tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2839888179056147237.post7969350258724503568..comments2023-07-01T07:26:04.118-04:00Comments on The End of the American Century: The Bankruptcy of American EconomicsDavid S. Masonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04559711180879974644noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2839888179056147237.post-35532214594300356882009-10-11T19:27:18.459-04:002009-10-11T19:27:18.459-04:00My response to Charlie:
When I suggest that we ne...My response to Charlie:<br /><br />When I suggest that we need to return to the "standard of living" we had in the 1970s, I was referring to GDP per capita, not to the nominal GDP (or raw size of the economy). The GDP per capita in the mid-1970s was about half of what it is now. So a return to that standard of living would be wrenching, but the country was pretty affluent even then, so it would not be a return to the dark ages.David S. Masonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04559711180879974644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2839888179056147237.post-74936539339249217492009-10-11T19:23:38.510-04:002009-10-11T19:23:38.510-04:00My friend Charlie Yokomoto sent this response to m...My friend Charlie Yokomoto sent this response to my posting on "The Bankruptcy of American Economics."<br />--------------<br /><br />You say that the solution is simple and obvious. I think that people looking in from the outside in a lot of situations, without full knowledge of the details often find a solution "simple and obvious." I have two examples that I would like to share along this line.<br /> <br />One day, at a tennis tournament for 12 year olds, I heard one entrant saying to her friend, "I'm playing the top seeded player. How do I beat her?" Her friend said, "Easy,just hit winners." To her friend, the solution was simple, but it really wasn't. <br /> <br />When I was teaching at another university in your city, one of my colleagues, who was a great advocate of faculty rights, became President of the Faculty. His views on issues that pitted faculty against administration changed from very pro faculty toward a more balanced and sometimes administrative bent. We asked him if he "changed his stripes," and he said, "No, I have much more information now, and the problems are not as simple as I once saw them, and the solutions are not as simple as I once thought." He went on to become a great President of the Faculty.<br /> <br />I understand your point that we have to revert to the economy of a bygone year (1970), but you may have forgotten one thing--the population now is much bigger than it was in 1970, and the problems that society faces are much bigger than they were back then. How do you propose that we divide up the wealth of a 1970 economy with a 2010 population? Divide it proportionally? You say it is simple, but painful, but you haven't addressed the pain. How do we scale things back? <br /> <br />Are you saying that this is the only solution? Or could there be other simple solutions with less pain? And why 1970 and not another decade?<br /> <br />CharlieDavid S. Masonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04559711180879974644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2839888179056147237.post-15031190342805359222009-09-16T01:24:46.997-04:002009-09-16T01:24:46.997-04:00Hello Prof. Mason,
I am reading your book at the ...Hello Prof. Mason,<br /><br />I am reading your book at the moment. The information that you have provided shock me. I find it so hard to believe that the U.S. is becoming poor even though my mother has told me many times. I still believe that the U.S is a superpower in terms of economic and military strength. However, our high federal debt really gives me a concern. I strongly wish that President Obama will be able to help save the nation out of such an ordeal. I know it is not an easy task, but American must reemerge as a more prosperous nation. We need to regain our confidence.<br /><br />What I don't understand is why the U.S. doesn't have many exports as compare let's say to China? Why can our businesses find ways to export material things--things that the world want--to other nations? Like you said we consume more than produce; I am quite agree with you!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com