I find this point to be a bit of an oxymoron. It seems to me that some of the greatest technical innovations of the past 100 years have come out of military spending - the internet being a prime example.

Ridiculous.

1.we invest our resources in defense and other non wealth building activities;

2. We have over produced the dollar in relationship to our current economic needs and we are fortunate that the US dollar is used as the default world currency, other wise we would have experienced hyperinflation a while back; however other nations are abandoning the dollar as the currency of choice for international transactions. Once other market economics decide the dollar is no longer of value, we will see reactions that will cause panic among the investing class and bad decision making by our policy makers.

Look for a world currency to come out of the rumble.

3.What role does debt play in an economy that is close to going in a downward spiral? Debt includes the under funding of pension obligations, the under funding of Medicare obligations and the borrowing to finance a life style.

GW has been saying all along that we need “foreign workers” in the US, and everybody second guesses this because they think he is going after the Mexican vote, when that doesn’t really make a whole lot of sense, especially at this point in his presidency. You guys are always talking about what GW has to gain with the Iraq war (Halliburton) but the US economy stands to make him a WHOLE lot more money, trillions of dollars, millions directly into his pocket.

I think monetary policy is much more complicated than can be assumed, and it is a competitive field, we can’t be sharing our secrets. But know that in the US we have some really good economists working for the federal reserve, and we have a very strong and motivated workforce. I spent a lot of elective credits on Economics, it is really fascinating. I have been working a lot lately and it is really paying off. I’m going to sit tight and ride this one out.

Here is my wager. The economy will tank 6 months into the Hillary Clinton / Barack Obama presidency (by no fault of their own, just dirty politics). They will capitalize on it to sell national health care and tax increases to the public, moving us another step closer to Socialism. Mark my word.

Nonetheless I’m very curious what will happen, after the things I’ve read myself I can only agree with you that it will become a bumpy ride.

The current situation affects much more than just the stock market, it will affect a lot of lives and future outcomes. Hyperinflation for example can wipe out the entire upper+middle class and give rise to radical alternative powers (Germany, 1920 - 1945)