It’s official: America is now No. 2

originally posted by: BornAgainAlien
a reply to: Xcathdra

Look at page two.

I did.. I am not seeing the source for your india claim.

a reply to: Xcathdra

Look again, I provided the source which can be looked at, and also how big the BRICs together were in `06 and you can do your own math according to it.

nah later russia will be number 1, second is usa, 3 is china ,you can sense china economy is going up but with cheap parts, which waiting to fail in flight

a reply to: coldkidc

For the first time since Ulysses S. Grant was president, America is not the leading economic power on the planet.

It wasn't the largest economy until well AFTER he was president.

Neither does this have to do with being "No. 1". That nonsensical phrase has no basis in anything and isn't related to having the highest GDP.

a reply to: Spider879

I know we are not number one in obesity
but I know we can beat the pants off those darn
Brits and Mexicans if we only try harder.

Show's what you know then.
You are MUCH fatter than the British and even Mexicans are.

And the US is not the highest in number of crimes either. You think there's more crimes per head in the US compared to Brazil?

a reply to: olaru12

THAT is a naive statement that shows your hand.

YOU WANT TO LOSE and you LIVE here? IT'S NOT the system that takes HARM ,IT'S US!
Oh AMERICA should just LAY DOWN it's arms and let the world have it's due...
ITS one thing to be mad at the oligarchs who run things and enjoy THEIR failure after all the evils we have seen,but YOU WANT your country to lose a war... THAT would mean there would have been a draft,obviously.
NOT that I see effectice CRITICAL thinking skills aplied HERE.

a reply to: coldkidc
Globalisation was always going to cause the collapse of the economies in the west. We were just too distracted by cheap goods and annoying reality television to see it.

The continual erosion of manufacturing and destroying of livelihoods was always going to cause the old power economies of the world to suffer.

Bring back the balance of manufacturing and service and maybe we'll have a chance at a future.

en.m.wikipedia.org...

A quick wiki says that this is a load of hogwash..

USA is number 1 with around double China's lol

originally posted by: SEDRChang
nah later russia will be number 1, second is USA, 3 is china ,you can sense china economy is going up but with cheap parts, which waiting to fail in flight

Why do you say that?

Russia 150 million people, dealing with 60 bucks a barrel for oil, that and gas is their only export worth mentioning, add in sanctions. They are in big trouble...

China, big whoops that they number 1#, what took them so long? They are 1.2 billion with 900 million working as slaves...30 bucks a month, slaves.

CONGRATS!!!

What we have in China is a Government that subsidized EVERYTHING... Do you really think they can keep up. Ghost town, Ghost malls etc...really? Lets sees in 5 years, I'll bet my paycheck that they will be really hurting, in a big way. Riots, hyper inflation, people starving etc...it will be bad, and you know what? Here i'll be in America with my biggest worry of what will I pick from 60 beers in my local tavern...just saying...

Life is hard...

Does anyone else see the irony in this?

It took the end of Maos 'great leap forward' For China to make a great leap forward.

It's been a remarkable transformation, one that many people could learn from. When you buy a product that says 'Made in China' on the box then you are half way to solving the problem. It should say, 'made in the U.S' and that could change if homegrown companies are willing to employ locals instead of outsourcing jobs to avoid minimum wage laws.

a reply to: Thecakeisalie

The fact of the matter is that business only speaks in one language. Money. If you want the jobs to come back, you need to entice them with money. There are ways to do that without screwing over the common worker too. Say, give huge tax breaks to companies for having large numbers of domestic jobs.

But yes, I do see the irony there about China. It's nice that they are starting to climb out of their dark days and I hope that they will continue to do so. As their middle class rises, maybe they will start to unionize and demand better rights for their workers. As the price of labor goes up, guess what happens to all those products that say "Made in China"?

a reply to: James1970

China produces cheap and toxic crap that breaks in a couple of days.

Because we buy it. There is no market for a product that has no demand. Don't forget that those are American businesses over there. That "cheap and toxic crap" is being manufactured by the Chinese according to our blueprints.

Do you want American manufacturing to come back to the United States? Yes? Then end all taxes against businesses--both big and small. End all regulations against businesses. End all taxation against the individual.

Do those things and I guarantee we would be prosperous again. The people that want more regulations, the people that want more taxes, are driving American industry into the ground. They are too stupid to realize that they are causing the cost of living to increase across the board, making it harder for the average citizen to earn a living--all the while complaining about the very thing that they are causing.

We are a nation of people too stupid to learn their lesson. Just keep on taxing and regulating. It's done so much good for us.

a reply to: LewsTherinThelamon

Our hunger for cheaper goods was the shovel that dug our hole. I always hear people complain about "This plastic piece of junk!" or "The one made in Minneapolis lasted for over 20 years. This one from China busted in two weeks." and yet, they still buy the cheaper items. Corps played it smart and went with cheaper labor. But they also ruined their own country.

originally posted by: Yeahkeepwatchingme
a reply to: LewsTherinThelamon

Our hunger for cheaper goods was the shovel that dug our hole. I always hear people complain about "This plastic piece of junk!" or "The one made in Minneapolis lasted for over 20 years. This one from China busted in two weeks." and yet, they still buy the cheaper items.

