The US is a superpower?

The U.S. Is No Superpower

Paul Craig Roberts
Wednesday, April 26, 2006

Is the United States a superpower? I think not. Consider these facts:

The financial position of the United States has declined dramatically. The United States is heavily indebted, both government and consumers.

The U.S. trade deficit both in absolute size and as a percentage of GDP is unprecedented, reaching more than $800 billion in 2005 and accumulating to $4.5 trillion since 1990.

With U.S. job growth falling behind population growth and with no growth in consumer real incomes, the United States economy is driven by expanding consumer debt. Saving rates are low or negative.

Continued at source

[Mod Edit: External quote tags. Please review this post. Trimmed quote, please review this post - Jak]


[edit on 28/4/06 by JAK]

It is a superpower, but as soon as its economy collapses (which is likely to happen) it's a superpower like Russia. Then, China will take over the position of leading superpower.



www.dollarcollapse.com



And remember this is written in 2004, it only became worse



[edit on 28-4-2006 by Mdv2]

You know what a super power is? It's a country that can invade any other country at any time and succeed. Russia can, China can and so can WE and we're the biggest and we got the most practice!!!

So what about the economy? When my democratic brother Bill Clinton was in office, we had a surplus. Now we have a money spending republican, we're in debt. Sorry, still a super power.

Originally posted by BANGINCOLOR
You know what a super power is? It's a country that can invade any other country at any time and succeed. Russia can, China can and so can WE and we're the biggest and we got the most practice!!!

So what about the economy? When my democratic brother Bill Clinton was in office, we had a surplus. Now we have a money spending republican, we're in debt. Sorry, still a super power.

Yes, the US is a superpower, did I say it isn't?

A superpower is a state with the ability to influence events or project power on a global scale. In modern terms, this may imply an entity with a huge economy, a large population, and strong armed forces, including air and space power and a considerable arsenal of weapons of mass destruction

posted by AccidentallyOnPurpose: “Is the United States a superpower? I think not . . the US has declined . . the U S is heavily in debt, both government and consumers. U.S. trade deficits both in absolute size and as a percentage of GDP is unprecedented reaching more than $800 billion in 2005 and accumulating to $4.5 trillion since 1990. [Edited by Don W]

Hey, AOP, you’re talking Old Think, Old Speak, whereas the globalized world economy is listening to New Think, New Speak. I admit I have not yet been able to get “my head around it” but the super financial wizards ignore most of the numbers you and I find impressive or alarming.

With job growth falling behind population growth with no growth in consumer’s real income, the US economy is driven by expanding consumer debt. Saving are low or negative. The federal budget is deep in red ink, adding to America's dependency on debt. Our biggest bankers are China and Japan.. . “

Do you know the banker’s worst nightmare? When the banker suddenly realizes he has loaned the borrower so much money the banker cannot let the borrower fail. The banker cannot “call” the loans. The relationship is now symbiotic. It is now become a question of “minimizing” the inevitable losses, but forestalling the day of reckoning in the hope something good will happen. Or what is the bare minimum loan needed to keep the borrower afloat? The borrower and lender are now partners, even if unintended.

“ . . The US cannot even go to war unless foreigners are willing to finance it. A country whose financial affairs are in the hands of foreigners is not a superpower

I dunno. What do you call 12 supercarrier battle groups? To be serious for a moment, China is not an aggressive power. Not for more than 2,000 years. Japan is no longer an aggressing power. Never again after Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Neither of those 2 economic giants are going to launch a shooting war above brigade size. Example: China has normalized its border with Russia.

It takes a particular “culture” to be an aggressing superpower. The US has it, the other’s don’t. America is the Youngest and Only superpower (the USSR was as much a creation of the CIA as it was of the Kremlin. See Also Military Industrial Congressional Complex.) We have an almost unbroken tradition of bullying around in the world. Excluding the second half of the 20th century, America has always went it alone, as Frank Sinatra said, “doing it our way.” Taking what we wanted when we wanted it. 53,000,000 Americans still prefer that approach.

