What is Next for the U.S. Economy?

The U.S. and world economy at-large have successfully emerged from the brink of complete disaster. According to the stock market, last year at this time, Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns, Washington Mutual, Citigroup, A.I.G., distressed homeowners, and our perceived lot of bumbling politicians were set to derail the Western World into the Dark Ages. Meaning, shares of all companies were trading as if complete bankruptcy was inevitable, irrespective of merit.

Today, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has rebounded back towards 9,500 and the recession is over. Business leaders and policy wonks the world over have returned to the fore to stumble over themselves to take credit for the gargantuan measures that were merely shots in the dark at the time. The rebound has even endeared the likes of Henry Paulson and George W. Bush to large swaths of the public, as the two statesmen have ridden off into the sunset to pen their respective memoirs.

Certainly, flooding markets with cash via bailout money, government spending, and 0% interest rates effectively turned back and stabilized the panic. Irrespective of the $1 trillion firepower and mass outrage, Washington has successfully achieved the most basic component of the goal. Americans must understand that the overarching mission of the crisis response was merely to restore "confidence" and buy time.

But, what happens now?

What is Next for the U.S. economy?

First, the idea that the United States and Western model have entered into a period of steady decline - comparable to the fall of Egypt, Rome, or the Soviet Union, is misguided sentiment at best, and the ruminations of a total quack, at best. The United States remains and will continue to operate as the world's premier Super Power well beyond our respective lifetimes.

Still, commentators often cite China as a threat to U.S. dominance. Personally, I feel that the major city centers such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong, will continue to maintain their international presence and at least compete with our New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles Alpha cities. However, the crushing poverty and lack of basic services of the Chinese hinterlands is too debilitating for the Nation to actually emerge as a global player on par with the U.S., Japan, or even Western Europe.

Restrictions on migration to the city centers lock the rural Chinese into subservience. Meanwhile, statistics show that less than 40% of the youth within the poorer provinces attend high school, and health care at these lesser-developed enclaves is nonexistent.

Next for the U.S. Economy: Health Care Reform

Of course, the polarizing health care debate continues to steal the headlines at home. This package appears simply too confusing and costly to pass at the moment. Democratic Party leadership is risking political capital and allowing it self to be painted into a corner by G.O.P. hecklers portraying a group that is hell bent upon strong arming a leftish agenda down the collective throats of America. Indeed, President Barack Obama's approval ratings have come under fire as the man is being blitzed repeatedly by the rhetoric from both sides of the aisle.

A September 9, 2009 Associated Press poll flashes the fact that 52% of Americans disapprove of Obama's handling of health care reform. This figure has leapt dramatically from April's 35% mark. I do feel that the left would be able to operate more so from a position of authority by reframing the debate upon economic terms.

Next for the U.S. Economy: Jobless Recovery, more Boom and Bust

Democratic power brokers should simply "not mess this thing up," by in football parlance, "managing the game," and allowing themselves to take credit for the rebound in the economy, prior to engaging citizens with this heated debate. Stocks have stabilized at the moment, a jobless recovery will follow, and the U.S. economy will remain largely on track for the next boom and bust.

Some things never change. This is America.

What is Next for the U.S. Economy - Sources:

The U.S. Government, http://www.usa.gov/

Health Care Reform, http://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/health_care/

Moody's Economy, http://www.economy.com/default.asp