Originally Posted by
Cloudship
I am particularly concerned that we have become so focused on mechanical output that we are sorely missing the point that we can no longer lead in design, ideas, or scientific knowledge. I disagree that we are as sound an economy as other countries - I no longer think that is true and it is, unfortunately, becoming all too clear. The faith from other countries in the Us to lead is diminishing, and with that our ability to lead is rapidly declining - once those other countries realize that they CAN survive without the US, then they wont look to the Us to lead.
The "real" economy of making things or inventing things didn't do well at all under Bush when you strip away the housing boom. People were using credit cards or borrowing against rising home values to fund better living standards that weren't being confirmed via wage increases. Some also bought into the idea that the stock market mattered more to their own well-being than their wages, even though their holdings weren't that large.
Now all of it has crashed at the same time and people are waking up to not being nearly as well-off as they had thought.