China is shackled with a command economy that is slowing down. When the sh*t really hits the fan in Europe the Chinese economy will slow down even more. As the Chinese economy is based on exports this will put huge pressure on the government. They have to grow at a high rate or face a revolution. Bad stuff coming for Europe, China and America and I don't see anyone doing anything substantial that will avert it.

Maybe that's why they hate the military..... because they know they can't count on them to slaughter their own countrymen. I wonder if those murdered by their governments through the years were counting on the same thing?

Pinning the blame on politicians is wrong. That politicians lie is no surprise to anyone. The root of our problem is the willingness of the electorate to believe the lie. Voters want to believe in the free lunch. That is the only explanation for Obama being president.

This is what prohibition gets you. We funded the expansion of organized crime in America by making alcohol illegal in the 20s and we are turning Mexico into a failed state with our drug policies now. We should follow Portugal's lead and decriminalize recreational drug use. That would defund the Drug Cartels. It may be too late for Mexico to be saved though. We should pull our troops out of Afghanistan and put them on the border with Mexico.

The entire Democrat Party, most of the Republican Party and the Main Stream Media have no interest in letting the free market work. French is right that what is needed is letting the market fix this. That is not what will happen.

Before you can have a recovery you have to stop doing that which is stupid. During the various boom times we've had there were lots of stupid things done because we thought we had more money than we really did. This is the essence of the Austrian economic vew and one should be able to understand the concept even if one doesn't agree with it. Yes, laying off thousands of carpenters is going to hurt but continuing to build millions of homes no one wants will hurt even more. The government doesn't have enough knowledge to know what those ex-carpenters should be doing. The reset for those layed off workers will be painful but thinking the government can manage the reset will lead to even more pain.

The Founders understood the message Mr. Hanson has delivered. The Constitution was designed to work against human nature. It forces people to compete honestly and satisfy the needs of others through honest dealing and hard work. When political power is substituted for honest competition the world is distorted. That distortion leads to all the bad things Mr. Hanson has listed. Ignoring the Constitution is leading to a host of problems that gives the meddlers more reason to meddle. I guess that's just human nature.

As the European debt disaster expands there will be much less trade between Europe, America and Asia. China will be placed under even more pressure. Is the Communist Party there willing to do what it takes to stay in power? They may have to do to the entire country what they did to the students in Tiananmen Square. In the mean time Americans squabble over who will be the next President, as if anyone that would make real changes and get the country back on the path to prosperity could ever get elected. This is what ignoring the Constitution does for you.

Jackson knew leaving the power to create money in the hands of the government would lead to worthless money. Since the Fed was created in 1913 most of the value of the dollar has evaporated. As the debt spirals out of control we'll have an endgame and it won't be pretty. Jackson was right.

The Greeks can't make the payments on the outstanding loans. They've been living on borrowed money for years and they can't pay the piper. So if the idiots that lent them the money don't take the loss who does? It would appear Obama and the IMF want the US taxpayer to pick up part of the expense. Given we are out of money too that means we'll be borrowing money to give to the Greeks so they can make payments to Euro bankers. Does that make semse to you? The Euro zone was a mistake that's going to cost big time. Bailing out lenders was a bad idea here and it'll be a bad idea there.