  
 Supporting American-Made Products and Services from American-Owned Companies 
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As many economists are now predicting a 2003
rebound of the
U.S. economy, this author, who is neither an economist nor
has an MBA,
is predicting there will be no such economic recovery in
2003. Absent
these sought-after academic honors - as former Fidelity
Magellan Fund
manager Peter Lynch once said about the success of a friend
that never
went to business school - "imagine all the lessons he never
had to
unlearn."
Although war is traditionally good for the U.S.
economy, it
won't be for this economy. What makes this economy
different? The
surpluses of the 1990's, once predicted to continue forever,
have turned
into solid deficits. The consumer is tapped out, as both
consumer and
corporate bankruptcies are at an all-time high. Without
adequate
consumer spending, American businesses won't be able to
continue to
increase spending on research and development to create
demand for
better products and future consumer spending.
Robust increases averaging in the amount of 10%
businesses
funneled into research and development in the 1990's are
being severely
limited today. Many states are now admitting to huge
post-election
budget deficits, and Washington won't be able to lend much
of a hand
since national deficits are also rising, even without calls
for more tax
cuts. Jim Dyer, Republican staff director of the House
Appropriations
Committee, says "There's no pot of gold we have to pay for
all the
education and social programs people want."
Even a successful war in Iraq will draw focus away
from
domestic needs ranging from the war on terrorism at home to
Medicare,
education, economic stimulus and benefits for the increasing
mass of
unemployed Americans. Seemingly to avoid economic
embarrassment, on
December 24th, the U.S. Labor Department's gift to the
American people
was to no longer track the mass shuttering of American
manufacturing
facilities.
America's policy in Iraq and Afghanistan after the
seemingly
inevitable war, is likely to keep the U.S. Congress and
President
focused on international, and not domestic, objectives.
America may
eventually bite off more than most Americans are willing to
chew.
Republican Jim Dyer says that $34 billion in
homeland security
spending is in jeopardy unless eleven domestic spending
bills, which
many contend should have been taken care of last October,
are properly
addressed. Among these domestic spending bills are benefits
for 800,000
jobless Americans.
Unfortunately, America will not likely see an
economic rebound
until congress and the president has the courage to secure
the American
market for the American producer, and grant preferential
treatment for
domestic producers rather than foreign producers, whether
America is at
war or at peace.
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