Economic Race - United States vs. Europe

[Luke_Wilbur]

Capitalism alone is not enough to run a successful and effective capitalist system. The more I read about alternative energy production, invention and legislation, the more I see Europe passing the United States. In the past corn and cars iconic symbols of American prosperity, but today those symbols are franchises and entertainment.

 

Every year we buy roughly $500 billion more in goods and services from foreigners than we sell overseas. At the same time, the federal government is running a budget deficit of more than $400 billion annually. Americans are living above their means. To put it simply, the United States gives the rest of the world more than half a trillion dollars every year. In exchange, the rest of the world gives us products and services.

 

The time is now for American manufacturers to focus exporting products to foreign buyers. The December to January change in exports of goods reflected increases in capital goods ($1.0 billion); consumer goods ($0.5 billion); foods, feeds, and beverages ($0.3 billion); and industrial supplies and materials ($0.3 billion). Decreases occurred in automotive vehicles, parts, and engines ($0.7 billion) and other goods ($0.2 billion). This is a good indicator that foreign consumers are wanting to buy cheaper American products.

 

Security and enviromental products are good products to export. More on that later.

[AmericanChick]

Maybe we should boycott the Europeans!!!

[Luke_Wilbur]

I think this is more of a problem of instant gratification. This is a problem of both consumers and manufacturers. Consumers want instant gratification of obtaining everything they see advertised. Manufacturers want an instant return on their investment. Traditional capitalism is the realization that it takes time to make money. New Capitalism puts emphais on immediate profit today and less resources on tomorrow. Toyota has used a traditional capitalist approach to manufacturing. In the past decade General Motors has used a new capitalist approach to manufacturing. Toyota has put money into research and development of more fuel efficient cars and manufacturing practices. General Motors has put more money into advertising its current line of trucks and SUVs. Toyota is in the process of dethroning GM from its position of the largest manufacturer of Automobiles. This is also apparent in comparing the United States stock market with the European stock market. This is the first year that the European stock market has passed the United States by 100 billion dollars. You can see the same thing happenning in politics. Look how much money is being spent now on political candidates two years before the election. The same thing can be said about Health, Education, Defense, etc.. Until we restore our initial "Protestant Work Ethic" over the "Keep up with Jones" media mentality this economy will keep sliding until it reaches a medium with the rest of world.