Is the world economy going to collapse?

I've been traveling across 6 states and I'm been living in the US now, I have not seen a single ghost mall, anywhere, and have only seen a couple of closed businesses. Both of these were electronics stores which undoubtedly couldn't keep up with Internet pricing

Since 2000 America has lost 15 manufacturing plants a day. It is now up to 23 a day. These businesses are not going to the wall they are simply moving the manufacturing plants to countries where they can pay their workers a very low wage. That is what trade agreements means to the ordinary working/middle class people of the USA. Companies are looking at things and saying "Well I can pay an American $15 dollars an hour or I can move to India and pay somebody a few dollars a day. Bye America". We have the same in the UK. Look at how comanies like Virgin Media have call centres in India. Why do they do that? Simple it is cheaper to employ Indians than it is to employ British people.
 
Just heard on the radio that US unemployment is the lowest in 4 years, hardly the catastrophic spiraling out of control doomsday scenario.

Ron Paul recently said the unemployment figures are wrong and he believes the unemployment to be around 20%. I think the Government claims it is 8 - 9%. Shock horror the USA government lying about unemployment figures.

As there is an election looming in the USA do you think maybe that has something to do with the USA Government saying things like unemployment is falling, we are seeing the shoots of recovery etc? Obama is naturally going to do his best to surpress how bad things really are.
 
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Shock horror indeed.
Are you based in the US? You know this is .co.uk?
Our unemployment figures are utter lies too, but thats the nature of the beast, they've been lies since the 80s.
 
Since 2000 America has lost 15 manufacturing plants a day. It is now up to 23 a day. These businesses are not going to the wall they are simply moving the manufacturing plants to countries where they can pay their workers a very low wage. That is what trade agreements means to the ordinary working/middle class people of the USA. Companies are looking at things and saying "Well I can pay an American $15 dollars an hour or I can move to India and pay somebody a few dollars a day. Bye America". We have the same in the UK. Look at how comanies like Virgin Media have call centres in India. Why do they do that? Simple it is cheaper to employ Indians than it is to employ British people.

But Americans are buying the products and paying with imaginary money who who is really the loser here?

It's modern day slavery. Just look at those Foxconn workers killing themselves.
 
I've just watched this programme on youtube.

May I ask what you thought of it? A friend of mine said he had to stop watching as he found it too depressing. Sadly some people on here would watch that video and still say they do not believe things are that bad.
 
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They ARE a common sight, that's what I was saying you muppet. I've traveled around the US extensively and you see a LOT of totally deserted retail areas. But don't let my first-hand experience stop you frothing at the mouth...

Sounds like the midwest when I visited 10 years ago. Coincidently when I made a similar journey last year very little had changed.

Friars Walk 'mall' in Reading is empty and has been for years, there is no rioting in the Thames Valley yet. Shopping centres come and go, some get redeveloped, some get derelict.
 
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Ron Paul recently said the unemployment figures are wrong and he believes the unemployment to be around 20%. I think the Government claims it is 8 - 9%. Shock horror the USA government lying about unemployment figures.

As there is an election looming in the USA do you think maybe that has something to do with the USA Government saying things like unemployment is falling, we are seeing the shoots of recovery etc? Obama is naturally going to do his best to surpress how bad things really are.

Ron Paul is a lying idiot that not even a chimpanzee takes seriously. Don't lap up this conspiracy nonsense.
 
Since 2000 America has lost 15 manufacturing plants a day. It is now up to 23 a day. These businesses are not going to the wall they are simply moving the manufacturing plants to countries where they can pay their workers a very low wage. That is what trade agreements means to the ordinary working/middle class people of the USA. Companies are looking at things and saying "Well I can pay an American $15 dollars an hour or I can move to India and pay somebody a few dollars a day. Bye America". We have the same in the UK. Look at how comanies like Virgin Media have call centres in India. Why do they do that? Simple it is cheaper to employ Indians than it is to employ British people.

and, so what, that is globalisation. Manufacturing moves to where labour is cheaper. that has nothing to do with a collapse of the world economy let alone the US or European economies.
 
May I ask what you thought of it? A friend of mine said he had to stop watching as he found it too depressing. Sadly some people on here would watch that video and still say they do not believe things are that bad.
I couldn't believe the queues for free health care from an organisation set up by a British guy to help the poor in the Amazon (IIRC).