The US is heavily dependent on imports including high technology. Because of job off-shoring and illegal immigration, consumers create jobs for foreigners, not for Americans. BLS jobs reports document the loss of jobs and the inability of the US economy to create jobs in categories other than domestic "hands on" services. A country dependent on foreigners for manufactures and advanced technology products is not a superpower.

OK, you’re right, for “long term” but how about “short term?”

According to a 2006 report most of the “hands on” jobs are going to immigrants: A country that cannot create jobs for its native-born population is not a superpower. In an interview former Global Crossing CEO Leo Hindery said that the incentives of globalization have disconnected US corporations from US (domestic) interests.

I think we are measuring the contemporary global economy in old time parameters. I’m a car buff. Ford owned Ford of England in the 1920s. Ford of Germany in the 1930s. Ford built the largest truck plant to that time in Russia, in the 1934-1935 time frame. GM owns Opel from before WW2. It also owned the English Vauxhall and still makes cars wearing that badge as well as Australia’s Holden.

JVC stands for Japan Victor Corporation, once a wholly owned subsidiary of RCA. Caltex, which retailed petroleum products around the Pacific basin from the 1930s onward, was a joint venture between Standard Oil of California and The Texas Company which sold gasoline here under the Texaco label. Although the Arabs own the Persian Gulf oil, it has been - since WW2 - an American oil company that pumps, refines and ships the good stuff. Globalization is a matter of degree, but not a recent development.

"According to Hindery, off-shoring serves the short-term interests of shareholders and executive pay at the long-term expense of U.S. economic strength. A country whose business class has no sense of the nation is not a superpower.

That’s not a new problem and we already have a solution that was tried and worked. In 1942, Congress raised the income tax rates so the highest bracket - over $200,000 - real money in 1942 - to ninety-one percent! 91%. That discourages greed. Further, the Congress also enacted a 50% excess profits tax on corporations - back when corporations actually paid taxes. If you did business in the US, you paid taxes in the US, regardless where you called home. That also serves as a brake on price gouging. I do not know when the excess profit tax was repealed - probably under Ike - but the 91% top bracket rate remained in effect until JFK cut it to 70%! Carter cut it to 50%. Hmm?

“ . . launching a war of aggression on lies and fabricated "intelligence" violated the Nuremberg standard established by international law (as well as the UN Charter we imposed on the world). Extensive civilian casualties and infrastructure destruction in Iraq, along with the torture of detainees in concentration camps have destroyed the soft power and moral leadership that provided the diplomatic foundation (let’s say cover) for America's superpower status. A country that is not respected or trusted and which promises yet more war isolates itself from cooperation from the rest of the world. An isolated country is not a superpower.

Maybe you should measure a superpower by how much havoc it can create in how little time? You’re saying Red state thinking versus Blue state thinking. See my numbers above.

A country that fears small, distant countries (North Korea?) to such an extent that it utilizes military in place of diplomatic means is not a superpower (or Iran?). In 2005, U.S. dependency on imported manufactured goods was twice as large as U.S. dependency on imported oil.

So Americans like gadgets. We want to be up-to-date in our high tech toys. I’m jesting, but I said at the beginning it is CULTURE that makes a country a “superpower.” Not M1A1 tanks, or F16s, nuclear subs, KH satellites or the DJIA finally crossing 11,000 and heading for 20,000!

It is a brave new world. Well, at least, it’s a new world.

(Comments in parentheses are DWs.)

[edit on 4/28/2006 by donwhite]

Originally posted by donwhite
So Americans like gadgets. We want to be up-to-date in our high tech toys. I’m jesting, but I said at the beginning it is CULTURE that makes a country a “superpower.” Not M1A1 tanks, or F16s, nuclear subs, KH satellites or the DJIA finally crossing 11,000 and heading for 20,000!

