Things WILL NOT get better until the system implodes

[A HERETIC I AM]

59. I disagree.

This is a fairly young country and as far as I know, before the "Great Depression", economic depressions worldwide were commonplace but localized. That is to say that in the early days of the American economy when individual banks were free to print and offer their own script, localized depressions happened with regularity. If a bank in Denver or Cheyenne or Reno went bust (which happened with remarkable frequency compared to today), it primarily affected the depositors of that bank and those that did business with that bank, not the banks in Atlanta or Boston.

It was the advent of the large central bank that both precipitated the great depression and stemmed the frequency of them. Perhaps "precipitated" isn't the right word. I understand the causes and events that led to the GD were much more complex, but I trust you get my point.

The thing is, this country is the backbone of the world economy, agree or disagree, like it or not. And here's why (And I have said this before on DU several times);

The entire financial world knows that Americans, given the chance to do so, will get out of bed early in the morning, seven days a week if necessary, go to work and WILLINGLY PAY TAXES ON THEIR WAGES and they won't burn the capital building down every 2 or 4 or 6 years or riot in the streets every time there is an election. We have had reliable, peaceful exchanges of power between political parties for longer than almost every other democracy on the planet. That means something.

We have a reliable, incredibly liquid, deep and, despite other DU'ers thoughts and opinions to the contrary, WELL REGULATED financial system and a reliable and responsible legal system to back it up.

Those things are why the world clamors to buy US Treasury Securities. Because Americans can be relied upon to go to work and work harder than almost everyone else on the planet and make better goods while doing so and pay their taxes in a timely manner.

The flaw in the system is taxation. No doubt. Lower marginal rates, lower capital gains taxation and lower estate taxes mean wealth accumulates at the top very quickly - within a generation, as we have seen worldwide in your and my lifetime.

The next change does NOT have to come by a massive depression or crash. It could easily come by the people waking up from their slumber and putting people in political office that actually will do them some good.

How likely is that? Time will tell.

My personal opinion is that we will see WW III precipitated before a worldwide economic collapse. But the war will stop trade.

It will be the opposite of WW II.

But I still think the US will come out on top. Of course, that won't be much of a consolation when the earths population is reduced by 2 or 3 billion.

And BTW, Warpy, after seeing where you post after all these years and reading what I do read of you (not that I stalk you, far from it. Rather that you post where I do because we apparently have strikingly similar interests), I can tell that if we ever met, we would either hit it off famously or hate each other!

So....what's it gonna be? You flying to Florida so I can cook for you or do I have to get a load to New Mexico?