Filed under: International markets, Rants and raves, Competitive strategy, Politics
George W. Bush has weakened America’s economic and political standing while strengthening the hand of our enemies. As Iowans caucus today, it remains to be seen whether a leader will emerge this year who can reverse the forces Bush set in motion before America loses its leadership position in the world.
What forces did Bush set in motion? Bush created an enormous federal budget deficit through his $1.6 trillion tax cut. He increased government borrowing to a record $9.1 trillion. His wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have contributed to global instability which has helped drive the price of oil up four-fold from $24 a barrel to nearly $100. The dollar has lost 60% of its value — for example, the Euro has climbed from 92 cents to to $1.47. And his drive to increase home ownership — supported by subprime mortgage lenders like Ameriquest — has contributed to tens of billions of write-downs by banks that bought securities backed by those liar loans.
This is not the first time global leadership has changed hands in world history. According to Niall Ferguson, in the 1870s, the Ottoman empire lost its lead in the world as its over-extended empire sought to cope with an external debt crisis by selling off revenue streams to foreign investors. Then, the Ottoman empire sold off its shares of the Suez Canal as well as its tax revenues to pay off the debts it incurred to finance the Crimean War, railway and canal construction and conspicuous consumption. Back then the beneficiaries of those cheap asset sales were western Europeans.
Continue reading Can Iowa caucuses help reverse the Bush legacy?
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