After reading this article, and looking at what Oil prices are doing lately, I have to wonder if the US (and likely Canada's too) economy is about to run into a brick wall.
Consider - 11,000 people applying for 400 jobs at a Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart is a symbol of a few things these days - under-paying jobs, and pure consumerism. Most of what they sell is cheap, short lived and imported from far away countries. (Made in USA or Made in Canada are probably the most rarely seen words in Wal-Mart stores)
Considering that Oakland was once part of the so-called "Silicon Valley", it's a sad statement when 11,000 people are applying for what amounts to a McJob.
It's not encouraging to see, and with the cost of a gallon of gas approaching $3.00-$4.00 US, I expect to see an increase in petty crime (e.g. B&E and other forms of theft) as it becomes difficult for people to have enough money to feed their cars in order to get to work.
Somehow, I don't think the US economy can handle the level of consumer debt that is growing down there, and high fuel costs for any extended period of time. When the number of jobs oriented towards consumption is increasing, and the number of production jobs is steadily declining (and has been for 20 years or so), that's a sign of an economic model not only in decline, but possibly on the verge of collapse.
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4 comments:
One:
American federal debt over seven trillion US dollars and growing.
http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/faq.html
Look at the percentage owed to foreign and international sources.
(twenty two percent in 2003) (guess how much of that is owned by China)
Two:
Consumer debt is at an all time high. This will lead to lower consumer spending. Guess what percentage of the US economy is built on consumer spending?
Three:
It is not the running out of oil that will cause economic hardship, but when there is less production than demand. Guess how close we are getting to that situation. Possibly within ten years. Can you see the price of gas rising yet?
Four:
The world is moving away from a one hyperpower system with the USA on top to a multiple superpower system including China, the EU, the USA and possibly others. Within ten to fifty years.
http://www.jpri.org/publications/workingpapers/wp105.html
Five:
Economic effects of global warming may be seen within ten years.
Six:
Can you imagine what would happen to the US dollar if the USA and China got mad at each other and China dumped six hundred billion (they have it) of US debt onto the world market at fifty cents on the dollar?
Many people (governments) are taking a wait and see attitude to see what the next US government's policies are going to be.
-The Bungle Lord
Did I mention that there is a political movement in the states to de-emphasize teaching science in schools? How about the high-tech jobs being exported to India?
-The Bungle Lord
Don't worry... it's all the Religious Right down their. Ghod will save them.
*Ugh* That's quite a list of damnation o Bungle Lord...
Sadly, I'm afraid that it's all lining up rather nicely to create a "perfect storm" that the neo-cons in the US are blithely ignoring.
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