US Lagging

When China and other countries are investing in the future, the US is balancing the budget on the backs of the weakest ones, the children.

That seems unfair and stupid.

Thanks Sarah Palin.


``The net effect is that the United States will continue to massively subsidize consumption and starve investment. This is exactly the opposite of what history tells us produces long-term economic growth. The American economy is already far too focused on consumption and credit. And not only will this approach have limited benefits to the budget - any fiscal discipline that does not tackle entitlement spending is a charade - but we are cutting in precisely the areas where we should increase spending. From China to South Korea to Germany, countries are making large investments for future growth at the moment we are pruning such expenditures.''

``America's growth and prosperity over the past few decades have been consequences of major investments made in the 1950s and 1960s. Some of those are the interstate highway system; a public education system that was the envy of the world; massive funding for science and technology that produced the semi-conductor industry, large-scale computing, the Internet and the global positioning system. When we look back in 20 years, what investments will we point to that created the next generation of growth for the next generation of Americans?´

Fareed Zakaria