The Next Superpower

[the.crooked]

the weak dollar will increase tourism which brings in money.

 

Really the weak dollar isn't necessarily bad, foreign countries will buy more of our exports and while imports may go up it might cause Americans to buy more American goods...thus supporting the economy internally.

 

Poorer people might take a hit though bc they generally use more imported goods...

 

electronics and gas prices will rise as well as foreign travel and other such luxuries.

 

So there are pros and cons but I'm not too worried.

 

I heard a comment the other day that I thought was quite apt though.

 

 

While the shopping tourism that is sure to be aroused by the falling dollar is remarkable, it does have an interesting aspect about market equalization abroad.

 

If, we have all these goods made in other countries being imported here and sold for cheaper than at the place of production (as with European exporters to which most of the Shopping tourism is being attributed), then we will see a drop in a cost of the prices in the country of production, and a rise in the market there. Eventually equaling out what money would be brought in through this economic tourism bit.

 

 

and yeah the poor folk are gonna take the hit, they been takin the hit. always.

 

 

basically I think while eventually things may look up, we got a long way to fall before it starts an upswing. and that fall is enough to ruin this country.

[MAR]

personally i doubt it, plus there will be a new administration going into power in less then a year which could change things entirely.

 

The US directly effects the countries that have tied their money to the dollar so while prices of import may rise I expect it wont be as much as some would have you think. Also the power change in 2008 could cause an artificial rise in the value of the dollar, due to speculation, which may or may not be a good thing.

[the.crooked]

oh i def agree that will happen. inflation due to speculation of policy change, etc.

 

I just have very little faith in the future of this country. thats all.

[Poesia [ ] T]

Tourism dollars are drops in a huge bucket not even close to helping in any way. That is just a positive way to spin a real problem.

[angelofdeath]

all it would take is china to stop holding our debt, bye bye empire.

[ILOTSMYBRAIN]

word.

 

however if we collapse the rest of the world would feel it as well, which of course is not something at least at this point, the rest of the world wants to feel.

[~KRYLON2~]

i think the u.s. is on top of the game. where taking over the middle east slowly, but soon we will control the worlds largest oil supply.

[the.crooked]

i beg to differ.

 

 

we fucked.

[Dawood]

You would like to see a caliphate, like the Arab Empire? Like one Islamic nation extending from Morocco to Indonesia? Aren't those the same goals of al Qaeda?

 

The goals of Al qaeda aren't in my opinion all bad. it's just their means that are wrong.

[LIVERWURST*]

CANADA!

[thecoldmidwest]

the weak dollar will increase tourism which brings in money.

 

Really the weak dollar isn't necessarily bad, foreign countries will buy more of our exports and while imports may go up it might cause Americans to buy more American goods...thus supporting the economy internally.

 

Poorer people might take a hit though bc they generally use more imported goods...

 

electronics and gas prices will rise as well as foreign travel and other such luxuries.

 

So there are pros and cons but I'm not too worried.

 

My dad earns the same hourly wage now as he did 20 years ago doing the same job in the same place. A weeks groceries costed us $70 back then. Now it's $200+.

 

The problem in America is that the only people that get pay raises are executives. The middle class is disappearing.

[Theo Huxtable.]

The goals of Al qaeda aren't in my opinion all bad. it's just their means that are wrong.

 

alright... so, just ignoring their "means" and focusing on their goals -- you would really like to live under strict sharia law guided by wahhabist sunnis?

[Juan Fuentes]

the next superpower will be a system, not a country. a system where we all benefit and live in peace.

 

and no, it is not the new world order.

too bad for you(you as in whoever wants to be "you")

[Juan Fuentes]

The middle class is disappearing.

 

executives....

 

sitting in a office working for a corrupt corporation lying to people, trying to convince people to accept scams. what a sad end they earn.

 

 

i see them as materialistic beasts who consciously know what they do, but they maintain a double mentality to carry on with their own pathetic lives. they know what kind of evil they support.

 

"but i need the money :( ahhhhhh"

[WORDISM45]

over her e in Australia the middle class is alive and unvibrant as ever...

[the.crooked]

unvibrant. ha.

 

i didnt know you were in australia yums.

[WORDISM45]

sure am are you?

[the.crooked]

nope.

[smooth bruce]

The USA will remain the most powerful superpower unless something ridiculous happens.

 

Like being globally indebted to the tune of two trillion dollars? ha

 

America will never, in my humble opinion, be a third world country.

 

Your prison population and poverty levels skyrocket above pretty much all other first world countries... The US very well may drop to a second world country

 

China and India would have a lot of trouble becoming 1st world. Their populations are vast and their poverty and unemployment is high.

 

You don't need to be a first world nation to be a superpower

[smooth bruce]

3.the people have final say. in the past almost all, if not all, superpowers have been run by a sole person or group of people, remove them and you destroy the system.

 

personally i doubt it, plus there will be a new administration going into power in less then a year which could change things entirely.

 

LOL of the day.

 

You need to do some research into the history of your own country

[Theo Huxtable.]

those terms "1st world", "2nd world" and "3rd world" i think are outdated terms from the cold war era.

 

first world referred to democratic, free-market based nations. 2nd world were communist/socialist nations. third world were countries neither backed by the USA or the USSR. the term originally had nothing to do with their economic state. but since these countries usually were impovrished, "third world" later became synonymous with poverty-stricken nations.

 

i think the new pc term for 3rd world countries is "developing" countries. 1st world is now "industrialized" nations. and i don't know if they have a term for 2nd world nations, since there are only a few remnant communist nations, since most of those countries these days adapt more of a free-market economy, yet are still socialist (china, vietnam).

 

 

of course the US is going to have the highest prison population of all western/developed countries, because the US has the largest population of all developed nations.

 

also, the UK has a higher poverty percentage than the US

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/89/Percent_below_poverty_line.png

[MAR]

LOL of the day.

 

You need to do some research into the history of your own country

 

you seem rather uneducated when you make a statement and don't back it up.

[IOU]

There is always the possibility that the major corporations will come forward and admit that they actually run the game.

[MAR]

a neat little article.

 

http://www.financial-planning.com/pubs/fp/20070501014.html

[Theo Huxtable.]

what does everyone here think will be the major contributing factors (economically, militarily, culturally. socially, etc.) that would cause the US to slip below superpower status?

 

just curious to hear some opinions

[WORDISM45]

overextending their military, the classic cause of a declining superpower, and the massive debt that this causes eventually destroying the economy when the rest of the world hardens themselves up and start calling in the loans.

[Theo Huxtable.]

yeah i think having the military spread across the globe like they do is ridiculous. i've felt for a while that the US should take bases out of germany, italy, and japan, at least. they're not necessary anymore. the US would end up saving hundreds of billions of dollars, which could be put in to other expendetures (and/or reducing the deficit & national debt).

 

we were on the course of doing so during the clinton era but thanks to bush/9-11, that all got reversed

[thecoldmidwest]

I highly doubt that Clinton would have done anything. We can thank that asshole for NAFTA.

[IOU]

Definitely over extending our military. Don't forget about the cost of taking care of soldiers when they come back, which will most likely raise crime across the U.S as we always neglect those most in need. Our country doesn't produce anything anymore. The big companies made damn sure to maximize their profits while leaving a gaping hole in the middle class and gentrifying everything in the states and now abroad without ever having to reinvest in this country.

[freakeenyc]

lol. bangladesh./