This news suggests to me that, while the American experiment may not
have been closed out, the construction site has. We are not growing as
a nation. By growth, I mean economic and intellectual growth. We're like
a senior citizen entering his dotage. We're resting (comatose?) on
the laurels of our institutions and our infrastructure. When we were
fermented with change (throughout much of the 20th century), we got
strong. Although we value life and liberty, we have gone too far in our
pursuit of happiness. We need to get back to the work of maintaining a
nation. Indeed, metrication is a part of that, and lack of metrication
is symptomatic of our unwillingness to understand that we need a
national revival.
James Frysinger wrote:
I won't say that our incomplete metrication is entirely to blame, but
it certainly is not a helpful factor in our declining share of world
trade, the shrinking value of the dollar, and our being passed by the
UK in GDP per rata. Note this news article quoted on foxnews.com from
The Times (London). Hmmm, didn't the UK just recently finish all but a
few items on its to-do list for metrication?
It seems to me that our economy could benefit from the efficiencies of
working in just one system of measurement, namely the simpler one of
the two we now try to embrace.
With our shrinking participation in the world market we seem to be
working ourselves toward becoming and "island" nation and toward a
minor role in world economics.
Jim
Report: U.K. Set to Pass U.S. in Standard of Living
Saturday, January 05, 2008
Living standards in Britain are set to rise above those in America for
the first time since the 19th century, according to a report by the
respected Oxford Economics consultancy, the Times of London reported
on Sunday.
According to the Times of London report, the calculations suggest
that, measured by gross domestic product per capita, Britain can now
hold its head up high in the economic stakes after more than a century
of playing second fiddle to the Americans.
It says that GDP per head in Britain will be £23,500 this year,
compared with £23,250 in America, reflecting not only the strength of
the pound against the dollar but also the U.K. economy’s record run of
growth and rising incomes going back to the early 1990s.
In those days, according to Oxford Economics, Britain’s GDP per capita
was 34 percent below that in America, 33 percent less than in Germany
and 26 percent lower than in France. Now, not only have average
incomes crept above those in America but they are more than 8 percent
above France (£21,700) and Germany (£21,665).
“The past 15 years have seen a dramatic change in the UK’s economic
performance and its position in the world economy,” said Adrian
Cooper, managing director of Oxford Economics. “No longer are we the
‘sick man of Europe’. Indeed, our calculations suggest that UK living
standards are now a match for those of the US.”
--
Paul Trusten, R.Ph.
Acting Secretary
The Pharmacy Alliance
Midland TX 79707-2872 USA
+1(432)528-7724
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/ThePharmacyAlliance
