And it isn't going to get better.
Our biggest threat, in my opinion, is so-called "free" trade and the resulting increasing trade deficit. This country no longer produces anything, and we export very little--not machinery, precision equipment, airplanes, clothing, shoes, not even much food anymore. Our car industry is on the verge of disappearance. And what little we do produce is dependent on high tech parts and precision equipment from Japan or Korea. Think we can survive on a "service" economy? Think again. When was the last time you reached an American when you called tech support or customer service? Services are much easier to export than products. The only thing we export really well is debt. No wonder our salaries don't go too far, and we get no raises.
And stop blaming the poor--are we really that stupid? Multinational corporations--that's right, they're very proud that they're not American anymore--close American factories, putting Americans out of work, and then build factories in China where they can pay pennies to the locals where there are no protections for workers. Then they export "cheap" products back to us, creating a few billionaire CEOs in the process.
But don't worry about those American-multinational companies--in a few years they'll be put out of business, too, by Asian cartels protected by governments that are smart enough to actually protect their manufacturers. No "free" trade from their point of view. China, Korea and Japan don't allow foreigners to flood their markets with cheap products.
Then China skims its population of 2 billion for their best and brightest, and sends them here where we give them scholarships to Harvard and MIT, so they can then go back to China, taking with them even more of our intellectual property. We're training our own competition, and we're paying for it, too!
Ross Perot was right when he referred to the "Giant Sucking Sound" of American jobs leaving the country when the "free" trade agreements were signed. We need to protect our markets, our workers and our jobs by getting rid of these "free" trade practices. We need tariffs to protect American products and American workers, and you'll start to see higher wages and better standards of living again.
I'm not holding my breath. Those CEOs aren't looking out for the longterm success of America--they're looking to make as much as they can as fast as they can wherever they can.
