When Will America Recover? 

Op-Ed Detroit Free Press - Congressman Nick Smith, Retired - February 26, 2010

I just returned from speaking at Oxford and several other British Universities on American politics and the economy.  England, like the United States, has high unemployment and huge government debt.  Many I spoke to believed that the current global economic mess is all our fault.  In a sense, they are right.  As the world's leading economy, our economic health affects everyone, especially trading partners like England.  We are its largest trading and investment partners at $400 billion last year.

The students were most interested in my opinion on how long it would take before America recovers economically.  Some White House economists are predicting that we can fully recover from this recession in a year or two.  As I told the students, however, it will take ten years or more to rebuild the economy - and then only if we can control our spending.  It's not just "the government" or even "the Democrats."  All of us, government and consumers alike, have been living on borrowed money.  Our national savings rate three years ago was a negative number.  One bit of recent good news is that consumers have increased their average individual savings rate to over five percent, which means less consumer spending in the short run but a stronger overall economy in the long run.  The Government needs to do likewise.  Read More...