wrote in message
oups.com...

John H wrote:
Some folks want to complain that Bush has done a bad job with our
economy.
Perhaps they should check the rest of the world. Last week France
broke the
double digit unemployment rate. This week Germany does even worse.
Note,
especially, the second paragraph and the last section on the US
economy.
snip

What happens elsewhere in the world has no bearing on us. It's like
comparing apples and oranges. Take for example, if you were to compare
Afghanistan with Germany, THEN, Germany would look economically
gigantic!


Go take Economics 101. And then you will realize that the economy is
global. Failing enconomies in Europe affect us. Greatly. And Europe,
especially Germany and Italy are tanking big time. Part of the oil price
increase (and a major part) is China's booming economy. They are buying
copius amounts of oil to fuel the manufacturing base. And since they
learned from Japan, to artificially hold the low value of their currency,
they get to have even greater benefits in their economy. Japan was
eventually required to float the value of their currency, and it is coming
very soon for China.

"What happens elsewhere in the world..." determines/is determined (or if you
like, affects/is affected) by the US' foreign trade (debt/surplus), economic
policies, etc. Dollar low compared to foreign currency: boon to local US
tourism and US products for export. Dollar high compared to foreign
currency: more Americans go overseas and buy foreign products (a bit
oversimplified but true, nevertheless).

Time and again, what is plain to see during "world recessions" is that
capitalist economies almost always fare better than socialistic economies
because, for one, there are proportionally less social welfare-type programs
(non-revenue generating, i.e., all expense) that hasten the economy's
stagnation, two, because citizens of the former tend to rely mostly on
themselves for their own welfare and not expect government handouts at every
turn of the economy. A capitalist economy appears to be better "buffered"
for recessions: opportunities arise for entrepreneurs when
businesses/sectors flounder, e.g., other businesses take over/expand or are
formed thus creating jobs which helps offset the ones which were lost.
Mufasa: "It's part of the circle of life... (in a capitalist jungle anyhow).

Germany still has not recovered from the economic chaos created by their
unification.

France, well, is France.

Like him or not, Bush is doing a much better job with the economy than most
detractors would give him credit for considering he took office in his first
term when the economy was already well into a downward spiral.

wrote in message
oups.com...

John H wrote:
Some folks want to complain that Bush has done a bad job with our
economy.
Perhaps they should check the rest of the world. Last week France
broke the
double digit unemployment rate. This week Germany does even worse.
Note,
especially, the second paragraph and the last section on the US
economy.
snip

What happens elsewhere in the world has no bearing on us. It's like
comparing apples and oranges. Take for example, if you were to compare
Afghanistan with Germany, THEN, Germany would look economically
gigantic!