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Politics : Stockman Scott's Political Debate Porch -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jim Willie CB who wrote (35263)	1/16/2004 8:06:31 AM
From: T L Comiskey	Respond to of 89467

10 years...so whats up with this....? Does he actually walk after 3...? How much of his 'Hard Earned Money'...does he get to keep......? T meanwhile... investorshub.com

To: Jim Willie CB who wrote (35263)	1/16/2004 10:37:16 AM
From: laura_bush	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 89467

Our Mad Magazine Economy "What, We Worry? Yes. By William H. Gross Tuesday, January 13, 2004; Page A17 The United States is overextended, not just militarily but economically. We are trying to do too much, borrow too much, spend too much, and sooner or later we will have to suffer the consequences. We are a country in the beginning stages of what can best be described as hegemonic decay. Empires take decades if not centuries to wither, a process more clearly viewed through a rearview mirror; Edward Gibbon's masterful account of the decline and fall of the Roman Empire is perhaps the greatest example of this truth. But here and now, we're much less inclined to Gibbon's viewpoint than we are to Alfred E. Newman's. "What, we worry?" is pretty much the national motto when it comes to our finance-based economy and its future prospects. Let me approach this predicament from a more personal angle -- by comparing a large nation to a typical U.S. family. Pretend that you're a head or co-head of a household. You earn a good salary, but it never seems to be enough. There are bills to pay, the Joneses to keep up with, and you've had your eye on that goofy Hummer for at least a few months now. You'd like to save money, but you can't or you won't, so you don't. As a matter of fact, each year for the past decade or so you've had to borrow 4, 5, 6 percent of your annual income to pay for what you want. You're running a personal deficit. But that's still okay, you figure. You're strong, vibrant, prospects are good, and there's no way you shouldn't be able to handle it. You can grow your way out of current liabilities and have more than enough to pay for future obligations such as college for the kids, that faraway retirement for you and your spouse, and health care, if that should ever come up. And your creditors undoubtedly will see it the same way. They know a good risk when they see one. But then something happens. Your company's prospects sour, your pay raises virtually vanish, your health deteriorates, your family life sours -- who knows? With no savings and a boatload of debt, the wheels all go into reverse. Creditors are not so friendly. Not only will they not lend you that 6 percent of your salary every year but they want a higher interest rate on what you've already borrowed. The United States is strikingly similar to the Alfred E. Newmans just described. It's strong and vibrant, with a future seemingly as bright as that of any country on the planet. Productivity is soaring, markets are recovering, its salary (or gross domestic product) shows decent increases almost every year. It goes wherever it wants to go, it Humvees symbolic of global military domination. Where's the decay in this hegemony?" ... "Are the Newmans worrying yet? Not if they bought stocks six months ago. Not if they refinanced their home in early June or bought that Hummer with zero-percent financing. But they will. Full article: washingtonpost.com