Can The U.S. Economy Be Resurrected?

The U.S. government and the Fed have tried everything they can to save the economy. Huge corporate bailouts, multiple massive stimulus plans, interest rates near zero for banks, cash for clunkers and tax incentives to buy homes, yet other than stopping a collapse, it's not working, as the economy is stumbling and ready to fall. Home prices are dropping and foreclosures are mounting, while the job market is a disaster. What will resurrect the U.S. economy?

My Uncle Gene, a successful businessman, with more than 60 years of business experience and who at 84 continues to run a multi-million dollar business, has the answer. It is a "Buy American" program in which whenever possible every American would buy at least some U.S. made products rather than foreign made goods. This would put millions of Americans back to work and through the products and services they in turn would buy, it would put millions more Americans back to work, all in taxpaying firms, which would help to get our government back on its financial feet.

Walmart, Target and other major retailers would offer far more U.S. made products if they thought Americans would buy them. Home Depot already offers a list of made in the U.S. suppliers and my son Kyle, who runs a substantial property management firm now asks his managers to buy made in the U.S. through Home Depot and other suppliers.

It is also easy for you and me to do. If we go online or check with retailers, we can buy made in the U.S. products. Nearly all my jeans, socks, jackets and some of my shirts were made in the U.S.. For a list of U.S.suppliers, please click on http://www.madeinusa.org/ or Google "Made in the USA." We are sympathetic to the Chinese and other low cost workers but we remind them if the American people don't resurrect their economy, Chinese and other low cost suppliers will sell far less to their largest market and China and other governments and lenders will lose much of the money they have loaned to the U.S. government, which is already desperate for tax revenue.

How bad is the current situation for Americans? As my Uncle Gene said, "Now our leaders stimulate major corporations who in turn create jobs in China, Pakistan, India and even Burma who start with a $2.60 per day labor rate." Many giant U.S. firms are flush with profits but reinvesting those profits elsewhere to hire low cost workers to multiply their profits, while U.S. workers languish. If our workers don't have jobs in sufficiently large numbers, eventually neither will you and I. The most effective way we can deal with this is to help create a huge market for U.S. made goods, starting with our next product purchases.

Dick