Tomorrow, an important movie debuts at 400 US theatres - one that will hopefully open the eyes of the American public as to the precarious nature of their economy. And citizens of other countries should not feel self-righteous and judgmental in their criticism of the US economic model because their economies are likely to be tied to the American economy, so that any pain will be spread far beyond the US borders. Case in point, the mortgage crisis and credit crunch emanating out of the US has spread like a contagion across Europe and parts of Asia. Enough said.
The movie, a documentary entitled I.O.U.S.A., focuses on the some of the issues that has the potential to cripple the US economy, i.e. ongoing trillion dollar trade deficits, out-of-control annual budgets that are raising national deficits to a point where two-thirds of the country's GNP (Gross National Product) can be attributed to the national debt. Americans are spending more than they earn with the result that savings levels are at the lowest level since the Great Depression (only $392 per year per American). The consumer-oriented nature of American society continues to spur on the economy with two-thirds of the country's GDP (Gross Domestic Product) being influenced by consumer spending. Unfortunately, most of this spending is done on credit. And with rising debt levels ($2.5 trillion in consumer debt alone), increasing unemployment levels, higher prices for fuel and food and less access to credit, this becomes a toxic soup that is resulting in record numbers of foreclosures and bankruptcies.
While the good news is that documentaries such as Fahrenheit 9/11, An Inconvenient Truth and Sicko have been able to draw movie goers, have they been able to influence others to make the seismic changes needed to rectify decades of poor decisions? As an optimist, I'd like to think that the more recent swing towards green vehicles has been a result of enlightenment brought about by environmental advocates and movies like 'An Inconvenient Truth', rather than sky-high gas prices. The mood is such that many Americans may decide that that they need to get a macro view of exactly how bad a shape the overall American economy is in, and go and see the movie. I truly hope so.
On the other hand, they may just ignore it, if, on a micro level, the current economic situation does not really impact them. But the worst case is if the know how bad the situation is (both on a macro and micro level), and ignore it anyways. Human nature sometimes means they will just shut it out and hope it gets better, rather than do anything concrete to improve the situation. Analogies of this would be those investors who don't open up their monthly statements even they know that their portfolios are tanking and in serious need of an overhaul or decisions to sell their poorly performing securities. Or the person who doesn't open up their credit card bills, knowing that they are past due and need to be paid, even though they know that the consequences of their inaction, they elect to ignore it. Hopefully, the American public (and their leaders) don't adopt this attitude of waiting for better times by doing nothing. Hopefully, they care enough to do something.
In the meantime, I hope you will see this movie when it opens on August 21st. Even though I am not an American, I know I will.
No comments:
Post a Comment