The flagging empire

Even though this one isn't about Canadian politics the subject of it may have a deep impact on Canadians. Like many that have been watching the news intently, I've watched the disaster of Hurricane Katrina with unusual interest. The people of New Orleans will need massive efforts to rebuild their homes and their lives many of which will involve cash, most of it Federal. The Bush Administration has already announced that at least $84 billion will be provided. This, from an administration that is already mired in a Trillion dollar deficit and fighting two wars. Where will it lead? Paul William Roberts thinks he knows:

It is safe to say that relocating more than a million people, along with the loss of the nation's largest port, and the other economic consequences from Hurricane Katrina will bankrupt the United States

Bankruptcy is probably too harsh but I do believe since 9/11 that the United States has been in decline. The stuttering economy has only come out of its malaise recently. Though by no means down and out, the United States is beginning to fail to live up to its greatness and other countries are gaining.

China's economic growth rates terrify both Japan, which has been persuaded to remilitarize, and America, which did the persuading. The Central Intelligence Agency's National Intelligence Council predicts that China's gross domestic product will equal that of Britain this year, Germany in 2009, Japan in 2017 and the United States by 2042.

However, Shahid Javed Burki, former vice-president of the World Bank's China Department and a former Pakistani finance minister, forecasts that China will probably have enough purchasing power to surpass the United States as the world's largest economy this year.

The sleeping giant is awakening. What this may lead to is a global fight over the worlds resources of oil, Roberts speculates. The decline of the American empire could have great repercussions for Canada with most of our trade being with them.