Exactly! Consumers are always going to buy the cheaper products. That's how WalMart got so big. We are to blame just as much as those evil corporations.

But, there is also a deeper issue. In many cases people have to buy the cheaper products out of necessity. All those taxes and all of those regulations have doubled and tripled the average cost of living in the US. All of those taxes and all of those regulations pushed our industries out. Now we are left with virtually no middle class and issues like urban decay.

Corps played it smart and went with cheaper labor. But they also ruined their own country.

They did exactly what a business is going to do. This is what I am talking about. Those corporations didn't move their manufacturing plants to other countries for no reason at all. It is intelligent for a business to try to maximize profit. I don't think you quite understand just how much money they spend on taxes in the US.

If you work for someone making $10.00 per hour, your employer is not paying out $10.00 per hour, they are paying out $15.00 per hour. They are taxed just for having employees, and that tax is not even the income tax that the employee has to pay--it is completely separate. That is just one example of the many taxes that are killing us as a nation.

It is the government that is ruining us financially.

a reply to: LewsTherinThelamon

Made in America is expensive compared to foreign-made products. One catalog called the Vermont Country Store features many American-made items, they're expensive unless you want to invest in something that will last a long time. But most Americans, especially nowadays in this economy, cannot afford to invest in quality items. The cheaper, widely available items from Walmart and the like are easier on the wallet. But while the consumer may save money, they're essentially cheating their own economy.

I won't get into how the world's economy is orchestrated since it isn't the topic, but one only has to look at neighborhoods that have been invaded by Walmart to see the effect of corporations utilizing foreign, badly made products on local economies.

a reply to: Yeahkeepwatchingme

Made in America is expensive compared to foreign-made products.

This is the crux of your entire argument and I have already explained why American made products are more expensive. You are not attacking the source of the problem--you're just getting upset over the symptoms.

Taxes and regulations have a huge rippling effect in any economy--we are seeing the results of being overly regulated and taxed to death. If you want cheap, American made goods, and you don't like WalMart peddling cheap, Chinese products..then do what I said...abolish all taxes and regulations.

If you did that, you wouldn't see a Made in China tag anywhere in your home. Plus you, individually, would have more money to spend on American products. Cheap, American products.

a reply to: LewsTherinThelamon

Who's upset? They won't get rid of the taxes that keep these products expensive. The corps are more powerful than the existing American manufacturers, thus they have a bigger say, more protection and influence.

I actually have enough money to spend on American made products which is why I mentioned VCS, but most don't.

originally posted by: coldkidc

Hang on to your hats, America.

And throw away that big, fat styrofoam finger while you’re about it.

There’s no easy way to say this, so I’ll just say it: We’re no longer No. 1. Today, we’re No. 2. Yes, it’s official. The Chinese economy just overtook the United States economy to become the largest in the world. For the first time since Ulysses S. Grant was president, America is not the leading economic power on the planet.

It just happened — and almost nobody noticed.




The International Monetary Fund recently released the latest numbers for the world economy...

It’s official: America is now No. 2

Surprised I didn't see anything posted about this yet.

It's been a long time coming but apparently the day has finally "officially" arrived with little to no media fan fare in America.

Forgive me if this has already been posted.

The US ranks about 20th place among 65 most developed nations in the three major subjects of study, math, reading, science.

I've read some articles by several economists which predict that our grand kids will have to move to foreign competitor nations to find any employment at all. Take a good look at how foreign, third party laborers are dealt with by leading corporations (anywhere in the world) and that should say allot about what our loved ones will have to deal with in terms of wages, rights and quality of life.

Can anyone enlighten me to exactly makes a country number one? Seriously in many indexes that contain things that actually matter to human beings the US has never been number 1. Such as, living standards, quality of life, equality, healtcare, etc. it really boils down to what you think actually matters and for me what matters are the lives of ordinary people.

If you want to discuss what is undermining US hegemony my bet is on rampant inequality mixed with globalisation and corporate great. How come total wealth has been growing in the past years but ordinary people are not benefitting? On the contrary household debt is rising well except of the happy few owning multinationals they get mayor tax cuts, evade taxes by influencing policy and using international tax shortcuts while the middle class keeps paying more. Meanwhile the government budget is suffering since the middle class, who actually contribute most to tax, is being wiped out and public services are facing massive budget cuts while the happy few have never been wealthier. Oh and these happy few are not investing in new jobs in the US since there is a whole world to invest in now with lucrative upcoming markets ripe for ruination.

a reply to: criticalhit
YA! Most of that does not actually mean much, its all just about as meaningless as lines on the map distinguishing Oregon from California, its especially silly considering there both in the same country, but I suppose this is more of the good ol Red vs Blue thing. Being number one if it means living the average worker Chinese lifestyle, is not only silly to try to compete because of the sheer numbers involved. But its also pretty stupid, if that's what being number one entails, then no thank you. I mean who's winning here and who's loosing? But more importantly who is saying that this is all a competition? I bet you there really the ones who are really coming out with something out of this whole being number one thing...The policy I believe is called carrots and horses.