Hey U.S., welcome to the Third World!
It's been a quick slide from economic superpower to economic basket case.
Rosa Brooks
September 18, 2008
Dear United States, Welcome to the Third World!
It's not every day that a superpower makes a bid to transform itself into a Third World nation, and we here at the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund want to be among the first to welcome you to the community of states in desperate need of international economic assistance. As you spiral into a catastrophic financial meltdown, we are delighted to respond to your Treasury Department's request that we undertake a joint stability assessment of your financial sector. In these turbulent times, we can provide services ranging from subsidized loans to expert advisors willing to perform an emergency overhaul of your entire government.
As you know, some outside intervention in your economy is overdue. Last week -- even before Wall Street's latest collapse -- 13 former finance ministers convened at the University of Virginia and agreed that you must fix your "broken financial system." Australia's Peter Costello noted that lately you've been "exporting instability" in world markets, and Yashwant Sinha, former finance minister of India, concluded, "The time has come. The U.S. should accept some monitoring by the IMF."
We hope you won't feel embarrassed as we assess the stability of your economy and suggest needed changes. Remember, many other countries have been in your shoes. We've bailed out the economies of Argentina, Brazil, Indonesia and South Korea. But whether our work is in Sudan, Bangladesh or now the United States, our experts are committed to intervening in national economies with care and sensitivity.
We thus want to acknowledge the progress you have made in your evolution from economic superpower to economic basket case. Normally, such a process might take 100 years or more. With your oscillation between free-market extremism and nationalization of private companies, however, you have successfully achieved, in a few short years, many of the key hallmarks of Third World economies.
Your policies of irresponsible government deregulation in critical sectors allowed you to rapidly develop an energy crisis, a housing crisis, a credit crisis and a financial market crisis, all at once, and accompanied (and partly caused) by impressive levels of corruption and speculation. Meanwhile, those of your political leaders charged with oversight were either napping or in bed with corporate lobbyists.
Take John McCain, your Republican presidential nominee, whose senior staff includes half a dozen prominent former lobbyists. As he recently put it, "I was chairman of the [Senate] Commerce Committee that oversights every part of the economy." No question about it: Your leaders' failure to notice the damage done by irresponsible deregulation was indeed an oversight of epic proportions.
Now you are facing the consequences. Income inequality has increased, as the rich have gotten windfalls while the middle class has seen incomes stagnate. Fewer and fewer of your citizens have access to affordable housing, healthcare or security in retirement. Even life expectancy has dropped. And when your economic woes went from chronic to acute, you responded -- like so many Third World states have -- with an extensive program of nationalizing private companies and assets. Your mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are now state owned and controlled, and this week your reinsurance giant AIG was effectively nationalized, with the Federal Reserve Board seizing an 80% equity stake in the flailing company.
Some might deride this as socialism. But desperate times call for desperate measures.
Admittedly, your transition to Third World status is far from over, and it won't be painless. At first, for instance, you may find it hard to get used to the shantytowns that will replace the exurban sprawl of McMansions that helped fuel the real estate speculation bubble. But in time, such shantytowns will simply become part of the landscape. Similarly, as unemployment rates continue to rise, you will initially struggle to find a use for the expanding pool of angry, jobless young men. But you will gradually realize that you can recruit them to fight in a ceaseless round of armed conflicts, a solution that has been utilized by many other Third World states before you. Indeed, with your wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, you are off to an excellent start.
Perhaps this letter comes as a surprise to you, and you feel you're not fully ready to join the Third World. Don't let this feeling concern you. Though you may never have realized it, you've been preparing for this moment for years.
It's been a quick slide from economic superpower to economic basket case.
Rosa Brooks
September 18, 2008
Dear United States, Welcome to the Third World!
It's not every day that a superpower makes a bid to transform itself into a Third World nation, and we here at the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund want to be among the first to welcome you to the community of states in desperate need of international economic assistance. As you spiral into a catastrophic financial meltdown, we are delighted to respond to your Treasury Department's request that we undertake a joint stability assessment of your financial sector. In these turbulent times, we can provide services ranging from subsidized loans to expert advisors willing to perform an emergency overhaul of your entire government.
As you know, some outside intervention in your economy is overdue. Last week -- even before Wall Street's latest collapse -- 13 former finance ministers convened at the University of Virginia and agreed that you must fix your "broken financial system." Australia's Peter Costello noted that lately you've been "exporting instability" in world markets, and Yashwant Sinha, former finance minister of India, concluded, "The time has come. The U.S. should accept some monitoring by the IMF."
We hope you won't feel embarrassed as we assess the stability of your economy and suggest needed changes. Remember, many other countries have been in your shoes. We've bailed out the economies of Argentina, Brazil, Indonesia and South Korea. But whether our work is in Sudan, Bangladesh or now the United States, our experts are committed to intervening in national economies with care and sensitivity.
We thus want to acknowledge the progress you have made in your evolution from economic superpower to economic basket case. Normally, such a process might take 100 years or more. With your oscillation between free-market extremism and nationalization of private companies, however, you have successfully achieved, in a few short years, many of the key hallmarks of Third World economies.
