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An excellent quote from Posner: "The institutional structure of the United States is under stress. We might be in dangerous economic straits if the dollar were
by j-b 14y ago
An excellent quote from Posner:
"The institutional structure of the United States is under stress. We might be in dangerous economic straits if the dollar were not the principal international reserve currency and the eurozone in deep fiscal trouble. We have a huge public debt, dangerously neglected infrastructure, a greatly overextended system of criminal punishment, a seeming inability to come to grips with grave environmental problems such as global warming, a very costly but inadequate educational system, unsound immigration policies, an embarrassing obesity epidemic, an excessively costly health care system, a possible rise in structural unemployment, fiscal crises in state and local governments, a screwed-up tax system, a dysfunctional patent system, and growing economic inequality that may soon create serious social tensions. Our capitalist system needs a lot of work to achieve proper capitalist goals." [1]
[1] http://www.becker-posner-blog.com/2012/06/capitalismposner.html http://www.becker-posner-blog.com/2012/06/capitalismposner.h...
- foz 14y agoThat post is an excellent read. He gets right to the heart of the biggest challenge facing the US right now. However there are no solutions put forward, a job which is unfortunately left up to the politicians.
- crusso 14y agoWell, the solution is to elect politicians who are capable of understanding those concepts while having the ethical character necessary to act on behalf of our society. Unfortunately, the electorate is mostly interested in Lindsay Lohan's latest car wreck and Miley Cyrus's engagement.
- christofd 14y agowell, this was 30 years in the making...
- raj_o 14y agoHe missed talking about our massive trade deficit, which is the cornerstone of many of the other financial problems we have. Obviously cheap prices is a valid goal for an economy to work well but without good paying jobs then it barely aids the economy as a whole. Is it any wonder our fiscal problems are so great including, but not limited to, our currency being devalued internationally. How many dollars can you pack into foreign FOREX reserve accounts?