Ooo its culture. Well it seems to me we owned the soft power as well. Like music, movies, American food, etc. Remember what the French said about us?

hello don
Do you really believe the US is a superpower, well which wars did you go it alone, name one if you can, the USA/UN were brought to a standstill in Korea you were thrashed in Vietnam by men wearing pajama's, both those combatents were supplied and backed by the Chinese. Iraq 1/2 us brits and others had to hold your hands, so exactly where is this rubbish we did it our way and dont say you won ww1 or ww2 because you did not. The trouble with some Americans is that you think newspapers are history books, well they are not. Also your comments show how little humanity you have thinking killing and robbing people can be a just cause. America is a global terrorist and will one day be made to pay for its actions.
Your Country is teetering on the edge of a financial abbyss, China even the EU is outstripping you globally. When I was younger I was proud of being part of what was once the worlds greatest empire. Then you find out that you have killed 12 million + robbed people of their homes, natural resources, traditions, faith's all because we thought we were better. Being a great nation is not about making war, thats the process that the power brokers want you to believe, all those nasty muslims out there to get you.
There is a difference between capability and competence and history has shown that American forces are not that competent, remember that ghost the Vietnam war. You were a superpower then and were trying to stem the spread of communism and you failed misreably. Those farmers in pyjama's did not seem too intimidated by the great USA. Oh and by the way before you mention 9/11, the alleged highjackers were saudis so why did you invade Iraq and not Saudi Arabia.
And mentioning Iraq you dont seem to be doing to well there do you, got yourself into a bit of a mess again but hey your a superpower if you keep saying it maybe you will believe it you know like that idiot bush telling you Iraq was resposible for 9/11. But therein lies the problem, if Saddam was behind it, why would the leader of a two bit country take on the worlds only superpower. Do you see the point im trying to make, obviously some people dont think the USA is a superpower and are quite happy to take you on. God help you when the Chinese start with you, then you can sing I did it my way all the way to your bomb shelter. Wake up Don and all similar thinkers, life is about peace and harmony and rising above the murder and mayhem perpatrated by the elite. You dont see the politicians, power mad and rich going off to war do you. No they send the cannon fodder to do their dirty work for them. Is another major war going to may you happy, richer, feel better or superior no it is not. Peace and harmony to all human lifeforms
magicmushroom

Superpowers take over countries, they don't get their asses handed to them by insurgents.

Twice. East Asia or the Middle East, you call it.

Originally posted by Jakomo
Superpowers take over countries, they don't get their asses handed to them by insurgents.

So…by this criteria, exactly what nation could be considered a “superpower”?

Or is it that a “superpower” uses every means to crush any and all insurgencies (since this appears to be the one defining factor) without regards?…historically this appears to have worked…at least in the short term…yes?


mg

Originally posted by Jakomo
Superpowers take over countries, they don't get their asses handed to them by insurgents.

Twice. East Asia or the Middle East, you call it.

So whats North Vietnam, North Korea or even Iraq then, superpowers as well for invading their neighbors?

Magicmushroom, you can talk about China becoming superpower and telling how America is falling to smaller countries or insurgencies. But remember that Vietnam kicked China's butt in the 1980s over border dispute, it was embarrasing for China. Hence why China hasnt done nothing yet. I guess China is falling as well right? Lose to insurgency means losing the empire status.

[edit on 28-4-2006 by deltaboy]

OK, the US is a super power, but.......... it still needs its allies to maintain that title.

Without them, then i leave the rest up to you..............................

It's just the front runner of the A-typical Super Power however the U.S. does have military supierority and a rather high GNP as compared to most of the world, its economy is growing ever so weak, with the incoming of immigrants, more jobs going overseas, more inflation, things aren't looking good.

Originally posted by Masisoar
It's just the front runner of the A-typical Super Power however the U.S. does have military supierority and a rather high GNP as compared to most of the world, its economy is growing ever so weak, with the incoming of immigrants, more jobs going overseas, more inflation, things aren't looking good.

Things never look good for the U.S. Wars, natural disasters, economic decline (ex. Great Depression), civil war, etc. We survive them all.

Originally posted by deltaboy


Things never look good for the U.S. Wars, natural disasters, economic decline (ex. Great Depression), civil war, etc. We survive them all.

That's definately true Delta Boy, it's not so much our economy I'm worried about. I just hope our nation can survive Bush.

Originally posted by deltaboy
Things never look good for the U.S. Wars, natural disasters, economic decline (ex. Great Depression), civil war, etc. We survive them all.

