BartSimpson BartSimpson:
Personally, I think it's a good thing for society in general for our paper-tiger economies to collapse.
People will focus less on buying crap for personal gratification and will focus more on building the relationships they'll need in order to weather the storms of a downturned economy.
Traditionally during the depressions there is a massive shift to either the extreme right or left. Family units may be a little more strengthened but there is a corresponding social cost that negatively outweighs the benefits.
BartSimpson BartSimpson:
The fall of the dollar will bring about the fall of the Chinese economy and, with it, the fall of the authoritarian state.
I believe China's economy is a little less dependent on the US then you might believe. However, if the Chinese economy went through a depression I believe it would strengthen an authoritative state rather weaken or bring about its decline, especially in a country like China that already has the institutions and laws in place and don't require a revolution to get to that point.
BartSimpson BartSimpson:
The sum of this will be nations that are actually strong and not just building on money ginned up by the international bankers.
Nobody knows exactly what causes a depression but we certainly know what exasperates one. In the last depression a lot of the indicators were good in that the stock market had essentially recovered by 1930, government spending and more then doubled and there was plenty of money in the banking system. But the Smoot Hawley Tariff Act of 1930 made it a lot harder for countries to trade with the US and when that happened, their economies nose dived and exasperated the situation by not being able to buy US goods.
Currently Democrats, traditionally very protectionist, are pontificating extremes like the future of NAFTA. It was Democrat government that helped to magnify the last depression globally and hopefully that does not happen again.
On another note, I have no idea why any Canadian would want to see a Democrat government in the US since it will have a corresponding negative impact to the economy when they start insisting that jobs in Ontario and Quebec belong in Ohio and begin changing the laws to ensure that reality.