[-Mario-]

PJB PJB:

a-former...As a die-hard capitalist I could see you saying something like that. You would rather have a massive trade deficit so you could save a couple of bucks on socks.

You obviously do not care about your fellow Americans as much as you care about your bank account.

Truly pitiful.

Who is going to make up this deficit. What is the American National Debt right now?

To answer your last question... could it be because bush is buying oil at the highest price ever, just to rebuilt a big oil reserve.

[a_former_canuck]

PJB PJB:

a-former...As a die-hard capitalist I could see you saying something like that. You would rather have a massive trade deficit so you could save a couple of bucks on socks.

No... I said I would rather see that 17% coming from Asia than from Canada. Buying Canadian is becoming increasingly expensive; Americans get less product for more money as the CAD rises.

Switching the same dollar amount to a different country will neither raise nor lower the trade deficit.

[PJB]

a-former..

Isn't it the American way to buy American? I guess Americans cannot afford to support their own businesses. I wonder why that is?

[a_former_canuck]

PJB PJB:

Isn't it the American way to buy American? I guess Americans cannot afford to support their own businesses. I wonder why that is?

Unions and government transfer programs artificially inflate the cost of labor, rewarding the mediocre and punishing the hard-working.

It's pretty bad in America, but far worse in Canada and Old Europe.

[PJB]

I guess that is why Canada enjoys a trade surplus with the United States. Let's compare wages for a moment versus cost of living. What is the average wage that an unskilled worker makes in the states? Compare that to an average minimum wage of about 6 bucks an hour in Canada. Unions work in some ways and in some ways they don't. I can imagine the average worker in the states without health insurance is glad to be able to make union wages.

You cannot compare the mess that the United States is in right now to any other country. The American economy is circling the bowl and if it were not for Bush's little war it would be worse off.

[a_former_canuck]

PJB PJB:

if it were not for Bush's little war it would be worse off.

lalala...

If it were not for the fact that the USA is the #1 military and economic powerhouse in the history of the world, a lot of things would be different. In fact you'd probably be goose stepping and speaking German.

So what's your point?

[Canadaka]

a_former_canuck I am very dispeased with your first psot in this topic, do you have to hijack everythread and turn it into a US vs Canada gong show!!!!

The first psot didnt say anything bad about the us, was a good way to start a healthy debate about the issue.

Not just from you either, this shit has to stop, there are already so many threads with these types of posts, I don't want it taking over the forum, so it won't!

[PJB]

a-former...Here we go again with the military might of the states. Perhaps if there weren't such a powerful American military we might have true democracies in the world and not puppet regiemes put in power by greedy American businessmen.

I am done talking to you. You are too set in your ways to see any possible alternatives. Too bad Bush only has four more years to screw up your country.

[PJB]

Canadaka...I apologize for any outbursts that I may have had but I truly hate how some posters here are not open to any discussion other than that which supports their ideals.

[a_former_canuck]

PJB PJB:

a-former...Here we go again with the military might of the states. Perhaps if there weren't such a powerful American military we might have true democracies in the world and not puppet regiemes put in power by greedy American businessmen.

Maybe if those civilizations were a little more advanced, they wouldn't have gotten invaded by the USA in the first place.

[PJB]

Not worth the waste of a response.

Gotta go folks..

Play nice!

[alienofwar]

The article by Macleans fails to mention Bush's priorities of reforming the tax code for simplicity and reforming social security so that it can avoid the potential bankruptcy of the system. Also fails to mention that that Bush did push his Budget and that a few measures didn't pass because of the democrats. Also the article says:

"The American currency must be slowly, carefully managed lower to boost U.S. exports, but without triggering a sudden plunge in the greenback that could spark a devastating jump in inflation. Interest rates must gradually rise to ward off inflation and encourage consumers to save more of their earnings. Spending must be reined in, but not so severely that it compromises U.S. security and other public priorities. And taxes must be raised, but not so drastically that they stunt economic growth."


Almost everything that is mentioned here is exactly what the U.S is doing in order to avoid all the nasty scenerios. The only thing that is not on the table is raising taxes at the moment.

Of course, what this article mentions is only one of the scenerios. I don't see how lowering American's living standards is going to help when consumer spending makes up 3/4 of economic acitivity and pretty much is the pillar of this economy. This is just a doom and gloom article which offers solutions that are already in play. This article really just shows how important it is that the U.S doesn't fall because we all depend on it for our own survival.

These twin deficits definitely need to be controlled and thats exactly what the Bush administration is trying to do right now, although from reading this article you would think otherwise. Too bad it's so negative.