How can the U.S. economy sustain itself?

Question

With the constant mergers, high healthcare costs, rising inflation and gas prices, and outsourcing how can America avoid the pitfalls of another recession or even a depression? We are already showing some signs of a recession.

Answer 1

GOOD question! Well I guess the U.S economy is going to seriously be up sh*t creek if some serious action isn't taken. The main problem is GREED. Jobs are outsourced so major companies can keep more of a profit why pay an American $10 an hour for a job when someone in another country will do it for half as much? Gas prices are high and oil companies are laughing all the way to the bank while people have to cut back on spending money on other things,. Health care another issue well Pharmaceutical companies are laughing all the way to the bank as well. Its a shame that a country such as this one cant eve make health care affordable for EVERYONE. If you don't have insurance then you cant get treated. Inflation is happening because the economy is slowing down so people have to raise prices in order to keep up with profit. BOTTOM LINE IS IT ALL COMES DOWN TO MONEY!

Answer 2

Unfortunately, the American economy is fundamentally flawed and has been since the beginning of the 20th Century (although the problem has worsened over time with the decline of America's manufacturing base).

It is built on spending and debt. And it's all on paper, it's not even real! Even back in my parents' day, people owned their homes outright, bought everything with cash and saved money for a rainy day. They only bought what they needed, and if they wanted something special, they saved for it. No mortgages, no credit cards, no loans. And dare I say people were a lot happier with less, because they did not have those debts hanging over their heads.

Now the country is at war, and the President tells us to show our support by going shopping? What's wrong with this picture? PLENTY!

Encouraging people with already high debts to increase those debts is folly. The problem is, consumer spending is what powers the American economy. Not making or growing things and exporting them. Importing things and using them up, then importing some more and using those up.

What's worse, American businesses are not re-investing their profits. Most companies are using 100% of their profits to pay their shareholders and executives big bonuses. And one way to maximise their processes are staff layoffs; another way is job outsourcing.

Since the United States is a pretty much total capitalist society, there are very few controls on what private sector companies do.

The Great Depression was all about this "fake money" and that same lack of controls. The 1920s was a boom era, and people were lulled into a false sense of security. Like today, the government told people to spend, spend, spend - and to speculate on the stock market with whatever money they had left.

I know most of the people on here are children of baby boomers rather than children of Depression-era children. My parents grew up during the Depression in very different circumstances, but were poorer than any of you can imagine. Think middle class Americans with holes in their shoes because they couldn't afford a new pair, and worse, middle class Americans who could not even afford to feed their children. All because the banks they had their savings in went belly-up, their homes were worthless as collateral, the stock market they invested in crashed. And since employers were also broke or wanted to hang on to what they had, there was no way to make any money.

I notice that we've almost reached the $9 trillion cap Congress set on public debt, too. Will that result in a government shut-down, or will the Fed just print more "fake" money?

Answer 3

It can't.
George W. Bush's outrageous 'war' has put American taxpayers TRILLIONS of dollars in debt. Shortly after he leaves office, the U.S.A. will be mired in the worst economic depression in its history, making the events of October, 1929 look like a church picnic in the park.
You will see very little effort on the Republicans' part to try and win the 2008 elections. They'll WANT the Democrats in office so they can BLAME the Democrats for the upcoming financial disaster about to destroy America.
Don't believe me? Print this out and save it until late 2009; I predict things will go into an economic tailspin on or about October, 2009. -RKO- 05/12/07

Answer 4

Let the government (people) print their own money instead of going through a Jewish owned private bank (the Federal Reserve). The Federal Reserve has weakened the dollar 1000% since the Federal Reserve Act was passed in 1917.

Answer 5

Ask the big greedy corporations.

Answer 6

As long as we stay on the path of gross consumerism...yes.