Five Solutions in a Deteriorating Economy

(Speech given at Renaissance Think-Tank in Charleston, SC.)

The fierce fight between the market forces and the manipulators resumes for another year.

My questions remain the same. If huge amounts of debt are what caused the problem, how can even more debt be the solution? And secondly, why can't we just let housing fall? At the right market price buyers will come, establishing a strong foundation from which to build.

I strongly believe deflation will hit hard in 2009. Rather than a worldwide coordinated currency devaluation to push all prices back up, I have a few easier suggestions:

One: Stop the flow of US dollars to the Middle East by pouring money into real and new technologies to stop the US dependence on foreign oil.

Two: Get the Mexican borders closed before millions of illegal immigrants consume our resources. Hire Americans to rebuild America. And while we're at it, let's make sure the most advanced technologies are employed to make sure no terrorists slip through the Canadian border.

Three: Get defense contractors out of Iraq and stop allowing them to steal billions of our tax dollars by enforcing much greater oversight on their work.

Four: Three weeks ago Senator Bob Graham's team reported an imminent chemical, biological, and radiological threat to US soil. Put Americans to work by developing and employing new technologies.

Five: The United States is the leader in innovative genius and entrepreneurial spirit, but since 9/11 we have not effectively protected our homeland. Our government needs to stop analyzing and start deploying. Private industries and entrepreneurs are the most powerful force we have. I can speak from personal experience when I tell you that the US government bureaucracy is ill-equipped to develop or even procure these new technologies effectively, efficiently, and to deploy them in a timely manner. We need less bureaucratic bumbling and more action!

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