Let's see, a breathtaking annual balance of trade deficit, the ongoing disaster of the subprime mortgage mess (Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Lehman Bros., now rumblings about Merrill Lynch), the looming personal credit crunch (all those run up credit cards turned into "debt consolidation loans" so everyone could run up their cards some more) ...The last couple of decades, as America's relative wealth in the world has diminished, they've maintained something like their accustomed standard of living by means of borrowing.
What's a President to do?
Tell Americans they must do without cheap consumer goods from Asia, no more flat screen LCD tvs cheap from China, that they'll gear up their own industries behind tariff walls a la Smoot Hawley? A tough sell, especially as it was a disaster last time.
Stretched thin by Iraq and their outposts worldwide, they're following the time-honored pattern of building an empire economically, and losing it militarily. The 21st century has already seen the US have to abandon the two war policy (being prepared to fight two major wars at the same time) ...
What's a President to do?
Tell Americans they must reintroduce the draft and accept a larger role for the "military-industrial complex"? Can you say "political suicide"?
No, I figure America's on the downside and sliding fast.
What's a President to do?
Not much to improve things, I'd say.
That said, I'm rooting for Obama. I figure he'll be even funnier than Jimmy Carter, lottsa yucks.
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