America's Financial Crisis

[Armenian]

Re: America's Financial Crisis

Self-sufficiency is as free as a nation will ever be. Free to wage war without having to worry about key resources, impact(s) of disruptions caused by the war, not having to bend to the desires of another nation because they own key industries in your nation, etc. Armenia is a long way from this happening, if ever, but it would be a HUGE event for Armenia if we could become in theory, self-sufficient.

And please take into account the political systems and regional dynamics i.e. geopolitcs of cuba and n. korea. Economics depends heavily on politics, that's why adam smith called it "political economy" and he would be pissed to see so many modern economists try to portray economics as separte from politcal events.

Armenen, you and Annon are essentially talking about two different things. Armenia will not be able to attain the kind of freedom you are referring to in our lifetimes. In the modern world (post industrial world), nations simply cannot prosper under isolation. In the past, in the pre-modern world, the vast majority of a given nation's/kingdom's population were the "self-sufficient" peasantry and a tiny minority were the nation's nobility. The tiny minority of nobles more-or-less lived off the land's peasantry and empires were forged out of nations that succeeded in directly controlling/exploiting international trade routes. However, in the past, a nation did not necessarily have to control vast networks of trade routes to survive. The relatively small population of any given land lived off the natural wealth of that land. Today, with a massive global population explosion, technology, high standard of living and dwindling natural resources, nations simply cannot afford to remain isolated from the global society. A nation like Armenia, in particular, cannot even 'survive' under isolation due to its severe lack of natural resources, not to mention it being landlocked and surrounded by enemies. So, in a sense, it's a two edged sword in the modern world. As many nations have been realizing lately, nations can prosper with international trade yet, if international trade is carried out haphazardly, nations can also be held slave to it as well. Let's face our hard reality, Armenia cannot survive another generation under its current socioeconomic situation. Something must be done to break the shackles of life in the Caucasus if Armenia is to move forward in the modern world. However, striving for Armenia's free access to the global market has to be done strategically and with great political prudence. Whether-or-not our national leaders can pull this off is altogether another story. Observing the caliber of our population in the diaspora and in the homeland does not give me much hope for this.

[Armanen]

Re: America's Financial Crisis

Armenia will not be able to attain the kind of freedom you are referring to in our lifetimes.

30 years ago many Armenians were saying "we will never see an independent Armenia in our lifetimes". I realize that with the current geopolitical situation in the Caucasus, Armenia's small size and population, self-sufficiency isn't likely for sometime, maybe never, but it should be a goal that Armenia pursues, if not overall then in some key industries. For example with more investment Armenia could be 100% energy independent, solar, wind, hydro-electric, and nuclear. We get our enriched uranium from Russia but if we built enough wind and solar plants then if worse came to worse Armenia could rely on the other aspects of its energy industry. Second, we buy most of our arms from Russia. While I do not see Armenia producing planes or tanks anytime soon, there is no reason why we can not expand on our small arms industry which currently makes firearms and some add ons to military vehicle's. I may be missing a few more things so let me know, but my point is we can and must build on these. I wish I had saved the article, but there was an Armenian film maker, journalist and freedom fighter who had drawn up plans to build a tank that would be idle for Artsakh's terrain, he was contacted by israeli officials who wanted him to sell them that info, but he refused since he said it was only for Armenia.

As many nations have been realizing lately, nations can prosper with international trade yet, if international trade is carried out haphazardly, nations can also be held slave to it as well.

This is what I want, I realize we may never be able to be fully self-sufficient, but I do not want us to be 100% free trade and let anyone buy anything anytime either. If borders are opened with turkey it should be after a law is passed that doesn't allow turks to buy key industries or property in certain parts of the country, like the border regions. Free trade is not some cure all, the core nations take advantage of the periphery whilst talking about the benefits of "free trade" There is much more to becoming a high income nation than open borders and no tariffs.

Armenia cannot survive another generation under its current socioeconomic situation.

Let's not be melodramtic. Armenia has done better than most would have expected with the s*it conditions forced upon it, and things have and will continue to improve.

However, striving for Armenia's free access to the global market has to be done strategically and with great political prudence.

