[Kerrigan]

Both the Republican and Democrat parties can be credited with running the US economy into the ground. The Republicans with their appalling record of government spending, and the Democrats with their ludicrous idea that you can legislate prosperity for the poor by forcing banks to lend to those with sub-prime credit characteristics. And neither party's candidate for president has demonstrated that they know what it takes to implement responsible economic policies.

The EU, which has recently surpassed the US as the world's largest economy, has actually emerged from this sub-prime lending crisis as a more effective agent for economic strength and responsibility. Think of this as a sort of reverse Suez Canal moment: Brown's skillful solution to the problem is what prevented a larger crisis, such as the one of the 1980s, from occurring. Britain, not the US, got us out of this mess.

As the US runs itself further into the ground with irresponsible policies and inept leadership, it's comforting to know that the EU, the world's largest economy has the political, fiscal, and economic wherewithal to maintain stability in global markets.

And when Obama increases the US's capital gains tax, which is already second highest in the world, expect to see even more Inbev style takeovers as large companies find it profitable to jump ship and re-headquarter themselves in the EU.

[SpaceMonkey]

To answer your subject line: In broad, geostrategic terms, no, because even Western Europe is only a generation away from negative population growth (immigration included), and Eastern Europe is already there.

[Uncle Skeleton]

We still have the most bombs

[Gator Lager]

Dammit.
it's about time.
now send MONEY!!!!!!

[Big Mac]

I don't agree with that assessment either, at least not yet. The EU has its own intrinsic problems. We will bounce back fairly quickly from the sub-prime contagion, but a BHO administration could indeed wreak havoc on our economy.

[Gator Lager]

yep, we are down but not out. but shite like this pisses me off
(from here: http://www.glennbeck.com/content/art...cle/196/16704/)

CONGRESSMAN CULBERSON: There is going to be voter fraud. We don't know how massive it is but no question, ACORN and other organizations like them are going to be a big part of it because they have pled guilty. I mean, ACORN has literally pled guilty to false -- to fraudulent voter registration. And in Houston we discovered there's about 4,000 dead people on the voter rolls here. It's going on around the country. We're the only nation I think on the face of the Earth that doesn't have a citizenship list, a citizenship roll that you can just check the database against voter rolls, and ACORN has a long history of this, Glenn. And, you know, that's particularly outrageous is that the mortgage bailout, the Freddie and Fannie Mae bailout bill which was done this August which I also voted against because that nationalized the mortgage industry, that bill, Barney Frank voted language in that bill this summer which hard wires $420 of a $100,000 mortgage to ACORN, La Raza and other organizations like --

GLENN: That's an outrage. Why didn't the American people know? That's an absolute outrage.

CONGRESSMAN CULBERSON: And it is forever. It bypass -- I'm on the appropriations committee. It bypasses appropriations, bypasses the congress, it's in your closing documents. This from day forward we will all be paying 4.2% basis fee of $420 for every $100,000 mortgage in your closing paper will have papers. You'll have a new little line in there, a new fee that we're going to all pay to go straight to these affordable housing funds which the states then hard wire to La Raza, ACORN, groups like that.

[Kerrigan]

The US still has greater geopolitical significance, of course. But global economic significance is shifting. The skillfully implemented Brown Plan for partial nationalization of banks, the rejection of the US plan by continental European states, and the subsequent US adoption of Brown's idea, demonstrates that the political class of the EU has exercised greater prudence and sway in the resolution of this crisis than the US has.

Just as Suez marked a turning point when Britain realized it had to rely on the US to resolve its military crises, this financial crisis marks a turning point where the US realizes that it will need European assistance or inspiration for resolving future financial crises.

[Taliesin]

Midterm it's Europe that will take over US' position as worldleader but in the longterm it will be China or India.

Taliesin

[OreoCookie]

In the future, we will simply have to live with a multipolar world: Europe, Russia, India, China and of course the US will all be players that you have to reckon with.

I don't think the worst is over yet, the US (and Western Europe) is still transitioning from constructs which stem from the Cold War era (dollar-based Western economy, NATO, etc.).