Posted on 07/27/2006 8:01:39 AM PDT by Marius3188
DESPITE some apprehensions about the erosion of mighty dollar and high oil prices, United States continues to be the world's richest country. The reigning superpower tops a new list of the wealthiest nations issued by the World Bank on the basis of the GDP and spending by consumers.
And why not? This is the prize you get rewarded for running the world's most successful economic system based on capitalism. Whether it's a liberal republic or parliamentary democracy, they succeed and prosper because they share a capitalist vision.
America has had a solid and stable system of governance that has not been interrupted for the past couple of centuries. And it is ruled by a clear economic vision backed by market reforms.
As a result, America, the world's most powerful nation, is also its richest and economically most powerful with a GDP of $12.46 trillion. It is home to eight million people who are richest in the world, almost equal to the population of many countries in Europe. The World Bank list only reflects the economic and institutional strength of the country that is rightly the leader of the industrialised nations and free market forces.
To top it all, there is democracy, political freedom, free and outspoken media and the freedom of expression, which are seen as a blessing by the leaders and government officials.
Be it private or public enterprise, everyone recognises and acknowledges the role played by free media and its responsibility towards society. They know that the media has to report and tell the truth as it is.
Despite being a capitalist society where big companies and corporates do have vested interests, no eyebrows are raised when the media responds to consumer concerns and steps in to protect customer interests. For instance, the media has to report when any project is badly executed, and not in accordance with the agreement or contract. Or when companies cut corners to make an extra buck and it’s reported by media, it is taken as constructive criticism, without attributing motives to the media.
On the contrary, if we in the media do not do our job of reporting these things, we wouldn't be doing justice to our readers or consumers. The media’s role could prove critically important in such cases. For instance, in many countries that were recently hit by earthquakes, housing infrastructure was not built according to safety specifications. As a result, thousands of people died in addition to the overall devastation of the infrastructure.
Dear readers, you wouldn't expect this to happen in capitalist America where everything is built on a solid foundation, whether it is apartments or shopping malls or other infrastructure. And companies are accountable to their consumers, be they in the business of housing, cars, planes, steel, cement or food. It is not as if these companies are not conscious of their image or importance of presenting a better picture before their customers. But they understand the accountability factor and that if you do not deliver, you have got to pay for it.
This is the key to America's success as a nation and as an economy. And this is precisely why US dollar, despite recent setbacks, continues to be the world's favourite and most dependable currency. In fact, the mighty dollar's sway over global markets and its role as the currency of international trade is a tribute to America's unique place in world affairs. Moreover, if other countries are progressing economically, they are doing so by following in the footsteps of the world leader.
They invented it, it was only licensed to Ponzi.
Don't know what they're running, but for a nation to stop informing the public of something as basic as "the amount of cash out there" is very suspicious.
(Don't care if "the fed" is technically a private bank - it defines & controls the currency for the nation, so some factoids dang well better be public.)
Somehow I don't expect Ben will talk to me about it.
As far as I know, the Fed is still publishing M0, M1 & M2 numbers. Perhaps they now consider M3 meaningless or inestimable.
Still, the US Fed publishes more measures than the UK, who only posts two figures.
1 Norway 48,412
2 Iceland 36,377
3 Australia 26,275
4 Luxembourg 59,143
5 Canada 27,079
6 Sweden 33,676
7 Switzerland 43,553
8 Ireland 38,487
9 Belgium 29,096
10 United States 37,648
GDP per capita overview.
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