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1/Today's @bopinion post is about America in decline, and what it means for ordinary Americans. https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-06-29/coronavirus-brings-american-decline-out-in-the-open
2/Decline started with a bunch of little stuff that we learned to live with.
Like buildings and roads that took forever to build. https://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2012/07/why-does-it-take-so-long-build-stuff-these-days/
Like buildings and roads that took forever to build. https://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2012/07/why-does-it-take-so-long-build-stuff-these-days/
3/Or ridiculous, insane hospital bills that we grew used to paying (or avoiding). https://www.vox.com/health-care/2019/1/22/18188777/emergency-room-fees-health-care-costs
4/Or huge pointless fees, like paying 6% real estate commissions when people in other countries were paying 2%. https://graphics.wsj.com/table/commish_1016
5/These were all small harbingers of our decline. We learned to grumble and put up with them.
Then came coronavirus. And suddenly, decline was no longer a small, gradual force in our lives. Suddenly it was at our very throats. https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-03-29/coronavirus-makes-america-seem-like-a-civilization-in-decline?sref=R8NfLgwS
Then came coronavirus. And suddenly, decline was no longer a small, gradual force in our lives. Suddenly it was at our very throats. https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-03-29/coronavirus-makes-america-seem-like-a-civilization-in-decline?sref=R8NfLgwS
6/This picture is an incredibly vivid illustration of a nation in decline.
7/Texans and Floridians are cowering in their homes for fear of a virus that their leaders refused to suppress, while Italians are walking the streets and eating in cafes again. https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/05/04/849989973/millions-return-to-work-in-italy-after-weeks-of-lockdown
8/But coronavirus is only one piece of American decline, I'm afraid.
Another is our brutal, lawless police forces. https://policeabuses.info/#/
Another is our brutal, lawless police forces. https://policeabuses.info/#/
9/Now we are hell-bent on accelerating our decline.
We're kicking out the skilled immigrants who are the absolute indispensable LIFEBLOOD of our high-value knowledge industries and scientific research supremacy. https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-04-29/trump-coronavirus-immigration-lockdown-will-weaken-u-s-economy?sref=R8NfLgwS
We're kicking out the skilled immigrants who are the absolute indispensable LIFEBLOOD of our high-value knowledge industries and scientific research supremacy. https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-04-29/trump-coronavirus-immigration-lockdown-will-weaken-u-s-economy?sref=R8NfLgwS
10/And we're probably going to let much of our university system -- Number 1 in the world, the tentpole of our high-value industries and scientific leadership and thriving college towns -- wither on the vine. https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-05-16/coronavirus-will-end-the-golden-age-for-college-towns?sref=R8NfLgwS
11/We need to act to arrest this decline.
We need to act BIG.
And we need to act NOW.
We need to act BIG.
And we need to act NOW.
12/Because if we don't, it's only a matter of time until the other shoe falls:
CAPITAL FLIGHT.
Maybe you haven't thought about the possibility of capital flight, or maybe you don't think it could ever happen here, but you had better worry about it.
CAPITAL FLIGHT.
Maybe you haven't thought about the possibility of capital flight, or maybe you don't think it could ever happen here, but you had better worry about it.
13/Capital flight means investors deciding that Europe, Asia, Canada, etc. are better places to put their money.
Just one consequence of that would be a crash in the dollar, making it harder to afford the cheap imports that sustain our lifestyles. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2020-06-13/u-s-dollar-s-exorbitant-privilege-is-about-to-end-kbdl8zcy
Just one consequence of that would be a crash in the dollar, making it harder to afford the cheap imports that sustain our lifestyles. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2020-06-13/u-s-dollar-s-exorbitant-privilege-is-about-to-end-kbdl8zcy
14/In order to keep capital in the country, the Fed would have to raise interest rates, choking off economic activity and creating stagflation.
Leaders -- especially idiots like the people who fumbled the coronavirus response -- would be tempted to impose price controls.
Leaders -- especially idiots like the people who fumbled the coronavirus response -- would be tempted to impose price controls.
15/The endgame of capital flight is a Venezuela-style collapse. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/17/world/americas/venezuela-economy.html
16/We're not near a Venezuela-style collapse yet, but we are DEFINITELY heading in that direction.
We need a big change of leadership right now. And more than that, we need a big change in our national consciousness.
We need a big change of leadership right now. And more than that, we need a big change in our national consciousness.
17/If we do not accept the reality that our nation is headed in a disastrous direction, and the necessity of a huge effort and big changes to turn things around, we are in dire trouble.
Consider yourselves warned.
(end) https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-06-29/coronavirus-brings-american-decline-out-in-the-open
Consider yourselves warned.
(end) https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-06-29/coronavirus-brings-american-decline-out-in-the-open
