

A Fruitful Decade for Many in the World  - cwan
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/03/business/economy/03view.html

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mcantelon
>TO put it bluntly, if the United States takes one step back and the rest of
the world takes two steps forward, even in purely selfish terms we should
consider accepting the trade-off, if only for the longer run.

When the Chinese dammed the Yangtze River they assured the farmers who lost
their land that it was for the collective good, as if that was somehow
compensation for their individual financial loss. This article seems to have a
similar tone, glossing over the fact that the previous decade, for US
citizens, involved a massive shift of assets from the middle class to the
already very well-off, in addition to the movement of industry to emerging
economies.

Emerging economies likely would have done even better without the global
meltdown that was largely caused by the US deregulation-driven con games.

~~~
cwan
While I can agree with the first part of the statement, the global meltdown
was not "largely caused by US deregulation-driven con games". Regulation
however well intentioned and in how it was implemented played a decisive if
not the decisive role. Attempts to maneuver around regulation creating less
transparency was causal. Government sponsored agencies also contributed
heavily to the meltdown.

I also don't think it is true to say that there was a massive shift of assets
from middle class to already very well off given that it is the rich who
largely suffered the most from this meltdown (given that it was an asset
pricing bubble and it is the rich who tend to be the ones who hold more
assets). One thing you also notice that's really different about the US (and
in many ways Canada as well) and the rest of the world is that the rich are
pretty much the same people elsewhere, whereas there at least seems to be a
lot more movement/mobility or the potential to be in the US.

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gamble
I thought the 2000s were generally kind to Canada - certainly better than the
previous decade. Americans may forget that the '90s (or the '50s, or '80s...)
weren't a golden age for everyone. Many of the countries that did well in the
last ten years were miserable during the '90s, but used that time to get their
houses in order.

