<p>Since this thread isn’t about politics but about money, I think it follows the rules. The country is in an economic turmoil, and China is expected to take over America as the worlds wealthiest nation. And many see America in a “decline” from being a superpower, which somehow reminds me of the Roman Empire. So lets say, you’re president; what are the things you’ll do to help this country build a more stable economy? Should we follow the books of the past, and take que from Reagan, and others? Or should we develop a more liberal way of going about this, and implement more Socialist policies like many European nations? </p>
<p>I foresee in the future another crisis, that may be bigger than this. The Student Loan Bubble, this will be a major problem, because private loans can’t be forgiven from bankruptcy unlike federal loans. And the fact that these loans are nearing a trillion.</p>
<p>Student loans are not a bubble. they are just not very scalable, in the sense that lots of people have lots of (relatively) small loans. some of them may go bad, but not all of them. there’s not much risk concentration. unless, of course, we create student-loan-backed-securities and Student Loan Default Swaps, and then use AIG to insure against any losses(kidding). </p>
<p>so what if China’s economy is the largest? they have a lot more people. it’s not a big deal. what you saw with the Dow today was not important. prices fall. valuations fall. people get scared. all of this talk about “economy” is meaningless. best thing the govt could do would be reducing wealth concentration. wealth is unbelievably entrenched right now.</p>
<p>I think the entire situation of this country is a lot more complicated than any one solution. What people fail to realize is that when push comes to shove, money runs this country, and whoever has the most of it controls policies. At the end of the day this always ends up being Wall Street and the major bankers. There is nothing wrong with this in principle, but we need proper oversight to allow the markets to prosper. The recent Dodd - Frank regulations bill will do nothing but hamper the economy… and unfortunately, none of the politicians have a clue how the system works either. My view is that if we want to see growth to power out of this **** storm, we need REAL government debt reform, targeted deregulation of certain financial processes, and the repeal of the health bill. I know I will draw a lot of flack for saying that, but I don’t think the general populace really understands what the current bill is doing to hamper business in this country. Corporations are sitting on record amounts of cash, but they’re not spending it here. They’re spending it overseas where they don’t have to deal with the bloated bureaucracies of the US. But at the end of the day, nothing will happen till the country is on the brink of financial collapse and people are rallying in the streets. Politicians don’t do what’s right, they do what will keep them in power.</p>
<p>Truth is no one can be on top for forever. America had a good run but due to ignorant people we have allowed ourselves to fall into an unfathomable amount of debt. The American dream has become people overspending to try and appear more affluent and banks have allowed people to do so by issuing absurd loans and recklessly giving credit. The only way to get the country back on track is to drastically increase exports. Thats how we got out of the great depression and that whats making china a power house now. But since there is no major war going on that were not involved in and since china manufactures products at a far lower cost were in a lot of trouble.</p>
<p>Cut everything, massively shrink the government and its functions. Bureaucracies here and govt programs are ruining us. Also cut foreign aid as we need the money here. Pull back the military, no more foreign wars, let others deal with the worlds problems.</p>
<p>As for China, they’re simply hitting a massive urbanization boom. Already SE asian countries are undercutting Chinas prices and their growth is leveling off. As they continue to modernize the average person gets much smarter. My dad does business in China a lot, he says the businessmen there that he works with hate the government. I doubt its long before that becomes the general consensus among the increasingly affluent population and something finally changes the system.</p>
<p>I think cutting back on military spending is the worse thing we can do at this point. We need to change Social Security, and make it for older people by raising the age. Because people are living longer, and make it for people with a lower income.</p>
<p>Only in charge of the US? Other than “worldwide revolution,” I’d say…</p>
<p>-Nationalize/break up large corporations
-Government control of industry
-Mobilize US workforce for a flood of labor, including massive construction projects (roads, rebuilding inner cities, rebuilding/reinforcing bridges)
-Coat large tracts of government land in the desert with solar panels, but wind turbines on desirable near-shore locations, mandate a transition to electric cars
-After the above is done, mobilize the bulk of industry to the goal of the exploration and colonization of space, creating a work and technology surplus</p>
<p>However, these measures would work best on the world as a whole, rather than just one country, since a socialist country still has to economically compete with surrounding nations, but a communist world is completely independent and self-sufficient.</p>
<p>And, you know, I don’t care which country is “on top” because I don’t think there should be countries.</p>
<ol>
<li>Lower taxes across the board.</li>
<li>End the ridiculous drug war</li>
<li>Reduce or cut completely all non-essential government functions, </li>
<li>Get the F out of the Libyan War, and dramatically reduce our involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq, cutting all things not directly related to the safety of our soldiers.</li>
<li>End all foreign aid</li>
<li>Get rid of our pointless military bases in places like Germany and Japan.</li>
<li>Lower the national minimum wage</li>
</ol>
<p>In general, just get the government out of everything. They’ve caused and/or exacerbated so many things in this recession, it is absolutely unbelievable that Obama and pals think we just need them to ‘solve our problems’.</p>
<ol>
<li>Take out tax loopholes, create more tax brackets, and (slightly) lowering the rates of those under $1 million dollars, while keeping those above at the 35% rate</li>
<li>Invest in infrastructure (maybe another WPA or somehting similar)</li>
<li>Cut down on unneccesary “defense” (i.e. defense contractors who help congressman get elected)</li>
<li>Increase eligibility of SS/Medicare (which I think is better than slashing benefits) by one year every twenty-five years. </li>
<li>A REAL Stimulus not watered down with wasted tax cuts</li>
<li>Legalize marijuana and put it under federal and state regulation</li>
</ol>
<p>I hope to be in Congress or the Governor’s office one day to solve these problems</p>