(I'm not a macro-economist, so this is as faith-based for me as anyone else :)).

If the American consumer turns prudent, choosing all of a sudden to live within means and not fund purchases by taking out second mortgages and maxing out credit cards......if a whole generation is now determined to save 5-10% of income......where are we going to get the demand that's going to fuel the hiring that eventually leads to higher employment rates ?

I imagine that eventually unemployment will fall a bit from the 'supply side', as (1) immigrants, legal and illegal, get tired of trying to find jobs here and leave the country, and as (2) some Americans migrate to other countries to seek opportunity.

But I doubt if either of those will be enough to get unemp down by 3 or 4 percentage points. At the end, consumer demand fuels the economy, and if consumers turn prudent and live within their means, then where does the fuel come from ?

Thoughts ? Ideas ?

"At the end, consumer demand fuels the economy, and if consumers turn prudent and live within their means, then where does the fuel come from ?"

War. The only other option I can think of is family farm level resource exploitation. Of course, another possibility is a return of a "Buy American" mentality, which would amplify a recovery by at least keeping some of the money in country.

War is the best cure. Massive spending. Population reduction. A resurgent lapel-pin industry will cover a multitude of sins.

LeftistMarxist:

War is the best cure. Massive spending. Population reduction. A resurgent lapel-pin industry will cover a multitude of sins.

It worked for FDR, Truman, LBJ, and both Bushes. Obama is continuing the generational war against pirates and Islamists. I think the Cold War had less to do with ideology than with keeping the world on a war footing to stimulate the economies.

We're gonna need a draft, though. Too many unemployed youths wandering around, and drones and cruise missiles won't help with that. How about a ground invasion of Mexico - a return to the halls of Montezuma!? Might help with the illegal immigrant situation, too.

Primate:

We're gonna need a draft, though. Too many unemployed youths wandering around, and drones and cruise missiles won't help with that. How about a ground invasion of Mexico - a return to the halls of Montezuma!? Might help with the illegal immigrant situation, too.

Obama won't be willing to alienate the Hispanic vote or lose the migrant laborers who keep food prices cheap, so Canada might be his better idea, more oil than Iraq, sparsely populated, and incredibly resource rich. First step would be to invade BC and drive to connect Washington state with Alaska.

As for the draft, agree. I would have any American over 18 and under 65 without an Honorable Discharge eligible and the military select according to their needs. I'ld take Bill Gates for software, as a forinstance. The average NFL cornerback should make a great special forces troop. Bet Sabathia could throw a grenade:) Obama could be spokesman for a battalion in Afghanistan.

Primate:

[...] How about a ground invasion of Mexico - a return to the halls of Montezuma!? Might help with the illegal immigrant situation, too.

Are you crazy? Have you seen their flag? They've got an eagle, perched on a cactus, killing a rattlesnake. That's like "Bring 'em on!" in reply to "Don't tread on me."

Don't want to mess with them badass Mexicans.

;-)

Actually though, their drug cartels make the Taliban look like amateurs.

And pyramid schemes.

And green jobs! Hooray for green jobs! Lotsa, lotsa, lotsa green jobs, everywhere you look.

Tell me about it!!!

I had a customer ask for the Mexican flag in like a 1.5" x 1" rectangle - 200 pixels by 50 pixels. I'm like, what, are you crazy??? I can't fit an eagle, perched on a cactus, killing a rattlesnake, with some weird laurel underneath into the center 1/3 section of a 200 pixel by 50 pixel rectangle. That's like 40 pixels x 25 pixels for the eagle and all - not happenin'!

I can do the Italian flag, though. ;)

Primate:

We're gonna need a draft, though. Too many unemployed youths wandering around, and drones and cruise missiles won't help with that. How about a ground invasion of Mexico - a return to the halls of Montezuma!? Might help with the illegal immigrant situation, too.

Agreed! These hi-tech wars just drain the coffers, do nothing to reduce numbers of unemployed!

Should we scrap body-armor too ?

Good question girl .....

Even though I've heard they won't get you into Heaven anymore...:)

Should we scrap body-armor too ?

Absolutely. If we're going to downsize our unemployable young male population, we've got to take serious steps.

Only guys on horseback, armed solely with long pointy sticks, get to wear armor. Everyone else gets a bright orange cotton jumpsuit - oh, and huaraches (not the eatin' kind), since we're going to Mexico.

In fact, if we reduce it enough -- all the surviving males can have 2 or 3 women each (it was kind of the logic behing the Muslim '4 wives' thinggy....they just didn't have enough men).

Bet you that'll get every young male to support it enthusiastically, after all its the 'invincible age', they'll all be convinced THEY will survive.

Incidentally, KG, I'm in the middle of watching Vishal Bharadwaj's Omkara, which I acquired on your recommendation. It's very entertaining, beautifully photographed, and probably the only version of Othello I've come across that includes a big song-and-dance production number :).

Fascinating to see how he adapted the story to a contemporary Indian setting (given that it's a movie, I make no judgment on the accuracy of his conflation of gangsters/politicians - don't know enough about India to even venture a guess, but it makes for a good story).

Next on my list is Maqbool, his adaptation of Macbeth - and I hear he's planning a third Shakespeare-based film in the next year or two.

Thanks for the rec!