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"In the fall of 1956 the world was on the brink of a major international conflict. America's allies, Britain and France, were engaged in a battle against Egypt over control of the Suez Canal. The Soviet Union was threatening to intervene on the side of Egypt.
"America wanted to avoid military action at any costs, and demanded that the British and French allies withdraw from the region. When their request was denied, the U.S. turned to financial warfare.
"America, which at that time owned much of England's debt, threatened to sell off or dump a significant part of its holdings in the British pound … this would have effectively destroyed England's currency. The result, all British and French military forces withdrew from the Suez region within weeks. Some historians consider this the exact moment that the British empire ceased to exist." [1]
As far as secret states, my guess would be Iowa.
Related to fiscal matters, I happened to watch the most interesting documentary last night, the 2008 film 'I.O.U.S.A.,' with director Patrick Creadon. This should be relevant, because if the topic of this thread available jobs, it should be apparent that such things depend upon the underlying health of the country and its fiscal health. Those wishing to view this film should find it easily available, and viewed as a rental online if desired.
A few cogent facts from this film. By 2007 this nation's national debt had risen to $8.7 trillion; with gross domestic product (GDP) of $13.5 trillion at that time, this reflected a debt 64% of yearly income. This percentage to GDP was actually higher, but only once in this nation's history. But projected to soon far exceed all historical precedent.
Save for the Great Depression, one will see a distinct trend between national debt and war, with our indebtedness always rising dramatically due war. It did at the time of our war for independence, when in extremes the very existence of this nation was in doubt. Thus by 1789 the national debt was $75 million, or 40% of GDP. At the time this was recognized as unsustainable, and soon lowered so that by 1835 this nation had zero national debt.
WWII witnessed the greatest increase in our national debt, when it rose quickly to 122% of GDP. If some of this soon paid down after the war, it is also evident that ever since the Civil War that the trend in national debt has been ever upward: it will decrease, but never as low as before, gradually rising higher and higher in spikes.
Today our national debt stands at close to $14.5 trillion, climbing by another million dollars every few seconds. It has also about reached parity with GDP, or about 100%. Moreover, projections have this increasing exponentially to within a couple decades to well over 200% of GDP.
We currently pay about $1b (ONE BILLION) dollars PER DAY just in interest on this national debt. Not for schools, teachers, police, firemen, pensions, or anything else - just interest due and gone.
The 'leaders' of this nation have assiduously outsourced manufacturing and industry which is the life-blood of our economy. To the extent now that our imports far exceed our exports, or that earned. China is the top creditor nation today, with far more value in exports than imports; they are in the black. We are in the red, being by far the biggest debtor nation in the world, with an annual deficit of more than $800,000,000,000.
This is not sustainable, and only possible in the short term as we in-debt, enfeeble, and effectively enslave ourselves. The only reason this nation can continue such practices at the moment is because the dollar is the chosen reserve currency for global finance. But it is unlikely to remain as such, and as soon as that changes the United States will be in much the position, and with as few or even less options in borrowing, as Greece.
As is, this nation cannot meet its debts. In obligations in social security (those pension monies we pay, and expropriated by the general treasury), medicare, not to mention national defense or just road maintenance, we cannot meet or pay as is. Either obligations and services distinctly lowered and/or taxes must be radically raised. In either event doing so will significantly lower the standard of living for United States citizens, and the longer such a situation is allowed to fester the worse the end result.
One girl in this film put it all quite succinctly: as if her parents had gone on a long spending spree with their credit cards, entirely maxing them out - then when passing on leaving her with all their debt, and that suffered in consequence.
None of the people profiled in the article said they moved here because they had confidence in the economy here. One hated the weather in WA and moved here to become a...horse groomer(??!) One took a job that pays less than half what he earned at his previous job in Houston. The other (a bankruptcy court manager...really??) went on a mid-life walkabout and is still jobless after blowing her savings on travel and skydiving.
In the spirit of this post and as I've posted before I don't understand sometimes. Some of the new arrivals here in Taos that are in their mid 20's or early 30's just give up a career, a good one in New York or DC or LA or where ever to live in a converted school bus and work two jobs for 65 hours a week with not enough time to enjoy the place. That doesn't make sense to me.
I can understand being unhappy living somewhere but I'd look at something in the middle. Unhappy in New York? Move to Missouri or possibly Arkansas for a little while and keep establishing your profession and career. Good cities like Springfield and Bentonville are very close to beautiful places to go yet you can have a decent if not great career. One day, you'll have the credentials to live in that dream, desirable place, wherever that might be and have the time to enjoy it. And you won't be 100 when that happens. I think you'll be a little older and can appreciate your dream locale a little more.
Now if someone is 18 or 19 and foolish and not ready for college yet, I can see that but to use all that time and spend all that money on training for a profession or trade, I don't. However, some on this forum do get it but I suppose I don't get them. What can I say? hmmmm
BTW, a Bankruptcy Court Manager makes well over a 100 grand a year since it is a Federal Court and they pay very well. They are called the Clerk of the Court. There are lots of those types of positions in Colorado, well not Bankruptcy Clerk but lots of lucrative legal jobs anyways. I wonder why that person didn't wait for an opening. Maybe it was a midlife crisis....
