Just Desserts?
I commend Mr. Davis for writing and
Ceramic
Industry for publishing “U.S. Must Prepare for Day of
Reckoning” (
CI March
2008, pp. 12-13). The content of the article is of utmost importance to all of
us, and I am sure most readers will agree with some of the points Mr. Davis
raises while taking exception to others. Hopefully, most will agree that the
situation deserves our attention.
But the question is, “What can we do?” Not much, it seems to me, but I would
love to read suggestions. Seems we are in so deep financially that about the
only reasonable course of action is to hyper-inflate to put off the day of
reckoning as long as we can. And with the actions planned by our federal
government, we seem well on the way.
Consider that the government will print $40 billion to bail out investment
banks, spend $40 million to mail informational letters referencing the coming
economic stimulus checks, and spend unknown dollars to pay for the Iraq fiasco
extending far into the future. There seems to be no limit—and the American
public doesn’t even seem to notice. Maybe there is some consolation in
recognizing the debacle will be worldwide.
Paul Gubert
Retired
Pgubert@carolina.rr.com
Dark Days Ahead
I couldn’t agree more with Jack Davis’s March
article. Like Jack, I believe very dark days are ahead for this country. Our
trade policies are a joke; many times I have visited China and marveled at the “playing
field” that tilts on a 45º angle. Unlike Jack, though, I attribute at least some of
our policies to the combined stupidity and greed of our career politicians, and
I strongly believe that some of our trade policies have been bought and paid
for by other countries. At this point, owing other countries as much as we do,
I wonder if we even stand a chance of reversing our policies.
When I look at the past decade, I cannot come up with a single bright spot:
- U.S.
dollar value—much worse
- Energy situation—much worse
- Health care costs and insurance—much worse
- Trade deficit—much worse
- Federal deficit—much worse
Bush’s legacy will be that stupidity combined with greed is a great way to
absolutely ruin a country.
Ralph Ruark, PE
Ruark Engineering, Inc.
ruarkeng@aol.com
