
 |
|
February 13, 2012
Binyamin Rose: Back to the Bunker: How a life-risking act by a Christian family during the Holocaust saved a family and built a thriving community a world away
Menachem Wecker: Business Schools Teach Real Estate Despite Troubled Housing Market
February 10, 2012
Lisa M. Krieger: Man with defibrillator demands access to his own heart's information
David G. Savage: Why activists may not be in a hurry to have High Court rule on alternative marriage
February 9, 2012
Laura McMullen: 10 Least Expensive Public Schools for Out-of-State Students
Kimberly Palmer: How to actually enjoy -- relaxing, financially -- your vacation
February 8, 2012
Warren Richey: Why momentous Prop. 8 ruling might not satisfy gay-rights groups
Menachem Wecker: Though Controversial, LL.M.'s Can Lead to Specialized Legal Jobs
The Kosher Gourmet byDana Velden: Going to the bother of making soup? You know it better be good. This CREAM OF TOMATO SOUP certainly is! And it's a cinch to make, too (Includes techinques and serving secrets)
February 7, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Caught off-guard? President's Super Bowl interview with Matt Lauer gives those who need a reason not to vote for him, a darn good one
Suzanne Bohan: Leaping lizards! Tiny reptiles advancing robot design
February 6, 2012
Jonathan Tobin: Iran Threatens Israel With Destruction, But the New York Times Doesn't Hear It
Jeffrey Fleishman: In newly democratic Egypt, tens of democracy activists jailed, to stand trial; their groups are 'threatening the stability of the homeland'
Julie Deardorff : Researchers say antioxidants may not be that effective and could do more harm than good
Mark Clayton: How did Anonymous hackers eavesdrop on FBI and Scotland Yard?
February 3, 2012
Edmund Sanders : Israeli official says Iran is creating missile that could reach East Coast of US
Victoria Kim: Immigrant-smuggling ring used black drivers to avoid racial profiling
February 2, 2012
Jim Carney: Wrong number call may have saved her life
Reza Kahlili : Ex-CIA spy in Iran's Revolutionary Guard: What Obama doesn't grasp about striking deals with Tehran
Tina Susman: For woodchuck rescuer, every day is Groundhog Day
February 1, 2012
Brian Bennett: US officials see increasing threat of domestic attack from Iran
Emily Brandon: How to Take Advantage of New 401(k) Fee Disclosures
January 31, 2012
January 30, 2012
Paul Richter and Ramin Mostaghim: Misreading Teheran's limits -- deadly and economically devastating as they may be -- is a risk administration, Europe seem willing to take
Suzanne Bohan: Warning: Nap-deprived tots missing more than sleep, study finds
Meg Handley: Banks Revamping Rewards Programs to Woo Customers
January 27, 2012
Caroline B. Glick: Obama: Of course I intend to prevent a nuclear holocaust . . . in a few months
Yochonon Donn: In liberal New York City, fervently-Orthodox Jews may soon be getting a district to call their own
Jeannine Stein: An inflated ego and thinking you're 'all that' doesn't just make others sick of you, it can make you ill
Katy Hopkins: New budget rules may affect how much money you get for college
January 26, 2012
Ed Koch: To the New York Times, calling for the murder of Jews by those capable of having their incitement taken seriously isn't news
Jeannine Stein: Mental illness struck one in five U.S. adults in 2010: Report
January 25, 2012
Richard Simon: House passes two bills endorsing the use of religious symbols at military memorials
Fred Weir: Putin: Multiethnic Russia cannot survive as a US-style 'melting pot'; must find its own way
Susan Johnston: 5 Sneaky Coupon Strategies Consumers Should Watch Out For
January 24, 2012
Carol Clark: The price of your soul: How your brain decides whether to 'sell out'
Caroline B. Glick: America lost most in 'Arab Spring'. Sadly, many voters still don't grasp the extent
Warren Richey: Drug criminal scores win in GPS ruling from conservative-leaning high court
Erika Bolstad: Black conservatives gather to talk about gaining strength
January 23, 2012
Melissa Dribben: Jewish voters to play a key role in Florida's Republican primary
Jordan Rau: In quest to grow, Catholic hospital system will announce this morning its break from church
Ali Safi: U.S. envoy gives Taliban terms for peace talks
January 19, 2012
January 18, 2012
January 17, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney Jr.: No-kidding red lines: U.S. response to an Iranian nuke may be bluster, but Israel's won't be
David G. Savage: They sued their principals after slandering them online --- now the cases are headed to the Supreme Court
David Francis: Where to Invest in 2012: With stocks expected to rebound, opportunity abounds for investors
January 13, 2012
Ben Lynfield: Israeli lawmakers move to annex Jewish Judea, one museum at a time
Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz: Thriving through touch: Gentle massage helps older people with low mobility improve in mind and body
January 12, 2012
Warren Richey: Landmark Supreme Court ruling a 'resounding win' for religious groups
Warren Richey: Supreme Court says no to new rule on eyewitness testimony
John Fauber : Statins found to raise diabetes risk in postmenopausal women
Katy Hopkins : Consider This Before You Pay for an Online Degree
