Selling Out a Superpower

Where the U.S. Economy Went Wrong and How We Can Turn It Around

Ronald R. Pollina

• Publisher: Prometheus
• Year: 2011
• eBook ISBN: 9781616142636
• Topic: Economics
• Subtopic: Economic Theory
• Index: Economics

In 1968, there were sixty-two lobbyists in Washington; today there are thirty-four thousand, outnumbering members of Congress and their staffers two to one. By 2008, these lobbyists were spending approximately $8.2 million for influence per day. Few, if any, of these lobbyists represent the majority of Americans in the middle class. So it's not surprising, given these statistics, that real median household income in America has stagnated for over a decade. This hard-hitting book documents that a combination of special interest groups and their army of money-peddling lobbyists, along with government mismanagement of business and the economy by both parties, have betrayed the American middle and lower classes for the last twenty years. The result is a host of misguided laws and policies that have driven jobs and whole industries offshore, never to return. The author takes issue with those who emphasize the potential benefits of globalization without taking notice of its many negative effects on American society. He also argues that inept policy threatens to derail the American economy permanently and that our economic malaise is more than a short-term reaction to a financial market collapse or global market forces. He cites critical areas where changes must be made to reverse the negative trend: · Improving our 1950s-era educational system to produce a workforce able to compete for 21st-century jobs. · Reform of tax codes that have been driving companies and jobs offshore. We are currently a nation that manufactures practically nothing! · Weaning all levels of government away from deficit spending, which drains economic power · Pursuing free trade that also means fair trade. · Ending the cycle of credit-card debt and all-too-easy mortgage credit to finance ultimately unaffordable lifestyles. · Making the United States more business friendly, so companies will grow and provide desperately needed jobs here at home. The author warns that unless we implement these and other recommended changes, the American economy will inevitably decline while China, India, and other up-and-coming nations ascend. He maintains that all is not lost. If we follow the course he sets, we can reinvigorate and renew our economy, rebuild America's greatness, create 21st-century jobs, and more. This book provides a roadmap for reclaiming American preeminence.

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Further praise for Selling Out a Superpower
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• 1. Superpower No More? The Shift in International Economic Power
• 2. Where Has All Our Vision Gone?
• 3. East Is the New West: The Shift in the Balance of Power
• 4. To the Victor Go the Spoils
• 5. Twentieth-Century Education Does Not Produce Twenty-First-Century Jobs
• 6. Outsourcing National Security
• 7. Driving American Companies Offshore: It's More Than Cheap Labor
• 8. The Great American Job Purge: we're Making Little Effort to Stop it
• 9. Taking Responsibility for Economic Development
• 10. Our Representatives Aren't Representing Us: Federal and State Leaders Just Don't Get it
• 11. A National Addiction to Deficit Spending
• 12. Why Free Trade Doesn't Mean Fair Trade
• 13. The Eleventh Commandment: For Some Presidents, It's a Matter of Faith
• 14. The High Cost of Free Trade
• 15. There's no Such Thing as Win-Win Negotiating
• 16. Easy Credit, Family Debt, and Tax Cuts: Why You Can't Get Ahead
• 17. The Morphine Solution to Economic Problems
• 18. Twenty-First-Century Economic Wars
• Endnotes
• Index