Not sure the relatives of loved ones lost to Wars, hurricanes , tornado's, floods etc would agree with you on that.

You don't survive them, because you were never involved in them. You carry on with normal life just like anyone else would.

Hey, AOP, you’re talking Old Think, Old Speak, whereas the globalized world economy is listening to New Think, New Speak. I admit I have not yet been able to get “my head around it” but the super financial wizards ignore most of the numbers you and I find impressive or alarming.

Are you claiming that no one knows what the hell is going on? I tend to agree with you on that.

Do you know the banker’s worst nightmare? When the banker suddenly realizes he has loaned the borrower so much money the banker cannot let the borrower fail. The banker cannot “call” the loans. The relationship is now symbiotic. It is now become a question of “minimizing” the inevitable losses, but forestalling the day of reckoning in the hope something good will happen. Or what is the bare minimum loan needed to keep the borrower afloat? The borrower and lender are now partners, even if unintended.

Yes but most of America is broke. The loans are mostly on credit with collateral like one's home etc. If payday does arrive there would be a lot of banks with more homes than they have need for and a lot of angry homeless people.

I dunno. What do you call 12 supercarrier battle groups? To be serious for a moment, China is not an aggressive power. Not for more than 2,000 years. Japan is no longer an aggressing power. Never again after Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Neither of those 2 economic giants are going to launch a shooting war above brigade size. Example: China has normalized its border with Russia.

It takes a particular “culture” to be an aggressing superpower. The US has it, the other’s don’t. America is the Youngest and Only superpower (the USSR was as much a creation of the CIA as it was of the Kremlin. See Also Military Industrial Congressional Complex.) We have an almost unbroken tradition of bullying around in the world. Excluding the second half of the 20th century, America has always went it alone, as Frank Sinatra said, “doing it our way.” Taking what we wanted when we wanted it. 53,000,000 Americans still prefer that approach.

Much like Al Qaeda is a CIA creation? You have never gone alone, It's just how your media portrayed it. 53 million? Mostly we know whom, no need to go into details.

I think we are measuring the contemporary global economy in old time parameters. I’m a car buff. Ford owned Ford of England in the 1920s. Ford of Germany in the 1930s. Ford built the largest truck plant to that time in Russia, in the 1934-1935 time frame. GM owns Opel from before WW2. It also owned the English Vauxhall and still makes cars wearing that badge as well as Australia’s Holden.

I can't beleive you're using GM as a rhetoric, correct me if I am wrong but didnt they just lay off a large number of employes and reduced the salaries of the executives so much so they were forced to buy cars from GM?

Things never look good for the U.S. Wars, natural disasters, economic decline (ex. Great Depression), civil war, etc. We survive them all.

Pride does come before a fall.

Hegemon and Superpower all day long.
Strategic Reactions to American Preeminence: Great Power Politics in the Age of Unipolarity

The NewsMax Paul Craig Roberts article is nothing but a redo and rehash of Paul Craig Roberts article which appeared in January of 2006.
Furthermore, Paul Craig Roberts is a columnist and far from an International Relations expert or scholar, thus IMHO, making his assertions simply meaningless and apart of an agenda, which when one looks at the articles that he has written, becomes glaringly apparent.


AccidentallyOnPurpose:

Pride comes before the fall.

How prophetic, and ironically, in tune with Paul Craig Roberts...
Wishful thinking comes with those looking forward to that fall, eh?
Paul Craig Roberts has become nothing but a soothsayer that has long been predicting inevitable DOOM for the U.S. Anything new here, other than NewsMax being stupid enough to not screen him out?






seekerof

[edit on 28-4-2006 by Seekerof]

I agree with Seeker, this article is a load of garbage. You may wish teh US would fall from its place, but I dont think itll happen anytime soon. I mean, weve hit pretty low on our economy in the past 50 years and always seem to recover somehow. Our economy isnt even in that bad of shape right now. The US is the largest player in the global economy, what would happen if the US hit another depression, it would go global, and no other country can afford to see it happen than the US herself can, its not arrogance, its a simple fact.