Our book was reviewed by Elaine Meinel Supkis on her Money Matters blog

Elaine Meinel Supkis just reviewed our book, Trading Away the Future on her Money Matters blog (http://elainemeinelsupkis.typepad.com/money_matters). She is pessimistic about the possibility that our proposals can get enacted. (We propose to balance trade with Import Certificates; tax foreigners on interest earned in the U.S.; enact the FairTax or another consumption tax to increase American savings.) She thinks that our political elites have sold out to the point where there is no possibility of enacting legislation to fix the problems. This could explain why the FairTax did not get a fair hearing in establishment Republican media during Governor Huckabee's presidential campaign. Specifically, she wrote:

The one weakness of this book which is very good in its own way is what motives me to write every day: understanding the real underpinnings of this whole system. Understanding why treason has replaced patriotism. Why schemes to fix this mess don't fix it at all. And why bills that are perfectly sensible are not passed by Congress nor signed by Presidents. And why all the 'cures' for what ails us, kills us.

As I often say, if one doesn't understand the dynamics of imperialism, one can't understand current events. For the last 10,000 years of human history, the growth and collapse of one empire after another has built a huge historical record of how the dynamics of imperialism works. And of course, if one can understand this history, one can see how America can save itself from collapse. The cure isn't simple. Indeed, it requires first, admitting we are a global empire in its final stages of decay. And hanging onto this rotted empire is impossible....

At the same time, she is very positive about our book and our proposals:

This book is a very good chronicle of what we should do to stop much of the trade mess. But the authors despair that even the smallest tax code changes suggested will never see the light of day. Tax cuts, yes. But taxes designed to cut back on offshore goods produced by US corporations ending: no way in hell.

Click here to read sample chapters from this book

I must add here, the writing is excellent. For non-experts, the three authors are careful to not use any tricky 'insider' talk so beloved by economics professors. They are quite clear about the intentions of the authors and they try to offer more than one escape from the trap we are in. They are hopeful but pessimistic. They figure, if we fail to stop things from continuing, we will have a 'hard landing' but will recover from it.

She disagrees with our hope that America's economic problems would be solved by a hard landing:

Alas, one problem with world-girdling empires crashing is, this always leads to a global struggle for dominance by rising empires. And the home base is destroyed by invaders, revolutionaries and military insurrections. The history of the total collapse of security within an empire as it collapses is crystal clear: ALWAYS the dying empire is dismembered INTERNALLY. And thoroughly, I might add....

The entire review is well worth reading: http://elainemeinelsupkis.typepad.com/money_matters/2008/03/book-review-tra.html

Howard