9 Signs of America in Decline

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It's interesting Ed. Did it even occur to you that ALL of the countries that rank ahead of the U.S. are completely socialist countries.... Denmark? Sweden? Finland? The Netherlands!? I mean Ed, your argument is based on your emotional disdain for socialism, not on facts and reality. Learn a lesson here, Mr. Ed! Socialism in certain areas of endeavor: police forces, national health care, retirement benefits, baby bonuses, militaries, etc. All of these are socialist. And America is sinking because it's priority is greed as expressed through Corporate irresponsibility --or capitalism without accountability. The narrowly tailored socialist countries that are moving increasingly ahead of us should be examples for us to follow!

Dan Cobbbb of MD 5:09PM October 26, 2009

Europe's state of thinking is truly far more advanced than California's laize faire attitude toward current government. Big energy producing companies get richer as minimum wages go down. Health care for 150 million Americans is out of reach. As a simple solution, energy producing companies profits should be used to pay for poor inner city health care and survival of the snail darter. Executives that earn over $200.000 a year should be given the names of 20 people without health care and these people's bills should be sent directly to them. Mandatory public service to save the endangered snail darter from extinction should be required of any shareholder in the energy sector. Only then will California begin to escape the shackles of the current crisis it finds itself in.

Susan L of PA 5:08PM October 26, 2009

I live, travel in, and write about Central America, with Costa Rica being home base, for much of the year.
It used to be we Americans laughed at Central American countries, disparaging their "Banana Republic" economies, their two tier economic/social systems - with a super rich oligarchy calling all the shots and an angry mass of the poor clamoring for whatever crumbs he oligarchy tosses their way.
I know the US is not QUITE in that state yet but, look around people, the country is moving more and more in that direction every day.

macsurf 5:06PM October 26, 2009

are Socialists and one of the countries is Communist China. So I guess we should credit liberalism for their great success. To blame our demise on liberalism is silly. It's as ridiculous as blaming this entire collapse on George W. Bush. Everyone has had a hand in this decline. Personally, I think our Beverly 90210 mentality has destroyed us.

John of GA 5:06PM October 26, 2009

This same article could have been written in 1990s.
The issue isn't whether Finland is more prosperous or Switzerland is more competitive. These nations aren't the benchmarks to measure America's decline as they have on average performed better than America on any wealth and health index since the 1970s. American students have also fared less than their East Asian and European counterparts in Science and Math since the 1980s. The country's immigration system and college education have pretty much erased the gap in tertiary education and research. The question is whether China and India will continue to grow with the same pace once they join the premier league, and America's economy remains stagnant. The article doesn't address both issues. A screaming headline without much substance!

Abiye Teklemariam Megenta 5:05PM October 26, 2009

Caused by the same people who told us that they were there to keep us solid.

muffler of NY 5:05PM October 26, 2009

In the boom times of '06, and '07 over development was much more rampant than people realize. Retail space owners are getting absolutely crushed, while office and industrial are not far behind. There needs to be investment in businesses that produce something of value and can fill these spaces, not continually giving money to zombie banks. Our best bet is to start a "War on Warming" and create jobs in the renewable energy sector. This will do two things, provide jobs and make our economy more efficient and competitive in the world. If we are getting our energy from sun, wind and other renewable sources that will give us a competitive advantage over other economies that continue to use coal, and other non-renewable sources. Just imagine solar panels on every roof on America. That would put a lot of people to work. If you need space to start a solar installation company, check out Rofo.com!

Joe of CA 4:58PM October 26, 2009

This is actually good news if we can survive and figure out how to have a sustainable economy.
Our federal budget currently allocates something like 56% to military costs. The rest of the budget is onesies and twosies. Obviously, if we could cut back on this extravagance we could easily re-engineer most of the things that are dragging us down, that are destroying our society.
BTW, I was very happy to see the anger at the bankers in Chicago over the weekend. Frankly, I don't think anyone in southern Manhattan should be able to navigate their commute without tasting the ire of those affected. I think all the unemployed and others who have felt the sting should make their presence known in that hallowed precinct.
The anger is just not palpable enough yet to instill the kind of fear that will bring change.

km in oc/socal of CA 4:58PM October 26, 2009

the collapse of the empire is finally at hand.

jj of IN 4:58PM October 26, 2009

Clearly, when millions of good manufacturing jobs are shipped overseas, it doesn't take much to understand where the current dilemma originates from.
The middle class should be put on the endangered species list as never in our history has there been such a precipitous drop by an economic class.
The only people who seem to be benefiting from this globalization "trend" are the owners of the thousands of companies that have elected to abandon the citizens of the United States.
...And isn't it curious that those very same countries that benefited from our globalization efforts -- China and India -- seem to be doing quite well, despite the economic crisis. And here we are, in the United States, stuck in a jobless recovery with a weakened middle class that can no longer be counted on to spend our way out of our recessionary cycles.

Mike Browne of MA 4:56PM October 26, 2009