I keep reading people's statements that the American economy is coming back, but how can it without incurring debt? I don't necessarily mean government debt, but personal debt. If, as I often here, 70% of the American economy is based on consumption then how can we continue to have a thriving economy without ultimately incurring enough debt that it cannot continue? Such is the premise of Pat Buchanan's latest column (which is a subject he repeats often, but one of the few in which I agree with him on):
Is it possible America could become again the dominant manufacturing nation she was from 1880 to 1980? Not only possible but easy to accomplish – and within a decade.
Paul Otellini, CEO of Intel, has half the answer. "We should offer tax credits or a five- to 10-year tax holiday to companies, domestic or foreign, that want to set up or expand a factory in the U.S."
How would we finance it? As most foreign nations impose value-added taxes averaging 20 percent on U.S.-made goods that enter their countries, put a tariff of 20 percent on all foreign goods.
Hundreds of billions would suddenly pour into the U.S. treasury. Imports would slowly shrink. Production in America would soar.
" now, but what do these people offer us in return? I have yet to hear a solution to America's
except more trade agreements and empty promises.
