Low inflation, due to cheap foregn imports. High productivity at home with low unemployment in the US. Low productivity in the EU and massive unemployment their. Craqy growth rates in China and India, extremely low growth in Japan. As a % of GDP our deficits and debt are less than the EU yet the changes here are in effect scaring the world. The question I have is whether the bluster of EU presence will translate into anything other than eventual stagnation, and the domestic policies lead to anything other than an Islamic immigration problem that will make our Mexican immigration problem seem totally mild?
There is much less to hold the EU together through tough times than there is to hold the US together, all red v blue considered. The problem with historic highs and lows is that people tend to think of them as permanant, instead of what they are: historic. In the 1980's, when % rates were at all time highs, people planned as if those rates were forever. They were wrong. In the late 90's and early 21st, many have assumed these low rates are equally permanant. My bet is they are wrong as well.
While the headline of the article talks about apocalypse, and that is a great headline, my bet is on what the article actually says: that we will likely muddle through and come out OK.
Happy Thanksgiving,
Ed