The United States has the largest economic output (GDP) of any country on earth and the eighth highest income per capita at $59,939, below Luxembourg, Macao, Ireland, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Qatar. The world average per capita income is $17,100. The factors contributing to America’s prosperity would require volumes to fully explain. But the essence of our flourishing can be summarized in a few sentences.
Americans, individually or together in companies, have produced more than the citizens of other countries, because they trust in and rely on well defined and honestly enforced property and other individual rights that enable them to profit from their efforts—they believe in and follow the rule of law. That profit includes the freedom to live as they choose. We don’t always agree on which rules and laws would best facilitate our rights and interactions, but we trust in the process of public debate, adoption and enforcement of such rules.
Someone wanting to weaken American would attempt to undermine our trust in the above (trust in the institutions that formulate and enforce the rule of our agreed laws). Don’t confuse criticisms of weaknesses in our laws and their enforcement meant to strengthen and improve them with attacks on their legitimacy and fundamental honesty meant to undermine and discredit them. The former are from patriots and the later from our enemies. Look around you and see who is trying to improve American who is trying to tear it down and weaken it.
Author: Warren Coats
I specialize in advising central banks on monetary policy and the development of the capacity to formulate and implement monetary policy. I joined the International Monetary Fund in 1975 from which I retired in 2003 as Assistant Director of the Monetary and Financial Systems Department. While at the IMF I led or participated in missions to the central banks of over twenty countries (including Afghanistan, Bosnia, Croatia, Egypt, Iraq, Israel, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kosovo, Kyrgystan, Moldova, Serbia, Turkey, West Bank and Gaza Strip, and Zimbabwe) and was seconded as a visiting economist to the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (1979-80), and to the World Bank's World Development Report team in 1989. After retirement from the IMF I was a member of the Board of the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority from 2003-10 and of the editorial board of the Cayman Financial Review from 2010-2017. Prior to joining the IMF I was Assistant Prof of Economics at UVa from 1970-75. I am currently a fellow of Johns Hopkins Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, Institute for Applied Economics, Global Health, and the Study of Business Enterprise. In March 2019 Central Banking Journal awarded me for my “Outstanding Contribution for Capacity Building.” My recent books are One Currency for Bosnia: Creating the Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina; My Travels in the Former Soviet Union; My Travels to Afghanistan; My Travels to Jerusalem; and My Travels to Baghdad. I have a BA in Economics from the UC Berkeley and a PhD in Economics from the University of Chicago. My dissertation committee was chaired by Milton Friedman and included Robert J. Gordon. I live in National Landing Va 22202
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Well said, Warren. More!
Bravo, Warren! Please enlighten us further by naming names.
It appears to be quite obvious to the watching world who are trying to weaken your democracy and why. The fear is whether there will be enough people to stand up against them. The polls indicate that there may not be enough people, and that’s the scary thing.