lol and Here I thought it all started with the free trade agreement which rewarded business owners with ridiculous profits if they moved their manufacturing out of the country (They killed us with or own capitalistic weaknesses)..most business owners have had to decide if they want to get rich quicker by selling out their country or have their business shrivel and die when they cant compete with those that do.. and the us consumer doesnt want to know anything....they cry about american jobs but would buy an american flag made in china over and american made one if it was 50 cents cheaper at chinas biggest distributer, Walmart.. (that star in thier logo shoulf be red) then we have these wacked perceptions about things... like a dodge ram that was made in mexico or chevy aveo made in korea is somehow and american vehicle but a toyota camery or tundra that was made in the states employing American workers is somehow the foreign enemy? wow.... we should be content buying our evis jeans and using our autolite sparkplugs and fram air filters and ignore the fact that those companies have all be sold to foreign companies and moved production out of the states and are bascally selling us knockoffs with familiar branding on the package...

And then us Gov in recent years have been piling on lots of red tape and EPA regulations to make it harder for any company who does want actually make something here do so... Its sad when companies like coke cola make statements about how much harder it is to operate in the united states vs china....
China is coming out the clear winner in this world economic downfall by beating us at our own game and I have a feeling things are going to get so ugly they are gonna look for excuses to have another world war to shuffle the cards like they have in the past...

wheew...it was tough climbing off that high horse...(no horse pun intended )

 

they were quoting "oh brother where ought thou"...I think

 

Note that I said "one of the leading causes", implying it wasn't the only one. I agree with your points on free trade, completely. Not to mention tax breaks for "creating jobs in developing nations", which translated LITERALLY to MOVING jobs to developing nations. (those tax incentives are still in place by the way.)

The US couldn't fight a world war right now even if we wanted to. We no longer have the manufacturing base to convert to wartime production. We would have to start from scratch.

Besides, China could sink us quite easily with the simple words: "We are calling your loans due, TODAY." And we would be all done.

 

Between unbridled and corporate influenced deregulation, including "free trade" (as opposed to fair trade) job exporting and vltre capitalism have dragged our economy to ruin. Then add costly wars (where war proifiteers are like hogs at the government trough) to the mix, and here we are.

The deregulation on Wall street also caused the crash on 1929. Seems we do not learn....

The tax breaks to move jobs overseas is another example of corporate welfare, while we all complain about "welfare." Funny how words are twisted for greed. (slowly....stepping off soapbox.....)

 

yes but war reshuffles the wealth and leans out the amount of people which boosts the economy...and the government distributs some of it to the people through wartime production.. this is why when a country has hit the bottom rung they lash out and try to take from others.... $$ and wealth has been the cause of almost all wars.... religion is sometimes used to wield that sword and for motivation... look back to the rise and fall of every great empire and it will tell you history repeats itself and what we should expect.... I have no doubt we will just find another excuse to invade more countries until it either triggers a large war with an outcome that will redistribute enough wealth and enterprise or disaster happens....
Not that I'm comparing but look at how ww2 started...The **** party came to power using shortcuts such as invasions and wiping out thousands of jewish people and absorbing their wealth.(they declared war on a portion of their own people so to speak first).. Germanys economy hit rock bottom after LOSING ww1 (partially because the other countries got what they wanted from them)

I work in the engineering field and can tell you many of the American manufacturing giants that are still here in the states are surviving in part because of defense contracts with the government... They can last for years after a war has even ended... (Harley davidson had a goverment contract to make bombs which continued for years after the war was over If I remember correctly...)
and as far as weapons and military gear like hummers and helicopters...they dont reuse most of it after they pull out of a country.... they destroy it by either dumping it in the ocean or digging large trenches in the desert and burning and burying it before pulling out.... they dispose of entire bases this way. I have friends that had to help push the stuff off the trucks into the ditches... talk about wasteful politics..
there are videos on you tube were people dig some of this stuff up... its nuts.

 

It doesn't boost the economy....it does reshuffle the wealth - to the top. While we are at war, as most contries, the disparity between the top and the bottom gets greater. The economy gets better after wars have ended, such as the baby boomer years, when one income was sufficient for a home, and workers made a livable wage, and industry, therefore workers, were prosperous, hence, a good economy. There is great research ther about every 5th generation and the cycle that prevails.

 

After the inevitable economic contraction (including high unemployment) that always follows a war's end, anyway.

The chart that follows is US GDP growth year-over-year:


WWII ended in 1945 and there's a big ugly red spot three years wide from '45 to '48. The Korean war ended in 1953, followed by another ugly red spot. The Vietnam War ended in 1975, another ugly red spot followed.

That big ugly red spot right around 1938? Two things: spending cuts and cannabis prohibition. 'Nuff sed.

Not that GDP tells the whole story. It can increase while we the sheeple are being slaughtered economically, as today. But we're supposed to be talking about trucks here, so I'll STFU now.

 

This was more what I was referring to.

 

 

Hhhmmmm...... I don't really find that amusing. Abusing animals just for kicks (no pun intended.) kinda rubs me the wrong way. I would enjoy kicking HIM and bouncing HIM off a wall.