That might describe Colorado Springs with its struggling malls, stores on Academy Blvd, downtown etc. Not in Pueblo and we have had less growth but have concentrated most of the growth in the urban areas so our mall is one of the few making money during this recession and we have had few store closures and our downtown is emerging with new growth, especially by the Riverwalk. This is not to say Pueblo has more work to do, because we do, but we are defiantly on the right track. For example in today's Chieftain they are reporting that Pueblo could get a expansion minor league baseball team and they would play at Runyon Field in downtown not in some new baseball field in the "suburbs". So this would help our urban area grow even more not cause more urban decay and spread the city out like you saw in Colorado Springs with their baseball team.
Please Joseppie...you've got tons of dead store space in Pueblo.
So why is this on the CO forum? Sounds more appropriate for Politics and Controveries.
Well, as Idunn pointed out in the first paragraph, our crushing debt load has much to do with why job creation--both locally and on a broader scale--is so sluggish and likely to remain that way. The referenced movie is a good start towards understanding that dynamic.
Given the massive dependence this state has on federal government spending, which isn't long-term sustainable considering trends in revenue and expenses, understanding the ominous implications of a governmental debt collapse is very important when evaluating where you might stand in this state and its economy if you move here.
Please Joseppie...you've got tons of dead store space in Pueblo.
Of course we do but its not because of urban blight. We don't have a empty mall that is struggling while at the same time the city and a developer is trying to build a new mall and we don't have stores along Pueblo Blvd sitting empty while the city is trying to get a even farther loop finished and allowing new stores to be built on it. Pueblo has had some major economic issues that is true but we are dealing with them head on and trying to fix our urban center not just growing out and that was my point. That growth is good if a city grows right.
Of course we do but its not because of urban blight. We don't have a empty mall that is struggling while at the same time the city and a developer is trying to build a new mall and we don't have stores along Pueblo Blvd sitting empty while the city is trying to get a even farther loop finished and allowing new stores to be built on it. Pueblo has had some major economic issues that is true but we are dealing with them head on and trying to fix our urban center not just growing out and that was my point. That growth is good if a city grows right.
There IS a lot of empty retail and office space in Pueblo. The mall is doing a lot better than it was 7 or 8 years ago, but when you look at shopping areas in Belmont and Pueblo West, you'll see a lot of signs that read "For Sale" and "For Lease." Take a trip to the Pueblo West industrial park and you'll see it for yourself.
There's a TON of empty office space downtown, too. A few months before I moved out of Pueblo, I was running errands downtown and couldn't believe how many vacant buildings I saw. In a given block, there are 8-10 spaces where businesses should be established. In most cases, there are 2 or 3 empty spaces on each block.
Oh, and I haven't heard of any plans to build a new mall in Pueblo either...
Well, as Idunn pointed out in the first paragraph, our crushing debt load has much to do with why job creation--both locally and on a broader scale--is so sluggish and likely to remain that way. The referenced movie is a good start towards understanding that dynamic.
Not really. It's not "our crushing debt load" that's causing a lack of jobs in CO and elsewhere but a recession, a crummy real estate market, and a lack of job and income growth that have sapped consumer demand. Interest rates are relatively low and companies are sitting on hoardes of cash so there's no debt driven monetary crisis causing a lack of investment capital. People and companies don't spend or not spend because of some nebulous amount of government debt.
Just did another walk-through of Chapel Hills Mall in Colorado Springs. The McDonalds in the food court has joined the casualty list and is now gone and boarded up, and about a third of the food court's restaurant space is now closed and sitting idle. I saw one new store, and at least three more empty holes since the last walk-through. The mall ownership is putting up sheet rock walls in front of the empty holes now to try and hide the real extent of the blight. No doubt in my mind--the mall is dying.
Nearby, about half of the restaurants (including fast-food places like Wendys) along a mile-long stretch of North Academy Blvd adjacent to the US Air Force Academy and I-25 interchange have closed. Those that remain are looking run-down, with crumbling pavement and fading paint (the Dennys sign along Razorback Road looks so bad one would be justified to assume that the restaurant closed years ago).
The former Phil Long Expo Center adjacent to the Chapel Hills Mall was sold to a church, and it has the ambience of an abandoned drive-in theater, with noticeable deterioration of the asphalt parking lot.
I've noticed a proliferation of "Doc in the Box" urgent care centers around town in recent months, including one occupying the former Western Wearhouse building at Powers and Barnes...there must be 30,000 sq ft in that building, enough to house a 25-bed hospital! One has to wonder how many $69 owwee visits they have to have just to pay the air conditioning bill.
And of course there is the cancer-like growth of MMJ dispensaries around town, which are rapidly crowding each other out in an environment of limited and still federally-illegal demand, and as the increase of suspicious fires and burglaries/robberies of said establishments highlights.
But there must be a recovery going on. That's the only way I can explain the $65,000 price sticker on a new F-250 diesel pickup truck at Phil Long Ford. And not surprisingly, they have a lot of those on the lot, so the recovery must be going swimmingly well to keep such an inventory on hand!!
So maybe, just maybe, it's not as bad as it looks, and all the people that were working at those now-empty storefronts in the mall, and at all those restaurants, are all gainfully-employed selling $65,000 trucks to each other... (?)
Thats because the population growth in the city is mostly happening in the Northeast section of the city. Thats where the people are moving so thats where the demand for stores/restuarants/ect. also is. Nothing is stopping people from moving to already established neighborhoods along Academy, they are just choosing to live in the newer houses in Stetson Hills. And if you drive down Powers you don't see the abandonment like you see on Academy and Union, or the run down feeling of some areas around those streets. Here's a link from the Gazette showing population growth from 2000 to 2010. El Paso County Census
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