Economists foretell of U.S. decline, China's ascension

[dtotire]

Economists foretell of U.S. decline, China's ascension


By Mark Felsenthal

DENVER | Sun Jan 9, 2011 12:32pm EST

DENVER (Reuters) - To hear a number of prominent economists tell it, it doesn't look good for the U.S. economy, not this year, not in 10 years.

Leading thinkers in the dismal science speaking at an annual convention offered varying visions of U.S. economic decline, in the short, medium and long term. This year, the recovery may bog down as government stimulus measures dry up.

In the long run, the United States must face up to inevitably being overtaken by China as the world's largest economy. And it may have missed a chance to rein in its largest financial institutions, many of whom remain too big to fail and are getting bigger.

On the one hand, Harvard's Martin Feldstein said he believes the outlook for U.S. economic growth in 2011 is less sanguine than many believe.

First, the boost to growth from government spending will be drying up this year, he said. Renewal of expiring tax cuts is no more than a decision not to raise taxes, and the impact of one-year payroll tax cut is likely modest, he said.


more:
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE7082BL20110109

[LiberalEsto]

1. The corp'rit plan is working

Everything's proceeding on schedule to turn us into a fascist nation of owners and serfs.

[delightfulstar]

2. Thanks, Sprawl Mart...

And all of those other companies who are outsourcing manufacturing and customer service jobs. The sad part is, people are supporting cheap goods and cheap labor by continuing to buy into "saving money." And we're costing ourselves more than we know. The rich get richer, and those who aren't keep getting taken. We need to get back to our principles of supporting our own first, so we can try to rebuild our economy. But the current business model in this country won't allow it, if we keep following along like a bunch of lemmings. We as consumers have to power to change it, if only we make the effort.