" to our way of life, whatever that turns out to be.

Vince of IL @ May 09, 2008 00:08:22 AM

When we see documented prices going down year after year for a hospital day or a college credit hour, I will "maybe" start buying into the notion that America has promise to overcome the inflation now seen in food and energy.

This notion that there are other maningful offsets in the CPI is pretty much a manipulated load of baloney. Grace, the poster above, seems to "get it".

Daniel David of NM @ May 08, 2008 14:49:57 PM