"The fact is, our economy is a lot more complicated than it used to be."
Or, our economy is actually just not the top of the heap anymore, and probably never will be unless Asia suddenly slides off and sinks into the Pacific. If it weren't for anomalously successful companies like Apple or Wal-Mart, multi-nationals will eventual write-down the US market as dying and move everything overseas. If KFC can make more money in China than here, we're not really going to recover and be their #1 market again, unless we just open the immigration floodgates (even then, that adds 100 million TOTAL Mexicans, which is a drop in the bucket in comparison). GM sells more cars in China than in the US. You think that's ever going to "pivot" back to us, no matter if we build infrastructure or let it crumble?
It's simpler than you think. Multi-nationals will continue to benefit from the stable political structure and docile and manipulable populace, executives from said companies will continue to live here with its favorable individual tax and seasonal climate (not everyone can stomach the heat in Singapore no matter how tax advantageous it may be) and liquid assets can be increasingly secreted away in wherever pleases them (Caymans, Switzerland, etc.). The only thing that actually changed is that their money makes the world flat.
This is the end of the empire, whether by brute force (Chinese market and labor force) or by increasing political and military irrelevance. We used to own all the money and guns. Now everyone's got guns and everyone's getting money. Now we're just 300 million people pointing fingers at each other.
It's not complicated; there just isn't going to be any solution that we want to hear.
The U.S. may no longer dominate but with 300 million people and tremendous resources we're not heading to the bottom of the heap either. Our standard of living is going to move back closer in line with the rest of the world, which is fine.
I'll accept 1 American moving from upper middle class to lower middle class if it lifts 3 people out of poverty in the third world.
In some ways, this makes me long-view bullish as an entrepreneur. Imagine the opportunities to serve a global market that lives at first world standards.
Or, our economy is actually just not the top of the heap anymore, and probably never will be unless Asia suddenly slides off and sinks into the Pacific. If it weren't for anomalously successful companies like Apple or Wal-Mart, multi-nationals will eventual write-down the US market as dying and move everything overseas. If KFC can make more money in China than here, we're not really going to recover and be their #1 market again, unless we just open the immigration floodgates (even then, that adds 100 million TOTAL Mexicans, which is a drop in the bucket in comparison). GM sells more cars in China than in the US. You think that's ever going to "pivot" back to us, no matter if we build infrastructure or let it crumble?
It's simpler than you think. Multi-nationals will continue to benefit from the stable political structure and docile and manipulable populace, executives from said companies will continue to live here with its favorable individual tax and seasonal climate (not everyone can stomach the heat in Singapore no matter how tax advantageous it may be) and liquid assets can be increasingly secreted away in wherever pleases them (Caymans, Switzerland, etc.). The only thing that actually changed is that their money makes the world flat.
This is the end of the empire, whether by brute force (Chinese market and labor force) or by increasing political and military irrelevance. We used to own all the money and guns. Now everyone's got guns and everyone's getting money. Now we're just 300 million people pointing fingers at each other.
It's not complicated; there just isn't going to be any solution that we want to hear.