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Gold/Mining/Energy : Big Dog's Boom Boom Room -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Bearcatbob who wrote (156540)	9/6/2011 3:02:01 PM
From: Bearcatbob	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 206089

Ok - in addition to avoiding a recession - what can be done to restore solid long term growth to our economy? Let us treat this like a military operation where our side is going on the attack. The first thing to do would be to define our strengths and then develop a plan based on those strengths. For example, if your army did not have good horses you would not design the plan based on a cavalry bias. So - what are our economic strengths. Here are some: 1. Abundant farmland. 2. Abundant hydrocarbon energy resources. 3. Silicon Valley type innovation skills. 4. Abundant investment capital. 5. Large quantities of fresh water - not all in the right places. What are are weaknesses? Here are some: 1. An aging population. 2. A growing pool of unskilled workers with little hope of competing in information society. 3. A partisan political divide that brings paralysis to decision making. So if the above is accepted what can we do? Farming: A prosperous farm industry also brings a prosperous farm equipment industry. How can we grow more food stuffs? How about finding a way to get water from where it is in surplus to where it is not? For instance, where does all the spring runoff go from the Missouri River system. Could some be diverted to Texas and Oklahoma via viaducts as is done in California. Here in the Great Lakes area we have water water and more water. However, I would think the Missouri River in spring time has a huge surplus that could be captured and diverted to the south west. The via duct system would be a huge job creator. Domestic Hydrocarbon energy: We have gas gas and more gas. Would not Boone Pickens plan be a huge boost. It would require infrastructure spending and have a huge PAYBACK in terms of reduced foreign spending and create jobs and more jobs (as would Keystone). How do we use abundant gas for other than a depressed price of natty? Innovation/Investment Capital: I do not have much expertise in the Silicon Valley stuff - but it seems the great inventions of the world come from the US. Is this where patent reform comes in? Is this where capital gains tax rates come in? 4. An overly litigious society: How about some form of the English loser pays system? As for the disadvantages. This is where leadership comes into play - as it would for all of the above. In so many ways a Democrat president could be the most able to accomplish the above. It took Nixon to go to China - lacking a complete replacement of Congress - it will take a Democrat to go to the Environmental and Entitlement extremists. For instance - now that Obama knows that "shovel ready" was a fairy tale - I hope he also learned why. So - farming, hydrocarbons and innovation. To me our current mess is self inflicted. What does it take to break all of the log jams? Bob