I think we've just turned a corner. The U.S. has finally passed substantial financial reform and I think that will spur you guys and Europe (including the EU) to doing the same instead of piecemealing it to pieces.
Once financial reform is under the belt and investors, banks and financial institutions feel safe with it, lending will open up a bit which in turn will get businesses spending and expanding with some of the trillions they have stashed away. The final piece of the jigsaw is to get the consumers to spend. Right now consumers both here and in the EU are being frugal -- for the first time in fifty years -- and are reluctant to spend. Once the pursestrings are open and money is flowing the economy of what we call the developed world can begin to stand ground against the likes of China, India, Brazil and Russia. None of the BRIC (with the exception of Russia because they can't break the stranglehold criminal gangs have on their nation) got hurt very badly in the crash and recession and right now are on top because they hold a lot of the global debt. But once the rest of us gear back up we can show them what for. China of late has been getting a bit overbearing with it's demands in spite of its own reluctance to let the Rinminbi float a bit freer. My best guess is that by the end of Obama's term in office we'll be wheeling and dealing again. I hope it's visible enough before the 2011 campaigning to get him re-elected to office. I know, I know. There are a lot who don't like that idea. But if you give the man his due, he's gotten a hell of a lot done in the first year and three-quarters. He set up a plan and date to get us out of Iraq. He set a date to begin to get us out of Afghanistan and put a man in charge of the mess who might possibly have a chance of getting a reasonable job done. He got a major health-care bill passed which finally places us among the ranks of the developed nations who have one. He got a major financial reform bill passed which has already started stabilizing the marketplace and making risk attractive again. He has begun to deal with the immigration problem and is pressing forward with a plan to get us off of foreign oil in the next decade or less. And he has also started to look noticeably tired and his hair is grayer than it was 18 months ago. On Jul 20, 5:19 am, archytas <[email protected]> wrote: > I have a feeling the Peter Principle was written in the late 50's > Gruff. I always objected to it because it suggested people were > promoted because they were ever good at something. I favour > cooperatives and think we should restrict pay and other earnings to > individuals, but I'm not happy with centralised government squandering > the capital produced. It breaks my back these days using hand tools > to dig my vegetable garden. This produces about a quarter of our > food. Technology has brought massive productivity rises, meaning we > should have more leisure and so on. I don't want some Indonesian guy > breaking his back on my behalf. I think economics should start in such > considerations.
