@driftwood

Nope, such simple recipes won't work.
If you go this way it'll mean 3-4 times life level drop. Huge protests, most probably using big number of weapons available. And idea about "build things again" is good, but require even further life level drop.

Don't worry, war is good for business.

Yep, it is good. Unfortunately, proportions of the problems are such that it does not matter.
And real target of wars is bringing more controlled chaos and improve control on strategic energy resources.
Other big problem is that timing is now way off and clocks are ticking.

What the best solution V?

@brianluce

Describing it require some time, illustrations and other things. I'll try to do it later in series of blog posts, as I'll find some time.
But any solution include very big life level drop.

There is no political discipline in the United States to become fiscally responsible, until it's forced upon them by the rest of the world...

My advice, if Obama is re-elected, prepare for a quicker future structured US Bankruptcy with Obamacare. Obama is incapable of balancing a budget to achieve his socialistic ideals, and he can tax all the rich into poverty, it still won't make a dent in the debt and future obligations. It is just a fact that highly Democrat controlled states and cities have no discipline to balance budgets- see Illinois and California to see their model has no bearing on financial reality. No doubt the Republicans have no discipline when it comes to military spending either. Once again, neither side gets elected promising cuts to anything...

Standards of living have been lowered tremendously except for the wealthy, who pinch pennies on payrolls and now watch their money buy far more as they can now snap up properties in bundles of 10 thanks to Fannie/Freddie as mass foreclosure take effect, while the hardest hit people are expedited into the streets.

"Fortunately" for the government, the new media and social networking allows for easier propaganda enforcement and searching out dissidents, and targeting them with increased propaganda, be it in school or thru entertainment or via internet marketing.

Inflation, especially record high gas, energy and health insurance prices, leaves Americans with little disposable income for much else other than their Apple wireless plans.

I would love the United States to return back to manufacturing, but reality is that we are nearing the point where the hands-on technical knowledge has vanished as the craft has not been passed down from generation to generation.

nice phrase @nickben "as the craft has not been passed down from generation to generation" north american pride is too big to come out of this hardworking, who nows what will happend. nevertheless i wish greeks much better stability!

@sebasp1 the selling of the US "service based" economy has been around since Clinton and carried forward, where restaurant jobs were considered the equivalent of Manufacturing jobs, while real manufacturing jobs went overseas. I know too many people that lost manufacturing jobs over last 2 decades , and therefore are not passing down their hands-on knowledge

@jrd "socialism" is not a dirty word, Obama needs to embrace it and speak his mind fully about what his promised land looks like, and how it actually pays for itself. I'll love to see the day medical innovation and progress continues while we generate surpluses from socialized medicine in the US. Hasn't worked so well for Social Security...

I dislike both parties approach- far too little impact on the ground level, both argue over decimal places in budgets, very toxic political environment in another US election year means no fiscal discipline by politicians in US anytime soon

@NickBen:

"Socialism" has worked great for Social Security, which has never missed a payment, is going to be able to pay full payments until about 2037 (assuming there are no changes to the program), and will be able to pay 75%-80% of scheduled benefits thereafter, even if there are no adjustments between now and 2037.

The Social Security "trust fund" which some conservatives insist is an "accounting fiction" is composed of U.S. Treasury bonds. If they're "fictional", then so is U.S. debt generally -- including bonds held by the richest Americans. If we're going to default on Treasury bonds selectively, I suggest we start with those held by the top .1%, rather than cheating working Americans out of Social Security payments.

The reason Obama hasn't embraced socialism is because he's not a socialist, or anything approaching one -- as you would know, if you examined who runs his Treasury department and sets his economic policy.

The cost-effectiveness of socialized medicine is proved throughout the industrialized world, from Japan to Sweden. What more proof do you need? They spend far, far less than we do, and live longer.

@NickBen

SS is a pay-as-you-go income transfer program which is currently receiving contributions from every working American (tens of millions of them) and his/her employer, and has a $2.3 trillion surplus invested in U.S. Treasury securities. It is far more secure than any insurance or pension plan you could ever hope to buy. The notion that a program with a huge surplus and a huge continuing income stream is bankrupt is sheer fantasy.

It's true that politicians could change its fundamental character, and it's shameful that Obama talks about SS in much the same way as "conservatives" do (as a program to "cut" -- pretending that it's a burden on the Treasury, rather than what it is -- an income transfer program with NO effect on the U.S. deficit).

In any case, this is not a political site, and I won't engage in further conversation. These arguments tend to be quite hopeless -- folks come to them with convictions of a religious, rather than rational, nature.

This is why startups like TESLA are so important for the economy- re creating the automobile sector, job motor numero due (number one industrial military sector)

Same for Your economy Vitaly :)

For some reason, I strongly believe in @driftwood comments. We in Asia has been working our a#* off everyday to make end's meet. People has been so greedy in making money the easy way (investing on papers) and oppressing the honest people. People just want an easy way out nowadays and the richer just don't want to share anymore. Greed is good when sharing is also being practiced. And that's that!

@terry2

Nice try :-)

All you need is a strike force operation, in and out, and some good intelligence infos.

I fully agree here, just think that target must be located exactly 180 degrees from yours :-)