The true picture of the U.S. and its economy - from GERMANY?

< sigh > while we're still chin-deep in the endlessly toadying traditional u.s. media view of the u.s. (how great we are, how powerful we are, how strong the economy is, how everybody else sucks), the german spiegel magazine online international edition offers more straight talk about the state of affairs in the u.s. than anything i've seen so far... here's a teaser...

[The] undoubtedly superior United States doesn't exist anymore. As a center of power, it is still more powerful than others, but for some years now that energy has been flowing in the opposite direction. Today, Asian, Latin American and European nations are also playing a role in the United States's productive core. The world's greatest exporter became its greatest importer. The most important creditor became the most important debtor.

and here's a few eye-opening facts...

• Today, foreigners dispose of assets in the United States with a net value of $2.5 trillion, or 21 percent of gross domestic product. Nine percent of shares, 17 percent of corporate bonds and 24 percent of government bonds are held by foreigners.

• Within ... two decades, the income of the lowest fifth sank by 1.4 percent. The second fifth still managed to gain by 6.2 percent, the third by 11.1 percent and the fourth by 19 percent. At the tip of the pyramid - where the promoters and planners of globalization reside, and those who profit most from it - income gains climbed by 42 percent.

• In the span of only a few decades, US industry has shrunken to half what it once was. It makes up only 17 percent of the country's GDP, compared to 26 percent in Europe.

• Every important national economy in the world now exports products to the United States without purchasing an equivalent amount of US goods in return. The US trade deficit with China was about $200 billion dollars in 2005; it was a solid $80 billion with Japan; and more than $120 billion with Europe. The United States can't even achieve a surplus in its trade with less developed national economies like those of Ukraine and Russia. Everyday, container-laden ships arrive in the United States - and after they unload their wares at American ports, many return home empty.

i think it's very important to note that this scenario has been developing for over 20 years, well before the current gang of criminals seized power... the other thing that must be pointed out is that those at the top of the income pyramid - the 42 percenters - are drawing in that money from around the globe... they hold no allegiance to the united states and have no interest in any common good other than their own... to them, the u.s. economy is a tool toward their own ends...

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