[quote=briansd1][quote=dumbrenter][quote=SD Realtor]Is there any other endgame?
Yes, it is basically a lower standard of living for those that cannot keep up as well as more time spent keeping up by those who are in the middle.
It is simply a slow process. In terms you like to use, you work then you die. Now you just work harder, have less, then you die.[/quote]
This is one thing that economists / analysts never tell even though I am sure they knew it all along. One of the effects of globalization will be that in longer term, there will have to be some sort of equalization of standard of living. This means that those living in one country whose people have a way higher standard of living compared to the rest will have to give up some.[/quote]
That’s not how it works.
Globalization will result in more parity, but we can get richer still, at a lower growth rate, while developing countries catch up to us, at a faster rate, That’s actually very good for the world.
I think the psychological discomfort is that we, Americans, are no longer wildly richer than that rest of the world.
One example. In the past, Americans were use to new immigrants being the tired, poor, huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse. Now many immigrants come to the best universties and drive luxury cars to class. They get H1B visas and buy houses in Carmel Valley and 4S Ranch. Some Americans think that’s “wrong.”
There’s globaliztion of knowledge and capital. That’s just how it it works.[/quote]
If you are an economist or an analyst, you just made my point.
If other countries have to match America’s lifestyle, their growth rates have to be in mid-teens to even have a realistic chance of catching up. How soon do you think that is going to happen? How is it even mathematically possible? And who is growing in mid-teens now?
The fact is that the Americans quality of life is going down for a few years, the parity is going to happen alright, but while other countries grow faster, we have to give up some.
