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In 2024, the USA was extremely well poised on the international stage, having weathered global inflation better than any country, having handled COVID better th
by epistasis 10mo ago
In 2024, the USA was extremely well poised on the international stage, having weathered global inflation better than any country, having handled COVID better than China which had hurt itself greatly with its zero-Covid policy, and Europe which stagnated. The USA had massive investment in factories for producing the batteries and solar panels of the new energy economy.
Now, a mere year later, all that economic advantage has been destroyed, the factories are in a precarious position because the entire tax situation was changed underneath them, and the US decided to give up its leadership position on the international stage and hand over all its prior soft power to China, which is now ascendant due to US weakness.
Trump is the cause for all the major weakness of the US as a whole, though Musk can stake a small claim with parts of it such as DOGE. Tesla is on the rocks because of years and years of mismanagement forcing product development into useless, undesirable, and profitless products. The only new product in ages is the cybertruck which was an obvious flop for anyone not addled by Special K, and Full Self Driving and robotics and Tesla taxis are full on vaporware.
The USA will be on the rise again when in returns to its distinctive roots: investing heavily in science and tech, enabling entrepreneurs rather than oligarchs, and eliminating corruption on the government level that chooses favorites rather than letting the best company and products win.
- derektank 10mo agoThis is a minor point but the US did not weather inflation better than any other country. I know that peak inflation in Mexico was lower (Mexico began at a higher baseline, and has not lowered its inflation as much since, but the shock to the US was definitely greater) and I’m confident it was lower elsewhere too. The US did handle COVID quite well, but it was not perfect.
- zenapollo 10mo agoDespite Trump being a huge footgun for the economy and middle class prosperity and general stability, I listen to the work ofPeter Zeihan on macro economic and geopolitical analyses. He has a YouTube channel and was recently on Modern Wisdom podcast for a deeper dive. He makes a strong case that, in the long run, US is still poised to be winning competitively for many reasons. Access to nat resources from Canada, and labor from Mexico are two big ones. The will likely always have food and be a reliable exporter of food, due to luck of climate and soil. The birth rate is less bad than in other developed economies. And we still have great tech and universities.
- ceejayoz 10mo ago> Access to nat resources from Canada, and labor from Mexico are two big ones. Good thing we’re torching our relationship with both!