David Stockman, a former Ronald Reagan finance insider from the 80’s who helped craft Reagonomics has called the US Economy destroyed.  Flatline was diagnosed this week.  He ticks off four points by which the GOP (not the Democrats all though they definitely provided a serious assist) DESTROYED the US economy.

MarketWatch article – breaks down the 4 points clearly

Original Op Ed article by Stockman himself "Four Deformations of the Apocalypse"

This is a must read article.  It doesn’t matter if you are a Republican, A Democrat, a Libertarian, a Tea Party mover and shaker, an independent, a communist or a prairie dog just trying to ride out the storm in a hole in the ground.

This article identifies the 4 major causes of the downfall of the US economy and holds no punches.  That doesn’t mean we should watch ringside as the great fighter gets pummeled, but it does mean that we need to be aware of what happened, how it happened, who contributed and what dogmatic bull they are trying to shovel now to protect their jobs and tell us not to panic when the barn burns with all the horses inside.

When governments and economies can’t pay for resources any more, they start preparing to take resources by force.  China has been locking up contracts on a number of key resources around the world, but they are also hedging their bets by increasing spending on their 2.3 million person military.

They do not spend as much as the US directly on their military, but they do own majority stakes in the businesses that operate in China which positions them to ramp up for total warfare faster than any country in the history of the world, even faster than 1930’s Germany.

China will boost military spending by 14.9% this year despite the economic slowdown, continuing a run of double-digit increases that have unsettled the US and Asian neighbours.

The spokesman for the National People’s Congress – China’s rubber-stamp parliament, which begins its annual session tomorrow – told reporters it was a "modest" increase which would increase capabilities and improve conditions for the 2.3 million members of the world’s largest army.

Li Zhaoxing said defence spending will reach 480.6bn yuan (£50bn), 62.5bn yuan more than 2008. But the rise is slightly below last year’s 17.6% increase – and the total is still dwarfed by US military spending.

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) estimates that even when comparative buying power is considered, China spent the equivalent of $140bn (£99bn) in 2007, to America’s $547bn. The UK spent the equivalent of $54bn.

Guardian