Maybe because our manufacturing base is eroding, the dollar is weakening, our debt (both government and private) is escalating, protectionist sentiment is growing. Also, our competitive advantages of having lower taxes and a freer economy are not that great now that other countries are copying the same ideas. I think the overly loose monetary policies by the Fed and the spending and debt binges by American consumers has seriously hurt us, at least in the short term.
Tell me how creating a union with a corrupt, economically inferior nation (Mexico) and a near anti-American socialistic practicing and slightly economically inferior nation (Canada) would help the United States? The US Dollar would be further devalued if forced to back the Mexican Peso and the Canadian Dollar. Look at England, they were smart, they kept their currency, because if any nation causes instability with the European Union, the Euro would plummet. It has already fallen off a good deal since its implementation. We, the United States, already give way too much money to Mexico as it is. The US has been loaning and forgiving debts to Mexico for years now. NAFTA has proven pointless and a "North American Union" would probably prove equally inefficient if not damaging. The previous comment that a North American Union would bring about economic and military strength is ludicrous. The United States military far surpasses any other military in the world, what would Mexico's third-rate Federali and Canada's already minuscule forces add to the US? Nothing. As for economically, well, I've already proven my point there. Mexico would be light years away from even being close to providing any kind of aid/stability/support with the US. Mexico would only be furthered cradled and drain more on the US economy and resources. Mexico has FAR too many internal problems of its own to deal with before ever dreaming of being considered for such a merger as a "North American Union" would call for. Canada would be a much more ideal and feasible choice for this "union" but at this point it would still be fruitless to even pursue such a notion. The US is far superior and adding either Canada or Mexico in this manner would be an ill-advised plan. The only economic powerhouse the US should even consider being worried about is China. Do you honestly think with Canada and Mexico we would be better off? The means far outweigh the ends. Even the entire European Union, consider it, that's twenty seven countries combined, hardly has a larger GDP PPP than the US in some rankings, and in others it is behind the US. China's growing economy is our only true worry. It also contributes to the US Dollar devaluation due to China investing in our own money. However, it is debatable if China can even surpass the US. We'll see. People far underestimate the power of the United States economy. Just because the media says our economy is declining doesn't mean it is true. Our economy is actually growing. I'd say the one big domestic issue the US has to deal with is social security. "Even if China's GDP were to grow indefinitely at 11 percent a year -- 9 percent real growth plus 2 percent inflation -- and the U.S. experienced 5.5 percent growth -- 3.5 percent real and 2 percent inflation -- it would take the Chinese 40 years to catch up in terms of nominal GDP. Sustainable nominal GDP growth of 5.5 percent annually is well within the capability of the U.S. Eleven percent growth, about what Chinese authorities expect in 2006, isn't remotely possible in the long run." http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000039&refer=columnist_berry&sid=aiveEi_ZUHak When it comes down to it, I'll stick with the United States. Not the North American Union.
If we added the central American countries down through Panama then we would control the whole continent. That would really help our border security since we would only have a single land border that is less than 200 miles long. As a bonus, we would also get 5 free armies at the beginning of every turn.
I have a great idea. We should take away Canada's free health care and use it to repay our debt. What? It's not like they have a military. We are protecting them from polar bears.
I disagree, a treaty can invalidate our sovereignty. For instance international courts that supercede constitutional protections would alter our entire legal system; and European nations are controlled completely by central banks. The socialist governments in germany and france etc. dictate to their people just about everything they do. There used to be a huge difference in the middle class of Europe and the American middle class. That difference is smaller and it is probably going to be wiped away. Socialism is a dictatorship of economic class. There are the wealthy elite (who control the polical parties) and the lower worker class. That would mean that your average middle class French worker does not have the same opportunity to a free enterprise, unregulated self determination, building wealth and increasing ownership of property and capital- that we have enjoyed in our republic. Europe works in a European Economic class system. That is not the American republic system of goverance protected by the US Constitution. Immigrants over the past 150 yrs. have flocked to America for a reason. Let's not remove that reason- individual liberty, goverance by the individual people and a small federalization limited by Constitution protections as the Supreme rule of law.
The socialist governments in France and Germany do not dictate to the people everything they do. There are free and regularly held elections in which the people dictate to the government. If you call Europe as ruled by the elites, surely you must say the same about the United States? And contrary to popular United States imagination, Europe has similar, if not slightly more, upward mobility among socioeconomic classes than does the USA. Where are you getting this information?
