Americans appear to have some unfortunate notion that by simply being Americans, they are entitled to a high and increasing standard of living. Not true. That might have seemed to be the situation for some decades, however they will be in for a terribly unpleasant surprise. An increasingly global economy is a fact, and although the topic is somewhat over-worked, it's true that Americans cannot expect to be paid handsomely for the same work that Asians are prepared to perform at a cheaper wage. Neither can businesses in India, China, etc., hope to be able to continue to pay those low wages forever. There will most likely be some form of a "meeting in the middle" during the coming years with Asian incomes rising and American paychecks falling. That's great news for Asians, but bad news for many Americans.

To a large degree, Americans are living off the legacy of our former free-market, small-government, capitalist economy that has been the engine that supplied the growing standard of living Americans used to enjoy and modern day Americans seem to expect. I say former, because we have anything but that anymore. The central government tries to manage wealth creation even though producing zero wealth whatsoever. Its major products are regulations, failed programs, and aggressive foreign wars. None of these has a positive impact on the prosperity of this country, and I believe the "military-industrial complex" that President Eisenhower warned us about could be the most detrimental factor of all. Anyway, given his military experience he sure should have known all about it. War is unbelievably costly, and as we have seen, as soon as we start one the attitude becomes one of "we must have victory so we need to expend whatsoever is necessary to attain it." Seems like a path to national bankruptcy. Imagine what could have been done with the cash we've allocated to these wars. And that does not even include the social costs to people and families.

The point is, downsizing on a personal level is going to be the new thing to do, whether we like it or not. An ever improving standard of living derives from private savings and investment, productive labor, and a political setting established by a government that does not act like business growth will continue no matter what the government might decide to do to obstruct it. To the degree those factors are missing, so also will expanding personal wealth be outside our grasp.

One doesn't have to like the laws of economics, and one may utilize the services of individuals with flawed ideas to obtain the answers one desires, but the facts remain the same.

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