Currently in College I'm studying to be a Business Economics major. As we do more and more research on how Capitalism works, I've seen a lot of media and college professors discuss our (American) economy. And every time they mention how the economy at its current pace is heading towards downturn. But that's it. It's always just vaguely describe that tragedy can rise, but there's never actually a suggested possibility. I've always personally wondered what this "tragedy" could be. So much so that I've speculated the potential of the United States collapsing from a numerous amount of variables that would come as a result of a failing economy.

Now I'm no expert on foreign countries. And I do know a good lot of you aren't from America nor do you have much care for our economy. So I like to bring this up generally for not just the American economy, but opinions on your own economy. Do you like the outlook of where it's headed? Are their certain fiscal policies that you believe is hurting or helping? Is their something that should be done differently?

I'd like to hear some thoughts.

This country is circling the drain, we spent too much money for too long.

So what's the drain mean then? Like what do you think will happen?

Quote from Sacred

So what's the drain mean then? Like what do you think will happen?

Wouldn't you just have heaps of corporations and business' declaring bankruptcy leading to a massive rise in unemployment and then the social unrest that comes from people being broke, cold and hungry?

Edit: I feel pretty content with the Aus economy at the moment. Though it's not something I've ever felt so concerned about that I would educate myself on the subject either. As long as people want to buy out coal we're going to be pretty set, I also think we're trying to cuddle up to China and export heaps of food which can only be a good thing for us. Though I would like to see Aus invest in something other than coal and oil projects, it sometimes feels like we're carrying all out eggs in one basket.

I've never really looked into the Australian economy. But you never hear about Australia period here in America besides the whole Malaysian flight thing.

Does the Aus economy heavily rely on coal production? Or is that just a good plurality?

I think coal is our #2 export just under iron. So I'd say it's the mining industry as a whole that we rely on. After a quick search the mining industry contributes about 20% to the economy, with 68% coming from the service sector (whatever the hell that is).

So do any of these professors actually offer any insight on how to avoid this 'tragedy', or are they just crying economic collapse for the sake of it? Or is this something you get to delve into later in your degree?

Welcome to economic major, buddy! I am in finance postgraduate with the same undergraduate. I can assure you that they always teach like that.
Well, first off you should check out academic journals if you want to know what "tragedy" that is and I'll just give you spoiler: You won't get direct answers but it makes you feel closer to the truth that can't be explained in 1-paragraph long of comments.

There is no clear answer, it's always been like that, modern or ancient times--what you can do is to make a new theory / improvement of old ones of what is wrong with the economy. Sure, your theory will eventually criticized and replaced by other new/improved one but that is what studying economy is.

If you feel that my comment is vague and full of uncertainty that it's may almost pointless, I can only give you one more warm greeting to the world of academic Economy


As your other three questions, "Bad, as always", "Hurting, as always", and "Yes, as always"

~Peace and Love~

Quote from Putri

Though I can't figure out why you are offended by my post.
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If you look at your post count and the way you somewhat boast (probably not the right word to use) about your knowledge, it gives the image of a stranger butting into a conversation and being a know-it-all. That or its just Jutsu being an ass for the sake of it.

Quote from Gaaading

If you look at your post count and the way you somewhat boast (probably not the right word to use) about your knowledge, it gives the image of a stranger butting into a conversation and being a know-it-all. That or its just Jutsu being an ass for the sake of it.

I see, if you perceive it by that way I am sorry. Though my means was just to brohug Sacred for entering economic major and wants to assist him through the way, as a comrade.

I hate to be a misunderstood newcomer, because I love this community and wants to be part of it

There's a few problems going right now with the American economy.

The nation is mounting debt from government spending. Why is there too much government spending? The government system is now a plutocracy. How are the rich running the country for themselves? Campaigns are more expensive and politicians owe more gratitude to their donors. This is why America has the outsourcing issue. Now it's competing to the work overseas, because of "free trade". The cycle repeats.

The system was not designed this way, but it's slowly worked into it. The hole is so deep it's hard to tell if there's any escaping from it. Scary, actually.

I'd like you guys to watch this video and share some thoughts. Maybe on how you feel about the American economy or how this compares to your own.

I'm sure you have more to say on the topic they were discussing. It's best to generally ignore those types of things in order to remove bias and strictly listen to what it is the person has to say rather than how they say it. I haven't personally looked into it but if what he says is true, then there does seem to be a slippery slope fritz on the rise. It definitely backs the statement, "The rich are getting richer while the poor are getting poorer."

I'd also like for those of you ramping up against Putri to stop. This is not minimodding, this is a request to hear more from him. I'd like to have just about anyone participate in the conversation. If they're flat out wrong then they'll learn from discussion.

Let's keep the thread clean of hazing, guys. I've deleted all the smarmy trolly posts.

Watch it, Jutsu

Quote from WyzDM

The nation is mounting debt from government spending. Why is there too much government spending? The government system is now a plutocracy. How are the rich running the country for themselves? Campaigns are more expensive and politicians owe more gratitude to their donors. This is why America has the outsourcing issue. Now it's competing to the work overseas, because of "free trade". The cycle repeats.

I'm not sure any of these points are related to each other. National debt isn't a bad thing, the interest rates on US bonds and treasuries is so low that after inflation they're virtually negative.

Saying there's "too much" government spending is meaningless unless you can explain how much the government should spend and what those funds should be allocated towards, otherwise you're just criticizing a dollar figure without understanding what it means or what would happen if it was reduced.

A plutocracy is directly controlled by the wealthiest individuals, which is a group that senators and representatives don't belong to in the US. You're thinking of an oligarchy.

Outsourcing is something corporations do, not the federal government, and it has nothing to do with anything you said before it.

Since we're on the topic of the US national debt:



As Exilement said, federal interest rates are at their lowest, as is inflation. My issue is this video subtly hints at what I presented in the first post. The video states that the debt is "Not a problem right now." Considering that the debt will understandably grow if we're not reducing it, is there really any reasonable action that can be taken here? Or is it a lose-lose situation and just not worrying about it right now, like the video suggests we do, is us ignoring/accepting the inevitable?