Unified Global Economy

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

My son, who is a Global Supply Chain Solutions major at our local SUNY college, and I had a discussion about the economy the other day and he made what I thought was an excellent point. While it is a given that the US economy has become global in nature, he brought up the thought that as a result of this globalization the standard of living throughout the world has become more unified and that the higher standard of living that the middle class here has taken for granted may no longer be a reality. For example, it used to be a given that our children would graduate high school and then continue on to a four year school; however, the reality is that more students are choosing to go to community college first due to the costs of higher education. The idea of a stay-at-home mom is a distant memory--our kids have become latch key kids. Homeownership, once considered to be the American dream, has been put on hold as more and more young people either choose to rent or, in extreme cases, live with their parents. There are many other examples of things that used to be a given that are now the ideal. Conversely, the standard of living among developing countries is steadily improving. The Chinese are putting their bikes away in favor of cars. Sales of technology goods are at an all-time high as the Chinese people have more disposable income than in years past. I find it ironic that we are returning to the basics while the Chinese are pursuing their own version of the American dream. Any thoughts?

 

[bbsam]

Yes. Here's a thought. These are the low paying, low skill jobs that the "job creators" see fit to create for America. Thanks right-wing! (Bill Clinton, Ben Nelson, and others included.)

 

[Catatonic]

Yeah, I got a thought ... Money isn't everything--some of the most truly happy people I have ever met didn't have a pot to piss in.

 

[brett636]

Its good to see you finally coming to this conclusion. Some of the changes you pointed out were cultural like women not being stay at home moms as frequently. Others are connected to a much larger problem. I will tell you what this larger issue is, but I highly doubt you will agree or accept it until you do the research yourself.

What has really changed with our country over the last 50-100 years? What is the direction our government has gone in terms of our economy and the people and businesses that make it up? In what direction has China been going at the same time? The key phrase to remember here is economic liberty. As we have moved from a country of great economic liberty to less China has been moving more towards it, and the evidence speaks for itself in how it transforms a nation. You even pointed out how the chinese people now have more disposable income and are using it to better their lives. Instead of bicycles they use cars. Instead of being a largely agricultural and poor country its becoming a more industrialized and richer nation. Thats how we used to be. Its not that their rise is directly correlated to our falling standard of living. Its that we have allowed our government to paint our economy into a corner and if we step on their paint there will be severe consequences for doing so. Its actually a bit comical that a country that is run by a political party which considers itself Communist is kicking our rear ends in the realm of economic liberty. An arena we used to own, but have decided its better to leave and sit in the stands then to play the game. We have a President who just gave a speech on how bad it is to desire a nice car, and it really doesn't surprise me one bit that our nation has to work with less while other nations with less are getting more. Until the American people figure this out and realize that is the economic liberty of this nation that made it great we will not be getting much better if not heading towards much worse position than we are now.

China is not without its problems. Like us China has an aging population, and a one child law that guarantees the next generation will be half as big as the previous making it difficult to have the funds to care for the previous generation. China has a lot of problems with its restrictions on speech and religion causing some areas of China, like Tibet, to be in a constant state of violence. Their economy has been growing at an incredible pace over the last several years, but that can't go on forever. If we can just recognize China is where we were 100 years ago in terms of economic liberty I don't see why we can't remain the super power we have been for another 100 years.