GOOD Sheet: It's the Economy, Stupid!, GOOD, October 16-22, 2008
I won't pretend to be smart enough to decipher all the meaning. I do think it's interesting, though, how things begin to change for us structurally in the 1970s and then take off in the 1980s. I think there was a small-world global economy (West) until the 70s, and then it began changing with OPEC, etc, and then we saw the great expansion across the 1980s. I feel like our spending became almost a sort of implicit Marshall Plan for the post-Cold War world, sustaining a lot of development, but that now we've run into two structural realities: 1) the global economy is too big to rely on just the dollar as a reserve currency (we can't spend enough to provide more, plus there needs to be automatic balancers, like the Euro is becoming and like an Asian variant must become); and 2) there is a sizable non-US global economy emerging (although it's hardly decoupled from us, as the current crisis shows). Add those two together, and I think you see a profound evolution in the works. I believe we have reached the limits of our ability to dominate/sustain the global economy, meaning great power cooperation will be forced upon us whether we want it or not.
This is a theme of Great Powers.
| Permalink |
Comments (2)
As we have seen, the World's Economy is tied to ours. Not the other way around.
We are still the engine that drives the economies of the rest of the world, and barring a heavily Socialist government, will remain so for quite a while . .
Remember Tom, we buy the products the rest of the world makes and sells.
Posted by large | November 5, 2008 9:13 AM
The slogan of "there is no alternative-TINA" of a generation of "post"
ism; who is looking to stablish a capitalsm with more friendly face, without the imperial charactristics,racism,viollence and war,stablish-
ment of "liberal democracy", "post industrial". But a stablishment (regadless small or big global economy),when you observe,has no
fundemental difference in charactristic,but perhaps in only form & shape.The charactristics which Thomas Hamilton(very smart in sence
of class consiousness) said;All societies are divided in a majority and
a minority, minority group represents the rich & nobel class,and the
majority group the common people,it is said the voice of maj. is the
voice of god,this slogan that has been repeated many times is not true,the masses are very moody,revolters,and don't have a correct sence of dicision".A stablishment that 1% own at least %40-50 of the
wealth,in which classes and class war is ignored,and at best middle
class is recognized(middle of what?)and "WE"ism is the norm.
Posted by farhad | November 5, 2008 12:07 PM