The editing around what Ron Paul said about a hypothetical guy in a coma was a little bit suspect, in the full clip he goes on to say how such people were treat by churches when he was practising medicine. However, that in itself is a damning indictment of American society.

They don't seem to recognise that some at the bottom may need a lot of help and this should be done, especially when it comes to health care, for the sake of civility.

Their country relies on civility, without it what do you have? People coming into your house potentially killing you and taking what they desire. The outcome to some must look more favourable than their current situation, either getting away with it or being caught and receiving food and medical care courtesy of the state whilst they're in prison.
 
and, so what, that is globalisation. Manufacturing moves to where labour is cheaper. that has nothing to do with a collapse of the world economy let alone the US or European economies.

I suppose is it sort of off topic. I was just saying globalisation is bad for masses in countries like USA, Canada, UK , Italy etc. I didn't mean it is the cause or anything to do with the collapse of the world economy. I blame the banks for the economic mess. It does however affect economies both local and national. It certainly affects local economies if say a plant that makes car parts and employs 10,000 people suddenly decides to move to India. All trade agreements mean for countries like the UK, USA, Canada, France etc is more unemployment. Unemployment has risen by 3 million since Obama got to power. A lot of that is because of manufacturers moving to cheaper countries. It is estimated since 2000 America has lost around 60,000 manufacturing plants due to free trade agreements.

edit now I supose some will say that is just market forces, deal with it, tough """" etc. As we gloablise more what do you think will happen. Will the wages in countries like India start getting a lot better or will our wages start getting worse as we compete in this global market?
 
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For those that cannot be bothered to watch the BBC panorama video here is the did not watch summary

Since Obama got to power unemployment has risen by more than 3 million.

1.5 million children in the USA are homeless. In some schools that means half of the children who attend are homeless.

50 million people don’t have health insurance.

The USA has the lowest social mobility out of all the high income countries.

Tent cities for the ever increasing homeless are springing up all around the USA. They then show you people who previously had a comfy middle class lifestyle who are now living in tents. When homeless centres are full they are recommending people to seek one of the tent cities out. They also inform them where they are located. These people are basically living in very large tent communities.

They also show you people who previously had a comfy middle class lifestyle who are now living in sewer storm drains.

They interview kids who tell them how they go to bed hungry because their parents don’t have anything to make something to eat. The kids are basically surviving on what they get fed at school. They get free school meals and a food parcel for the weekend. Again these kids used to have comfy middle class lives.

A British doctor who runs a free clinic said he used to work in the Amazon but moved to the USA after he realised they were in just as much need.

As you can see these are not small figures. 1.5 million homeless children is shocking and a disgrace.

I bet Obama was not happy with the BCC and our Government over that panorama program. Luckily although the USA government banned it from being shown on TV we now have the Internet. Hilary Clinton openly said we are losing the information war. She was referring to the web and how we the masses are finding things out that pre internet days we would not have been able to. Governments are finding it harder and harder to suppress information from us. The USA Government banning this video from being shown on TV is a perfect example of a Government trying to suppress information from the masses. Why is the mainstream USA media not reporting about any of this?
 
There should be a law put in place where if you outsource your company to a different country the pay rate must remain the same or higher.
 
Ask China, they own the USA.

How exactly? They own a bunch of US treasuries which will be paid back with devalued dollars.

Sort of like the way the bond holders "own" Greece. No you own a bunch of worthless bonds you just took a haircut on.

What are they going to do? Invade America? Who coincidentally used a bunch of the money China lent them on paying for the most expensive military in the world.

If China stops buying treasuries what will happen? Bunch of public sector workers are laid off, some riots from the benefits crowd, military probably withdraws from the rest of the world (still more powerful than any other though), that's about it. Then they start building stuff themselves again.

If American consumers stop buying Chinese stuff China completely implodes back to subsistence farming level.
 
Ask China, they own the USA.

thats the popular opinion, however in reality they simply have trillions of IOU's and are going to get a massive trollface.jpg emailed to them very soon...

"Sorry bro, got no monies left, but thanks for the last 20 years of cheap stuff!"
 
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