Of course, we have our own perspectives. And a great many of us by now feel that many of the reasons for our unhappiness have been authored by George W. Bush and his administration, and most of the others have developed on his watch. It's hard to imagine that a president and his team could make that many serious mistakes--acts of commission and acts of omission--that could visit so much harm and have such a debilitating effect on our country, and on the confidence and well-being of our people. The list is too long to competently engage here, with all the aspects and implications of his Iraq War, fiscal and economic policy, presumptuous "unipolar" approach to diplomacy and our former global allies and partners, and his blind eye to the need for protective business and environmental regulation, among many other things. Of course, he's had almost eight years to do his worst--and that he has done, obstinately bulldozing through one wrongheaded, dull-witted initiative or position after another, without any apparent later sense of accountability for whether they have proven wrong or ineffectual. He just denies and defends.
(And John McCain appears to offer just more of the same.)
But not everything that is wrong is Dubya's doing. Sharing that place of ignominy are our Senators and Members of the House of Representatives--although theirs are more often acts of legislative omission than commission. Those would include major issues with our social security, heath care and education systems, among others. And Wall Street and the banking industry have again proved there are no limits to their hubris, greed and unaccountability--and the negligent self interest, or worse, that motivates them to cavalierly place their own financial gain above the health of our American economy. Their unregulated avarice has now visited upon us one of the worst financial crises and housing collapses in modern times.
But, the in the end, the Economist believes we will likely learn from our mistakes, and American ingenuity and resolve will again win back the day. God willing. The area that seems to concern them most, however, is our misplaced concern and wrong attitude toward the economic threat of emerging Asian countries, especially China.
The economic gap between America and a rising Asia has certainly narrowed; but worrying about it is wrong for two reasons. First, even at its present growth rate, China's GDP will take a quarter of a century to catch up with America's; and the internal tensions that China's rapidly changing economy has caused may well lead it to stumble before then. Second, even if Asia's rise continues unabated, it is wrong—and profoundly unAmerican—to regard this as a problem. Economic growth, like trade, is not a zero-sum game. The faster China and India grow, the more American goods they buy. And they are booming largely because they have adopted America's ideas. America should regard their success as a tribute, not a threat, and celebrate in it.
Many Americans, unfortunately, are unwilling to do so. Politicians seeking a scapegoat for America's self-made problems too often point the finger at the growing power of once-poor countries, accusing them of stealing American jobs and objecting when they try to buy American companies. But if America reacts by turning in on itself—raising trade barriers and rejecting foreign investors—it risks exacerbating the economic troubles that lie behind its current funk.
Everybody goes through bad times. Some learn from the problems they have caused themselves, and come back stronger. Some blame others, lash out and damage themselves further. America has had the wisdom to take the first course many times before. Let's hope it does so again.
http://www.economist.com/opinion/displayStory.cfm?Story_ID=11791539
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