Ready to get angry?

[ilikefast]

The US is not really running as close to a capitalistic regime as people would imagine... is there no one on these boards from the Austrian economics school of thought? That said, I don't think rolling stone or WWTDD would do any worse on reporting true and unbiased economic news than mainstream media that's for sure.

[switters78]

Seems to me like capitalism would work a lot better in America if we didn't apply the same set of rules to the WHOLE DAMN COUNTRY! The US is big, and the people in Maine are a whole lot different than the people in Florida, who are a lot different than the people in Iowa, who are a lot different from the people in California, etc...This country would probably work a lot better if each state or maybe each region was a separate country...I don't see the benefit in calling such a large, diverse area ONE country, and trying to govern it with one national government when clearly you can't apply one set of ideals to such a vast, diverse set of cultures.

If everything was more localized, then the local regions would be forced to come up with their own economies in order to survive, and then maybe we'd start producing stuff again instead of just shipping all our labor offshore and having nothing in this country besides WalMarts selling Chinese products, and investment banks robbing us blind. We're the only world power that makes practically nothing in our country, and the US is also geographically one of the largest world powers (besides China, and they make crap!) so it makes me think, maybe we're getting too big to be efficient. I mean, imagine if Europe was all one country, expecting Italians, Norwegians and Germans to all operate under one set of ideals despite vastly different cultural philosophies...yikes!

[LTSmash]

Seems to me like capitalism would work a lot better in America if we didn't apply the same set of rules to the WHOLE DAMN COUNTRY! The US is big, and the people in Maine are a whole lot different than the people in Florida, who are a lot different than the people in Iowa, who are a lot different from the people in California, etc...This country would probably work a lot better if each state or maybe each region was a separate country...I don't see the benefit in calling such a large, diverse area ONE country, and trying to govern it with one national government when clearly you can't apply one set of ideals to such a vast, diverse set of cultures.

Thank God for Mayors, Governors, and State Reps.

We're the only world power that makes practically nothing in our country, and the US is also geographically one of the largest world powers (besides China, and they make crap!) so it makes me think, maybe we're getting too big to be efficient.

I'd say it may be a little extreme to imply that the US is becoming too big to be inefficient. If we produced nothing, then why are Fortune 500’s and Forbes 400 some of the most powerful and efficient companies and people in the world? There is also something like 17 of the 20 best universities in the world are in the US. The US may be behind in producing physical goods but it is miles ahead in producing ideas.

[blingbling]

capitalism works

which is why you guys have antitrust laws and 700 billion dollar bailouts.

[Matra et Alpine]

The US may be behind in producing physical goods but it is miles ahead in producing ideas.

How do you measure that ?
Patent's aren't ideal now but are there ....
and YES, US people and companies are #1 in the world rankings for patent applications. THough I do have to add I don't believe most of them to be "real" in any sense of invention ... and I say that as a patent holder which potentially falls into that category
BUT rank it per capita and the US was at #8 just ahead of Japan. (Latest figs I have aavailable are 2004 )

[jump15vc]

Would you mind laying out the scenario in which we could, would or should be so bold?

i was referring to chinas calls for a global currency and those saying that the worlds economy should be getting away from the dollar. i obviously realize that we cant do anything about the treasury bonds

[jump15vc]

which is why you guys have antitrust laws and 700 billion dollar bailouts.

antitrust laws are neccesary to stop monopolization. and i think that for the most part the bailout is nonsense

[Zytek_Fan]

antitrust laws are neccesary to stop monopolization. and i think that for the most part the bailout is nonsense

I'll tell you what's nonsense--that new carbon bill that was just passed.
It's going to make it tougher to recover from the recession by increasing costs for everything

[switters78]

Thank God for Mayors, Governors, and State Reps.

They're partially effective, but eventually, they're all answering to the same entity.

I'd say it may be a little extreme to imply that the US is becoming too big to be inefficient. If we produced nothing, then why are Fortune 500’s and Forbes 400 some of the most powerful and efficient companies and people in the world? There is also something like 17 of the 20 best universities in the world are in the US. The US may be behind in producing physical goods but it is miles ahead in producing ideas.

Because they outsource their labor to China so they don't have to pay Americans what they deserve in wages and healthcare...I can't remember the last time I bought something and it wasn't made in China. That's the problem. Too many businesses figured out that they could be more efficient and profitable if they outsource or manufacture overseas. When everything gets outsourced, the only Americans who see any benefit are CEOs and execs.

I can't argue with the fact that we have great universities, but too many grads have followed in the footsteps of the old practices that got us here to begin with, because there was more money to be made. What we really need are people to use their great ideas to revitalize our economy here on US soil.

[Zytek_Fan]

Yeah, this cap-and-trade sh*t will be the death of a lot of companies.

[ame=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Clean_Energy_and_Security_Act]American Clean Energy and Security Act - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame]

[jump15vc]

obama is a dunce the only credit i will give him is that he managed to dupe millions of people into voting for him. people thought bush was bad, obama is on his way to doing far more damage than W ever could

[LTSmash]

How do you measure that ?
Patent's aren't ideal now but are there ....

I wouldn't restrict the word 'ideas' strictly to patents. 'Ideas' could mean a multitude of things.

Because they outsource their labor to China so they don't have to pay Americans what they deserve in wages and healthcare...I can't remember the last time I bought something and it wasn't made in China. That's the problem. Too many businesses figured out that they could be more efficient and profitable if they outsource or manufacture overseas. When everything gets outsourced, the only Americans who see any benefit are CEOs and execs.

Not so much. Outsourcing takes away jobs American's don't want and gives them to poeple who are happy enough working the job at a lower wage. This obviously benfits the corporation and adds more money for higher pay, R&D, new jobs, etc. Try and view outsourcing as comparative advantage.

[blingbling]

obama is a dunce the only credit i will give him is that he managed to dupe millions of people into voting for him. people thought bush was bad, obama is on his way to doing far more damage than W ever could

Bush

It is a known fact that

fixed it for you man

I'd say it may be a little extreme to imply that the US is becoming too big to be inefficient. If we produced nothing, then why are Fortune 500’s and Forbes 400 some of the most powerful and efficient companies and people in the world?

too big to be inefficient.... what?

enron, worldcom, and GM all were fortune 500 companies. the most powerful and efficient com... oh wait nevermind.

[LTSmash]

too big to be inefficient.... what?

I mean't too big to be efficient. Little typing mistake, it happens.

enron, worldcom, and GM all were fortune 500 companies. the most powerful and efficient com... oh wait nevermind.

So there are a few bad eggs in the list. It doesn't ruin the credibily of the rest of those high profile companies.

Do all MLB players lose all credibily becuase of Mark and Bonds? No. I think the same applies.

[blingbling]

were mark and barry on the "steroids free" list? no i don't think so

were enron, worldcom, and GM on the "powerful and efficient" list? yes. yet are not very powerful nor efficient.

your MLB example is indirect. the S&P 500 is direct. so the same can not be applied.