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News Flash!
Sep. 18th, 2008 12:21 pmFrom the front page of the Cleveland Plain Dealer - "Crisis will force Americans to live within their means." Isn't it obvious that there is a problem with living beyond your means indefinitely?
I guess it hasn't been obvious to Americans in general. Our savings rate has dropped to the point where there are more people spending beyond their means than there are people saving for a rainy day (i.e. a negative savings rate).
It apparently hasn't been obvious to Republicans who've been running up an enormous deficit whenever they get a chance or to the voters who kept re-electing them anyway.
It apparently isn't obvious to those in congress and elsewhere who are dragging their feet about shifting to renewable energy sources and a sustainable economy.
The big question is whether the current crises will jolt us as a society enough for us to get our act together or whether we'll just go back to business as usual pursuing short-term payoffs until a bigger crisis hits. I can't say I'm very optimistic.
I guess it hasn't been obvious to Americans in general. Our savings rate has dropped to the point where there are more people spending beyond their means than there are people saving for a rainy day (i.e. a negative savings rate).
It apparently hasn't been obvious to Republicans who've been running up an enormous deficit whenever they get a chance or to the voters who kept re-electing them anyway.
It apparently isn't obvious to those in congress and elsewhere who are dragging their feet about shifting to renewable energy sources and a sustainable economy.
The big question is whether the current crises will jolt us as a society enough for us to get our act together or whether we'll just go back to business as usual pursuing short-term payoffs until a bigger crisis hits. I can't say I'm very optimistic.
