I have a real concern about what we are passing on to the next generation, mostly arising from concerns about our internal divisions hindering our ability to compete internationally.
If the cold war with Russia was essentially a competition between two forms of government to determine which model could deliver a healthier, more economically successful society, by about 1990 it was clear that the US had won. A key Russian failure was the inability of a centrally planned economy to allocate resources as efficiently as a market-based economy. After WWII the US steadily built up international institutions that supported liberal democracies in general and supported US influence and goals in particular. The dollar became the reserve currency, trade agreements generally favored us, and NATO was viewed as the gold standard of military alliances. In 2000, the US had a budget surplus and a national debt of $5.6Trillion.. All in all, not too bad.
Now in 2020, the US is politically divided on many of those issues and there is no general consensus on how we move forward. Trump won his four years by complaining about how awful things were, that our alliances were unfair, our economy failing, and our trade deals worse. He introduced an authoritarian style that was very different than what had been the norm
I'm not interested in debating Trump. What I am interested in and pose as a topic of discussion is "Are we so divided that we can't compete?" Another way to pose the question is to bring up China. (Yes.I know, that's a third rail on this board, but let's see if we can discuss the issue without name calling).
China is a much more sophisticated, tougher competitor than Russia. It offers to the world a model of an economically successful authoritarian government. In just fifty years, China has moved from a 3rd world country to having the 1st or 2nd largest economy, and is the only large economy not currently in recession. Yes, there are repugnant aspects of Chinese society that we can debate later, but regardless, they offer the world an example of a growing market economy lead by an authoritarian government that is not stalled by internal deivisiions.. Most importantly, China is pursuing a consistent strategy that supports long term planning and commitments. The US is not.
Do you view this as a problem as I do. If so, how to we move toward a consensus that allows up to better compete?
If the cold war with Russia was essentially a competition between two forms of government to determine which model could deliver a healthier, more economically successful society, by about 1990 it was clear that the US had won. A key Russian failure was the inability of a centrally planned economy to allocate resources as efficiently as a market-based economy. After WWII the US steadily built up international institutions that supported liberal democracies in general and supported US influence and goals in particular. The dollar became the reserve currency, trade agreements generally favored us, and NATO was viewed as the gold standard of military alliances. In 2000, the US had a budget surplus and a national debt of $5.6Trillion.. All in all, not too bad.
Now in 2020, the US is politically divided on many of those issues and there is no general consensus on how we move forward. Trump won his four years by complaining about how awful things were, that our alliances were unfair, our economy failing, and our trade deals worse. He introduced an authoritarian style that was very different than what had been the norm
I'm not interested in debating Trump. What I am interested in and pose as a topic of discussion is "Are we so divided that we can't compete?" Another way to pose the question is to bring up China. (Yes.I know, that's a third rail on this board, but let's see if we can discuss the issue without name calling).
China is a much more sophisticated, tougher competitor than Russia. It offers to the world a model of an economically successful authoritarian government. In just fifty years, China has moved from a 3rd world country to having the 1st or 2nd largest economy, and is the only large economy not currently in recession. Yes, there are repugnant aspects of Chinese society that we can debate later, but regardless, they offer the world an example of a growing market economy lead by an authoritarian government that is not stalled by internal deivisiions.. Most importantly, China is pursuing a consistent strategy that supports long term planning and commitments. The US is not.
Do you view this as a problem as I do. If so, how to we move toward a consensus that allows up to better compete?