Our manufacturing base is eroding and is being replaced by a "services" base. It's a different world. There is no need for a "manufacturing base" as long as we create money in other sectors, and that is what we are doing. Why, exactly, does the weakening of the dollar predict economic misery? The weakening of the dollar means there is more demand for US goods abroad. The dollar is not what keeps our economy afloat - our massive consumer base, our huge services sector and our military supremacy have far more to do with the US economy than does the state of the dollar. Economists have continually said that worries about our debt are highly exaggerated and that debt in and of itself is not necessarily a bad thing. We have a massive economy. There is no threat of lenders halting loans to the US. Protectionism is a worry, but I think it's a fad. People will realize the huge benefits of free trade eventually. And America will be best equipped to deal with more open trade policies.
There are a lot of wacky ideas in this thread, which I probably shouldn't touch. But, I do want to address one of the more normal ones. It's a bit of a double-edged sword with the EU economy, but the common currency tends on average to be more of a help than a risk. While shocks in any particular place can end up affecting people in other countries who would not otherwise have been affected, it is also the case that the effect of a shock is dampened from being in a much larger economy. So, an individual country that is the victim of a shock will hurt less because of the Euro. And, it is not as if shocks in one country wouldn't affect a neighbor with a different currency before anyway. In fact, one of the catalysts of the Euro resulted from an arbitrage scheme between the mark and the pound. Plus, participation in the Euro requires and helps participants to engage in economic practices that will reduce risk of severe economic crises like hyperinflation.
Additionally, having the same currency is far more conducive to trade. Businesses don't have to worry about transaction costs (the costs of converting currency, paying brokers, etc).
Some people fail to realize the power of the US Dollar, though. It does not and likely will never need to merge with other currency. I've spoken with several economic professors at my university and even my old high school teacher who frequently visits foreign countries about the US Dollar vs. the Euro vs. Other currencies. This is the general consensus. When it comes to worth, the Euro is technically worth more than the USD, just like technically, the Pound is worth more than the Euro. However, when it comes down to which currency has more power, it's accepted that the USD still carries the most weight. My former teacher even spoke of going to Russia, where the USD actually got her more money than her Euro. She also explained that in some foreign countries, newer looking money is also valued more, but that is unrelated. I too, have also experienced this while in Mexico. Merely flashing the USD currency is practically a sign that you are rich, even if you aren't. The US Dollar wouldn't gain much, if anything from aligning with the CAD or the MXN. But I do like that someone brought up the point of the US's debt not being a bad thing. It is completely true and anyone that disagrees needs to learn more about economics.
It's a bad thing when the interest payments itself take up a good chunk of our GDP (5%+). Especially when the boomers start receiving entitlements.... Furthermore, it relies on the assumption that those foreign banks who subsidize our currency won't use it against us in some war of attrition, like China's threat of the nuclear option through dumping their trillion in currency reserves. If we can pay it off over time, fine, that's great. But if we're running trade deficits and can't run a balanced budget on top of our past trillions in debt, then yes, it's a valid concern.
All right boys..them are fighting words, I suggest a duel. Shall we say economic essays at dawn tomorrow?
im far from an expert, but i know enough to know that deficit spending and financing our debt through other countries is not a good thing and i would argue that anyone who thinks it isnt a problem that will eventually bite us in the ass doesnt know what they are talking about.
Any merit that argument might have had sailed when the interest on the National Government's debt reached 15% of the budget. We could cut Federal personal income taxes in half if we could pay off the National Debt (income from other taxes remains the same). If your economics professor thinks that foreign (and domestic) bankers getting that money is better for the United States economy than citizens of the States keeping it, then he is either lying or stupid.
Have you ever been there? We should be so lucky as to merge with Canada. Frankly, why would Canada want to? They don't have 45,000,000 people without health insurance... everyone has health insurance. They have vast natural resources. Why put them under US control, when we would make a muck of the environment? Nope, Canada wants no part of being part of the United States. They like to visit. They admire much of what we've done. They are happy, by and large, to be allied with us, but part of the US? No way. D&D. Impeach Bush and Cheney.
They don't want to be part of the US...except for the million or so projected to emigrate to the US by 2010. Health insurance is one thing. The economic opportunity in the US is still vastly superior.
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