Have you ever wondered what the future holds in the U.S. economy, and what kind of jobs will be available in years to come? With the way the government is handling the economy and itself right now, the future is not bright, and the future economy looks stagnant. But this can be changed. With a different attitude towards regulation in the way it spends and taxation, the US can grow the economy by leaps and bounds.
One of the main problems of the government, specifically federal, is the amount of money it continues to spend each year. Both the military and welfare programs contribute a great amount to the budget. According to Laurence Summers of the Washington post, as of 2012 32% of the federal budget is used for some sort of welfare, which it a great amount of growth from previous eras (Summers). Summers also mentions that military continues to spend at a high level due to its far-reaching influence over many parts of the world. Both the high spending of the welfare state and the use of the military is a major contributor to the US’s poor state. The reason for spending not being cut is a clear-political deadlock between the two parties in Washington D.C. Republicans want to cut back on welfare and want to continue to expand the military. Democrats want to expand the welfare state in the country and want to cut the use of the military. The two opposite theories have created such conflicting views that nothing has been done, and it looks like nothing will be done to fix the US’s budget issues. Members of government need to put aside their differences and need to work together to make a better budget. The reason a better budget is essential is simply: the future of US and the type of pressures they will face from debt. The way the debt is piling up, the next generation will be massively economically hindered. When any one person goes into debt the bank basically owns all their stuff. In this case, China(the creditor) will be technically owning us. No, China won’t actual own us, but they will be far superior from an economic standpoint compared to the US. Because China has some much money they “loan” to the US, it will be easy for them to spend down the road on things that will improve their trade and overall economy. The US won't have this type of flexibility down the road, and at some point China will loan no more and the US will have no idea of what to do as it continues to spend in the future(tendencies build, especially for things that are always in debt to someone). The US can end this cycle right now with a few simple compromises by each political party, and can create a bright future for the next generation in the US.
With the way the US spends at a prolific rate, it makes sense that the government would mess up the way taxes are spent as well. Everyone knows that taxes hinder ones overall economic productivity, but that they are also essential to the country as a whole. Once again compromise comes in to play. Conservatives will want to expand the economy through less taxes and Liberals will want to tax more and give back to the poor. Both can be accomplished through compromise- something that is rare in today’s politics. To please conservatives welfare can be reformed(and shrunk)by cutting some programs. These cuts would also lead to lower taxes giving business owners more money to hire and grow the economy(pulling people out of welfare). Liberals can be pleased by creating smarter, not more, welfare for people. If the welfare is better and in less quantity then people in poverty who need welfare can get out of poverty by learning new skills from the welfare. This would slowly end welfare(which is what the goal should be) from both the conservative and liberal end. That way both parties can take credit and feel good about what they did. With more people off welfare and employed, the mess that is currently the tax code will need to be fixed. Paying taxes today takes away from hours that Americans could be using to be economically efficient-whether it’s work or being an everyday consumer. By both parties creating a bipartisan and efficient tax code, Americans can get through the most dreaded part of the year-paying taxes. If the US is able to finally compromise of the issues related to taxes, the country can see some major economic growth.
Right now it seems unlikely to many that the US will reform and compromise, but I have faith. If there is some awareness around the country of how simple the start of fixing our economy is, then maybe some changes will begin to happen. Who knows, maybe the government will actually will turn it around.
I noticed that you mentioned that China is our most prominent creditor and will, in a way, own the U.S. through debts. I've heard a lot about this before and it prompted me to conduct a bit of research about what China is doing with the money that we'll owe them in the future. I found out that the Chinese government and private investors are purchasing American land/real estate. Some plots of land are actually just being given to China as well. China is said to be on the path to becoming the leading land owner in the U.S. So, not only will they own us through debt, but they will physically own us as well. What do you think about this situation? Should we stop selling land to our biggest creditor to avoid being completely controlled?
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