How the Economy Was Lost: The War of the Worlds (Counterpunch) by Paul Craig Roberts Read Free Book Online Page B

weapons, which are also in the hands of other countries, the U.S. has no assets of its own with which to pursue its control over the world.
    The U.S. cannot be a hegemonic power without foreign financing. All indications are that the rest of the world is tiring of U.S. arrogance.
    If the U.S. Treasury’s assumption of bailout responsibilities becomes excessive, the U.S. dollar will lose its reserve currency role. The minute that occurs, foreign financing of America’s twin deficits will cease, as will the bailout. The U.S. government would have to turn to the printing of paper money.
    For now this pending problem is hidden from view, because in times of panic, the tradition is to flee into “safety,” that is, into U.S. Treasury debt obligations. The safety of Treasuries will be revealed by the extent of the bailout.
    September 24, 2008

Chapter 7: Economic Treason
    T he June 2005 payroll jobs report did not receive much attention due to the July 4 holiday, but the depressing 21st century job performance of the U.S. economy continues unabated.
    • Only 144,000 private sector jobs were created, each one of which was in domestic services.
    • 56,000 jobs were created in professional and business services, about half of which are in administrative and waste services.
    • 38,000 jobs were created in education and health services, almost all of which are in health care and social assistance.
    • 19,000 jobs were created in leisure and hospitality, almost all of which are waitresses and bartenders.
    • Membership associations and organizations created 10,000 jobs and repair and maintenance created 4,000 jobs.
    • Financial activities created 16,000 jobs.
    This most certainly is not the labor market profile of a First World country, much less a superpower.
    Where are the jobs for this year’s crop of engineering and science graduates?
    U.S. manufacturing lost another 24,000 jobs in June.
    A country that doesn’t manufacture doesn’t need many engineers. And the few engineering jobs available go to foreigners.
    Readers have sent me employment listings from U.S. software development firms. The listings are discriminatory against American citizens. One ad from a company in New Jersey that is a developer for many companies, including Oracle, specifies that the applicant must have a TN visa.
    A TN or Trade NAFTA visa is what is given to Mexicans and Canadians who are willing to work in the U.S. at below prevailing wages.
    Another ad from a software consulting company based in Omaha, Nebraska specifies it wants software engineers who are H-1B transferees. What this means is that the firm is advertising for foreigners already in the U.S. who have H-1B work visas.
    The reason the U.S. firms specify that they have employment opportunities only for foreigners who hold work visas is because the foreigners will work for less than the prevailing U.S. salary.
    Gentle reader, when you read allegations that there is a shortage of engineers in America, necessitating the importation of foreigners to do the work, you are reading a bald-faced lie. If there were a shortage of American engineers, employers would not word their job listings to read that no American need apply and that they are offering jobs only to foreigners holding work visas.
    What kind of country gives preference to foreigners over its own engineering graduates?
    What kind of country destroys the job market for its own citizens?
    How much longer will parents shell out $100,000 for a college education for a son or daughter who ends up employed as a bartender, waitress, or temp?
    July 16, 2005

Chapter 8: How Inflation Works (or Why I Can’t Buy an Old Ferrari)
    A nyone who has been alive very long is aware that the U.S. government has failed on the inflation front. Soft drink machines that once delivered a bottled drink for a nickel now charge a dollar, a 20-fold increase in price.
    Until the Reagan administration indexed the income tax, inflation was a boon to government,