The Economy

[Jester]

Perhaps we spend too much, and everyone else spends too little. If we were to just look at Aircraft Carriers... USA 24 (12 are the huge Nimitz class 4.5 acre ships), rest of the world has 13 small ones. 2nd place is Britain with 3 Invincible class (two in commision), and the HMS Ocean.

You don't just outspend your allies, behooving them to step up to the plate. You also vastly outspend your potential enemies. In sheer dollar terms (understanding that this is not the whole game) you could take them all on together, twice over.

Which is what I meant originally, when I blamed the politicians of following Keynesian theory only when it suited them. Keynes did not advocate balanced budgets in the good times, but surplus budgets. When is the last time the US ran a surplus budget, or reduced our national debt? Answer: FY 1998 to 2001 -- So what happened in 2001 to change the good times? Tech bubble, Iraq War, Afghan War and Sept 11. The problem with Keynesian theory it seems is that there is always something to which we consider a national emergency sufficient to continue to use the charge card, rather than pay it down.

And what I'm saying is that there are Democratic administrations (the Keynesian ones) that have made substantial strides towards that goal, only to watch them undone by subsequent Republican administrations (the not-Keynesian ones.) Blaming Keynesian ideas or their followers therefore makes less sense than the more obvious targets of blaming Ronald Reagan and George "Dubya" Bush, who cut taxes and raise spending at the same time. (Not to mention starting expensive wars of choice halfway around the world, all the while talking about how they'll pay for themselves...)

-Jester