Agreed!

Observing the caliber of our population in the diaspora and in the homeland does not give me much hope for this.

Observing the caliber of people in general, the decadence of society and those or rule over us, we may not have to worry about any of this. Big things are ahead and Armenia is just one jigsaw in the much grander puzzle.

[yerazhishda]

Re: America's Financial Crisis

What will $700 billion dollars buy? Here's a hint: not the world economy.

******************

Dow down 700 points

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Stocks tanked Monday, with the Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq falling to nearly five-year lows as credit markets seized up and European governments' rush to prop up failing financial firms underscored the global reach of the credit crunch.

Credit markets remained tight, with two key measures of bank jitters hitting an all-time high. Treasurys rallied, lowering the corresponding yields as investors sought safety in government debt. Gold rallied for the same reason. Oil dipped. The dollar jumped versus the euro and fell against the yen.

The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) lost as much as 604 points before pulling back a little bit, hitting the lowest level during a session since Nov. 24, 2003, when it touched 9629.83.

The Standard & Poor's 500 (SPX) index fell 7.7%, hitting its lowest point since Sept. 12, 2003. The Nasdaq composite (COMP) lost 7.9%.

source: CNN

[Azad]

Re: America's Financial Crisis

More spending ... money they don't have.

Fed announces new steps to inject billions into economy

By Jeannine Aversa, AP Economics Writer
WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve will provide as much as $900 billion in cash loans to squeezed banks in an urgent effort Monday to break through a dangerous credit clog that threatens the economy and has unhinged financial markets around the globe.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/banking/2008-10-06-fed-reserves_N.htm?csp=34

[Armanen]

Re: America's Financial Crisis

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27054709

[Armenian]

Re: America's Financial Crisis

"I'll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today"

Come to think of it,

wasn't Wimpy (of Popeye fame) the quintessential American?

[Anonymouse]

Re: America's Financial Crisis

"I'll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today"

Come to think of it,

wasn't Wimpy (of Popeye fame) the quintessential American?

Yes, from the Fed down to the average yokel indebted in credit card debt.

The republicans borrow and spend, the democrats tax and spend.

This country is bankrupt. They had to raise the cap on the debt limit to 11.6 trillion (I think). This country has no money. It is stretched thing. Asia will not continue to finance our debt indefinitely. Yet both of these stupid presidential candidates are talking about spending on all these things.

Eh.

[yerazhishda]

Re: America's Financial Crisis

America is (and has been for a while) a nation of indentured servants - to the government and the bankers. Maybe we should get some voodoo priestesses to resurrect the Founding Fathers from the dead to fix this mess.

[Armanen]

Re: America's Financial Crisis

Maybe we should get some voodoo priestesses to resurrect the Founding Fathers from the dead to fix this mess.

Wouldn't help. They would drop dead at the sight of what america has turned into.

[Armenian]

Re: America's Financial Crisis

Wouldn't help. They would drop dead at the sight of what america has turned into.

Do you really think the "founding fathers" were less corrupt than the people running the show today? Other than what we learn about them in school or on the History Channel how much do we really know about the founding fathers or about the Revolutionary War. The revolutionary war was not a war of ideology versus oppression, it was essentially a war organized by wealthy landowners in America to end foreign taxation. On a side note, had it not been for the French Fleet at Yorktown or foreign officers like Marquis de Lafayette, Kosciusko, Pulaski and Baron Von Steuben training the American army against the British, the colonies would have never been able to achieve their independence. In my opinion, the aforementioned men, as well as the nation of France, are the real founding fathers of America. Baron Von Steuben in particular was the sole person responsible for turning the ragtag militias of the colonies into a professional fighting force. How many Americans know about him, compared to a mediocre military man and a defeatist figure like "George Washington"? Of all the things we may think we don't know much about, the American Revolutionary War is something we actually know very little about. Relatively speaking, very little is written in America about the European men mentioned above:

Here is a little piece on Baron Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben, notice that his story appears under the condescending title - "Friends of the American Revolution":



Source: http://21stcenturycicero.wordpress.c...m-von-steuben/