The Kosher Gourmet by Joseph Erdos: This mushroom and barley soup has an intense -- almost nutty -- flavor that mixes robust with Middle East. It has creaminess without cream
January 11, 2012
Shari Roan: Millions of atrial fibrillation sufferers at risk for devastating, but preventable, stroke
Tom Hussain: Pakistan -- recipient of more than $21 billion in civilian and military aid -- speeds pursuit of Iranian pipeline, defying US
David G. Savage: High court signals it won't be loosening TV's 'indecency' rules
Stephen Ceasar: Oklahoma's Islamic law amendment can't go into effect, court rules
January 10, 2012
Reza Kahlili: From an ex-CIA spy: US must exploit new split in Iran's Revolutionary Guard
Karen Kaplan: Study: Nicotine replacement products ineffective when used in real-life situations
January 9, 2012
Michael Doyle: Put through legal hell over dream home, couple fought back hard --- all the way to Supreme Court
|
| |
Jewish World Review
January 22, 2008
15 Shevat 5768
Washington's remedy for economic woes is trips to the mall
By
Michael Goodwin
| 
|
|
|
|
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
Uncle Sam wants you to shop! It's official. The great minds of the United States of America, the world's lone superpower and an emerging economic basket case, have a plan to fix what ails our sagging economy.
In a nutshell, or maybe in a nuthouse, the best and the brightest have decided to give us a fistful of dollars, on one condition: That we spend them all lickety-split. No savings allowed.
If this sounds suspiciously like giving crack to a cocaine addict and hoping for a recovery, then you, too, must be alarmed at the shallowness of thinking about a very deep problem. And not just among the whiz kids in the White House.
The brain lock extends to the campaign trail, where those who want to sit in the Oval Office have produced carbon copies of the Retail Therapy prescription. Feeble is as feeble does.
Who can blame them? Sen. John McCain tried straight talk in Michigan and got the express boot out of the state when he said lost manufacturing jobs weren't coming back. They are coming back, insisted Mitt Romney, who was promptly rewarded for this fairy tale by winning the state's GOP primary. Lesson learned: Tell 'em what they want to hear, not the truth. McCain, no dummy, put out his own giveaway package days later.
These stimulus plans are the performance-enhancing drugs of politics. Just like steroids, they exact a terrible price over the long term.
So what if we have surging debts and deficits. So what if bankruptcies and foreclosures are up. So what if middle-class incomes are stagnant and unemployment is rising. So what if entitlement programs are threatening to swallow every dollar we print, and then some. So what if your house, if it is still your house, is worth half of what it was last year. And so what if your pension is vanishing as the bottom falls out of the stock market.
Just get off your duff, America, and buy something now. The problems won't go away, but you'll have a shiny new snow shovel or a new pair of shoes. And nothing makes a true American feel better than shopping, especially when the government is paying.
If Washington ponies up enough pennies, assuming it actually gets around to ponying up any at all, we can all do what President Bush did last week. He went to Arabia to visit our dollars. Or, more precisely, what our dollars have bought and built for the petrocrats who feed our addiction to oil. It wouldn't be fair to label them dope dealers because we're the dopes.
Raking in about $100 a barrel for their black gold, the Persian Gulf countries can't spend our money fast enough, especially when the value of what we have left to sell keeps falling. They're not just buying our banks and other assets they're buying them at distressed prices.
The good old greenback ain't what it used to be.
Sen. Hillary Clinton captured the moment when she said Bush's plea to the Saudis to pump more oil so the price would fall was "pathetic." Leaving aside the inconvenient truth that her Bubba made the exact same plea eight years ago, when oil was a mere $30 a barrel, Clinton was right. Pathetic it is.
It's doubly pathetic to think the price of oil is the only problem. The long-range financial crisis is that we're becoming a hollowed out country standing on the shaky stilts of credit. When something goes wrong - the housing bubble bursts we look for the quick and easy fix. Almost always it involves spending and borrowing. We borrow from our children, the Chinese, the Arabs, anybody who has a few spare gazillions they got by selling us something we used to make but now can't afford to buy.
Only the government can run a Ponzi scheme this way, but not even the government can get away with it forever.
The Dow Jones industrial average, which has shed 2,000 points since October, is signaling that the end is near.
The White House and the candidates all know this, but it would be bad for their business model if they dared speak the truth. But somebody must say it, so here goes: We, the good people of the good 'ol USA, are on the road to ruin.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in Washington and the media consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
Michael Goodwin is a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for the New York Daily News. Comment by clicking here.
Archives
© 2007 NY Daily News
|