Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Too late:There's been some discussion of Charles Krauthammer's essay that says Decline Is a Choice. See Yglesias and Farley. Krauthammer looks at the world situation and asserts that the United States can stay on top, mostly with an aggressive (military) posture. And he suggests that "liberal internationalism" is a factor that would bring the country down. But here's the deal: The decline has already started.Wages have declined since 2000 and there's no sign that this country is in any way prepared to halt the competitive pressure from China or India. The decline took place under Bush Jr., but Clinton is also responsible with his neo-liberal free trade policy. As Yglesias points out, there is no way to stop China, India, or Europe from eventually becoming formidable powers, no matter what Krauthammer thinks. But to get to Krauthammer's essay: His attempt to paint liberalism as the cause of what's already started is without merit.
posted by Quiddity at 10/13/2009 01:41:00 PM
2 comments
I can almost guarantee that, prior to the collapse of the Soviet Union, some crabbed Soviet opinion maker suggested that the "[Soviet Union] can stay on top, mostly with an aggressive (military) posture. And he suggests that 'liberal internationalism' is a factor that would bring the country down." We know what happened to the Soviets.
It also seems to me that the eight year Cheney presidency proves Krauthammer wrong. Heck, we apologized to the Chinese after they knocked our airplane down. That's strength!
"Wages have declined since 2000 ... "
No they haven't.
National average wage indexing series, 1951-2007
Year Index
1951 2,799.16
1952 2,973.32
1953 3,139.44
1954 3,155.64
1955 3,301.44
1956 3,532.36
1957 3,641.72
1958 3,673.80
1959 3,855.80
1960 4,007.12
1961 4,086.76
1962 4,291.40
1963 4,396.64
1964 4,576.32
1965 4,658.72
1966 4,938.36
1967 5,213.44
1968 5,571.76
1969 5,893.76
1970 6,186.24
Year Index
1971 6,497.08
1972 7,133.80
1973 7,580.16
1974 8,030.76
1975 8,630.92
1976 9,226.48
1977 9,779.44
1978 10,556.03
1979 11,479.46
1980 12,513.46
1981 13,773.10
1982 14,531.34
1983 15,239.24
1984 16,135.07
1985 16,822.51
1986 17,321.82
1987 18,426.51
1988 19,334.04
1989 20,099.55
1990 21,027.98
Year Index
1991 21,811.60
1992 22,935.42
1993 23,132.67
1994 23,753.53
1995 24,705.66
1996 25,913.90
1997 27,426.00
1998 28,861.44
1999 30,469.84
2000 32,154.82
2001 32,921.92
2002 33,252.09
2003 34,064.95
2004 35,648.55
2005 36,952.94
2006 38,651.41
2007 40,405.48
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