Thomas Friedman, The New York Times, foreign affairs columnist, explains how America is falling behind other nations. “You fly from Singapore or Hong Kong to LAX, it’s like flying from the Jetsons to the Flintstones.” Here is a direct link.
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Cory’s Chart Corner
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Perhaps the US have taken on too much debt ? Waged too many wars ?
What are the tax rates in Hong Kong and Singapore? Have they had to endure a cradle to grave welfare society? Have the citizens been dumbed down to believe the Utopian nonsense being spouted by Statist politicians? Do you blame the 1 percent and corporations for your sloth and stupidity? Do you really believe that churning out tens of of thousands of non-academic racial studies, women’s studies, gay studies, and political science degrees dedicated to creating and stoking grievances demanding big government fixes for everything under the sun contributes to our freedom and prosperity?
If the US did all five things Tom Friedman says it would still get absolutely nowhere.
The real problem is globalization (free-trade). Is globalization good? The answer is; that depends. Globalization helps big companies and poor people. It hurts small and mid-sized companies and middle class people. Big companies set up global networks and manufacture in low cost countries. For a while the US lost its middle class jobs but was able to keep the party going by running up debt. That string has run out.
The US can’t go back because US works aren’t willing (or able) to accept 1/10 of their previous wages. Only when US wages equal those of China will the US be competitive again. And forget the education/technology BS because China has more smart people than the US does. (Besides, the technology advantage was only a historically brief window after WW2.)
A solution (politically incorrect) is to unilaterally declare US products the best in the world and to refuse to buy any imports (like Germany does). The next step is to burn all Walmart stores and declare the Waltons traitors. The US then needs to rebuild its wealth and trade only when there is a true net economic benefit to do so.
But that’s not fair to developing countries. To maintain and protect its higher standard of living the US (and Canada and other countries) have to be unfair. World averages (free-trade) is NOT what we want. Remember we were the guys that conquered and exploited those developing countries to get to where we were. How soon we forget.
What a radical idea.
Where did you come up with this deep insight?
But, perhaps, the US forgot that the rule of law must apply to all, even the ruling classes and gov itself.
Tax rates are 17% and 20% flat on all income .
My understanding is that in Singapore one must save a certain percentage for retirement and housing. (Don’t know if that is factored into the 20% or is on top).
Don’t whether there are sale taxes.