Questions About Economics

I have often scratched my head, trying to understand how it is that the American economy seems to depend on my spending money. Everytime there's a blip on the economic radar, it seems it's because people didn't spend as much as expected on back to school products or on holiday giving. Is our gross national product the spending of money by the populace? It seems so much of our economy depends, not just on our spending money, but on our investing in companies, and even on our using credit.

I was reading an oped article by Harold Myerson, who is a writer and editor of American Prospect and the L.A. Weekly. He is of the opinion that the failing companies like Lehman Brothers and Merril Lynch deserve to die due to their poor management and greed. He mentions that over the last 8 years, the U.S. economy has created only 5 million jobs, and the median income of American households has declined. Our infrastucture is failing,(bridges, roads, airports) New Orleans has not been rebuilt. He asserts that American productivity within the United States is no longer the prime target of investment. Now household consumption, known as shopping, comprises 70% of our economy---that's 70%, people. We get to keep our country afloat economically by spending more of our decreasing income on products from China.

Mr Meyerson goes on to lambast Wall Street for turning thier backs on America, only caring about profit and themselves. He says that it wasn't always this way. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, bankers like August Belmont and J.P. Morgan invested European capital in American rail roads and steel. The Whig party, a forerunner to the Republican party, committed to develope the country's infrastructure. Later, as the Republican party, they created land grant colleges to help the populace get an education. The currant Rebulican party seems to have loyalty only to large corporations. These are the same corporations that want Americans to take on more debt to buy more things that they probably don't need, then cry foul when these people can't pay their debt. Now these corporations are beginning to admit that they may have pushed credit onto people who really weren't able to handle that much credit.

I'm not totally comfortable with the Treasury's huge bail-out proposal either. Other than the government buying subprime mortgages, there doesn't seem to be a lot of info on what will actually be done. The fact that one man will have all that power with little or no oversight is a recipe for disaster. I know Congress is trying to put in oversight, as well as some help for individuals,but it is tough going. Hopefully, they will stay in session until it gets done better,and not take the easy way out just so they can get home to campaign for re-election. It seems, to me, that the electorate would be more impressed by seeing them doing thier jobs.