POINTER: America's Economic Non-Crisis

FORWARDED From: [email protected]

Recently, John McCain said America's economic "fundamentals are good." 
Of course, Barack Obama and his horde of know-nothings immediately rushed 
out with a commercial indicating that McCain must be clueless because he 
was not presenting the kind of hysterical message we were hearing on CNN 
and MSNBC.  As the article by Max Boot (an excerpt below) shows, what 
McCain said was factually (key word) correct.  Of course, in the world of 
BHO and David Axelrod, little matters like truth count for nothing -- and 
demagoguery counts for everything.

Here's the link to Boot's profoundly important essay that appeared in the 
LA Times.

pointer: (read this)
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-boot24-2008sep24,0,96527.story



The following is an excerpt from the article:

"What the pessimists ignore is that the fundamentals of the U.S. economy
remain strong. Indeed, the World Economic Forum has ranked the United States as
the world's most competitive economy for the last two years. (The new survey
comes out next month.) Its statistics show that per-capita gross domestic product
in the U.S. consistently has grown faster than in other developed economies
since 1980.

Looking deeper at the causes of American competitiveness shows that we score
especially strongly not only in domestic market size (No. 1 in the world) but
also in such areas as time required to start a business (No. 3), venture
capital availability (No. 1), the cost of firing an employee (No. 1), ownership of
personal computers (No. 2), university/industry research collaboration (No. 1)
and quality of scientific research institutions (No. 2). The availability of
venture capital might be affected temporarily by the market turmoil, and we
should worry if Democrats gain control of both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue in
November because they might exacerbate what the survey found to be the two most
"problematic" issues for doing business in the U.S. -- high tax rates and
cumbersome tax regulations.

But whatever happens in the next few months, most of the other advantages
that have been powering the U.S. economy forward for decades will remain
unchanged.

So too will another vital statistic: population growth. According to federal
statistics, the fertility rate in the U.S., where each woman has on average
2.1 children, is now the highest among major industrialized economies. We are
above replacement level while Europe, Japan and other industrialized economies
have long been beneath it.

That means that, even as our major competitors have to cope with graying
populations, declining productivity and increasing pension costs, our population
will remain relatively youthful and vibrant, notwithstanding the retirement of
the baby boomers. This advantage is enhanced by our ability to attract and
integrate hardworking immigrants from around the world."

Barack Obama, meet Max Boot.

Max Boot is a contributing editor to Opinion and a senior fellow at the
Council on Foreign Relations.




















Campaign Victory
Hillary Supporters 4 McCain


**************
Looking for simple solutions to your
real-life financial challenges?  Check out WalletPop for the latest news and
information, tips and calculators.

(http://www.walletpop.com/?NCID=emlcntuswall00000001)