Your policies of irresponsible government deregulation in critical sectors allowed you to rapidly develop an energy crisis, a housing crisis, a credit crisis and a financial market crisis, all at once, and accompanied (and partly caused) by impressive levels of corruption and speculation. Meanwhile, those of your political leaders charged with oversight were either napping or in bed with corporate lobbyists.
Take John McCain, your Republican presidential nominee, whose senior staff includes half a dozen prominent former lobbyists. As he recently put it, "I was chairman of the [Senate] Commerce Committee that oversights every part of the economy." No question about it: Your leaders' failure to notice the damage done by irresponsible deregulation was indeed an oversight of epic proportions.
Now you are facing the consequences. Income inequality has increased, as the rich have gotten windfalls while the middle class has seen incomes stagnate. Fewer and fewer of your citizens have access to affordable housing, healthcare or security in retirement. Even life expectancy has dropped. And when your economic woes went from chronic to acute, you responded -- like so many Third World states have -- with an extensive program of nationalizing private companies and assets. Your mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are now state owned and controlled, and this week your reinsurance giant AIG was effectively nationalized, with the Federal Reserve Board seizing an 80% equity stake in the flailing company.
Some might deride this as socialism. But desperate times call for desperate measures.
Admittedly, your transition to Third World status is far from over, and it won't be painless. At first, for instance, you may find it hard to get used to the shantytowns that will replace the exurban sprawl of McMansions that helped fuel the real estate speculation bubble. But in time, such shantytowns will simply become part of the landscape. Similarly, as unemployment rates continue to rise, you will initially struggle to find a use for the expanding pool of angry, jobless young men. But you will gradually realize that you can recruit them to fight in a ceaseless round of armed conflicts, a solution that has been utilized by many other Third World states before you. Indeed, with your wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, you are off to an excellent start.
Perhaps this letter comes as a surprise to you, and you feel you're not fully ready to join the Third World. Don't let this feeling concern you. Though you may never have realized it, you've been preparing for this moment for years.
i said months ago the US was the RMS titanic sliding into the atlantic and you all laughed. anybody who thinks the slide can be stopped when your going down with this much momentum is kididng yourself.
obviously get your money out of the markets as soon as possible. right now there just coming up with money out of air to create artificial stability. once thats gone it'll come crashing down again.
move out while you can, preferrably democratic socialist countries in europe or south america. us is a 3rd world country, except we have paved roads. the illusion is were all wealthy based on what we see on tv, majority of us are screwed or going to be screwed though.
obviously get your money out of the markets as soon as possible. right now there just coming up with money out of air to create artificial stability. once thats gone it'll come crashing down again.
move out while you can, preferrably democratic socialist countries in europe or south america. us is a 3rd world country, except we have paved roads. the illusion is were all wealthy based on what we see on tv, majority of us are screwed or going to be screwed though.
get ready for massive inflation if it works
in our situation they are trying to fight bad debt by inflating it away
they are fighting the forces of deflation
i really don't know what's gonna win in the end....
as for the stock market
zimbabwe's (hyperinflation) stock market is through the moon
there's no good economy or "fix" in situation going forward
its just a matter of how it plays out.....
in our situation they are trying to fight bad debt by inflating it away
they are fighting the forces of deflation
i really don't know what's gonna win in the end....
as for the stock market
zimbabwe's (hyperinflation) stock market is through the moon
there's no good economy or "fix" in situation going forward
its just a matter of how it plays out.....
you mean like these types of threads,that nobody reads? i'll challenge you to thread off any day of the week "sparky"
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</td> <td class="alt1" id="td_threadtitle_615369" title=""> Article by George Will
cincy_
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cincy_
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cincy_
</td> <td class="alt2" title="Replies: 1, Views: 43"> </td> <td class="alt1" align="center">1</td> <td class="alt2" align="center">43</td> <td class="alt1">Politics and World Events...</td></tr></tbody></table>
HAHAHA....Agreed....Well you see....it isn't really a bail out...remember what happened to Robert Patrick's sporting goods store when Tony Soprano became a silent partner?? lmaoooo....
The FED will make a fortune...printing that money for pennies on the dollar....to buy up the Treasury Notes...which the foolish public will have to foot the bill for....then theres the interest....Whats the debt now? 14 trillion? Chinese hold about half that....Our Great Great Great Great Grandchildren...might be able to erase 10 percent of that...lmaooo Jesus Christ....
When a country is that far into debt, you are no longer Sovereign...you are merely a servant of the State (Service Economy)....and mind you..the State is merely a servant of the Establishment...This ain't no Country For Old Men....
Nothing but a mob shakedown....folks
ope:
heheheheeeeeeee...no ill will...
my original post was a question intending to try to give you an answer to your original question(i thought that is what he was going for)..i questioned it myself and thought that it may have been the answer to your question...i still question why you jumped down my throat,but that is a question only you can answer..i have no more questions..just trying to fit in here...and i do agree with you that they are all the same...but my point was by reading stuff on here,it is one side is always wrong and the other is always right..
so the majority of people on here play the blame game and will not admit that both sides are corrupt...and make the wrong decisions..
that is my best answer to question that questioned me (in my best imitation of Miss SC )
carry on....i have no more questions..
