In a time like this, the US can compete on exports due to the devaluation of the USD$. With attention to quality and craftsmanship, American products canbe just as good as Germany's best - for half or even ¼ the price. However, I do not think America is in a position to exploit this advantage. Care to guess what happened to most of the manufacturing infrastructure of the US?

Detroit's big three could take advantage of the USD devaluation to improve their financial situation. Perhaps if they get used to the fact that from now on there will be no golden parachute in case of poor sales, US automobiles will sell well in other countries.

Also, GM and the the rest should de-emphasize cars and develop a line to manufacture railroad cars. America is in dire need of good railways. In a future where cars and trucks might not be able to travel so much due to the high price of petroleum, trains that can run on a variety of fuels are a definite plus. No, a definite must.

China is not relying only on cheap labor to keep its economy in the black. The PRC is adopting a gold standard, I hear. In addition, they are getting their hands on each and every commodity they can - not to mention making huge investments in infrastructure to ensure cheaply available WATER. Finally, the PRC transportation infrastructure - roads, railways, seaports, and airports - will be upgraded extensively over the next few years. Which means China, along with India, will pretty much drive the global commodities boom. We can say that China is following the road that Western economic powers took to arrive at economic greatness.

In the US, businessmen and investors want the government to reduce its role in the US economy and restrict itself to regulation. This means shutting the doors to the influence of big business. The government will do what it does to ensure an amenable business environment, and nothing more - and do not expect Washington to be play sugar daddy.

Unfortunately, Washington has done just the opposite and those in cozy rapport with the Federal government are using their position to gain even more business - at the expense of new upstarts that could provide exactly what the market wants. These old, established businesses are, IMHO, staving off their demise through a juggernaut of regulatory rigidity as expressed in Federal laws and regulations.

I guess the practice of making the market follow the product (instead of the otehr way round, as is the usual case worldwide) is pretty much becoming obsolete.

And, if inflation does get bad, wages in the US would have to be raised to account for inflation.

Please feel free to correct me, even rudely. I am not an authority on global economics, so any correction is most welcome.