"Ed Huntress" wrote in message
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"John R. Carroll" wrote in message
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"F. George McDuffee" wrote in message
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On Tue, 14 Oct 2008 05:32:50 -0700, "John R. Carroll"
wrote:
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Even with trillions of dollars at their disposal they
haven't been able to get the job done.
Talk about lacking a plan...........
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It all depends what "job" they were attempting to do.

I believe the term is "Crony Capitalism" isn't it?


JC

Yes! The source of America's strong economy for 50 years was an overpaid
and underworked middle class. g Given that our growth has been
stimulated mostly by individual consumption, there's a lot of truth in
that wisecrack.

An economy that relies heavily on consumer spending must insure that those
that consume have the funds to do so and from earnings, not borrowing.

Restoring it in a globalized economy, however, probably is impossible.

The point of attack, it seems to me, should be stimulating the middle
class part of the economy. I'm not above taxing the upper extremes, as a
pragmatic way to temper some of the division. But we have bigger
problems -- notably a lack of common ambition and goals (having
essentially accomplished most of what we set out to do after WWII) and a
combination of increased productivity and lackluster education that are
going to make it tough to get the middle class moving again.

The state of our current infrastructure is a blessing in disguise.
Adding the necessary plant, equipment and infrastructure to reduce the use
of fossil fuels in an intelligent manner is another such blessing.
All of the above requires a well educated ( at the basic level ) work force
and the jobs created are living wage jobs, not McFlippers.


Socially and economically, we look a lot like the UK did in the years
after WWI. That doesn't feel very good.

That's exactly correct and I've heard this explained at length. I just can't
remember who it was that was making the case!
LOL

JC