Peter Gutmann

What's the Matter with the Us Economy? Peter Gutmann

The US economy does many things right. But it also does many things wrong. This book is focused on aspects of the US economy that require some correction. The book is addressed to the intelligent general reader. It does not use equations, graphs, diagrams, footnotes or arcane gobbledygook. The book is divided into 26 chapters in 8 sections. Each section covers a general theme. Globalization: effect of the huge increase in the world's effective labor force, competition in more labor categories and shift in comparative advantage on the US import surplus and the dollar. Social Justice: division of the US into three societies - the rich, the poor and the middle class, separate and unequal; income distribution; access; entitlements; capture of Congress by producers as opposed to consumers. Life's Essentials: problems with health, education, housing, work, retirement and pensions, energy. Personal Risk: increase in personal risk of our population and the anxieties this creates; desire to reduce personal risk. The Macroeconomy: eating the house; problems of demand, savings, government deficits; living beyond our means; mortgaging the future. The State: who gets the tax dollar; overcommitment by government; infrastructure problems. Assets: the liquidity sloshing around the. world - effect on US housing prices; ensuing sub prime credit crunch - resurgence of sensitivity to risk (a risk shift) - near panic in the. bond markets; need to reexamine mortgage regulations, General: waste and excess in the US; the problems of immigration and resolution of those illegals already here.