Dilution of Power

The G-8, the group of the world's seven largest industrial nations, plus Russia, have agreed to follow President Obama and extend policy-shaping decisions to the G-20, which includes the most productive of the so-called developing nations. Obama wants to give more voice to these smaller economies, which by necessity means giving up some control. This coupled with the prospect that the dollar will lose its status as the reserve currency of the world is troubling. California alone, if separated from the rest of the United States, would still be the fourth largest economy in the world. Even though contraction has occurred, the US is still far in a way the largest economy in the world. Many of our international competitors have echoed Fritz Hollings and accused the US of "too much consumption", resentful of the level of prosperity average Americans enjoy. They agree in this regard with our own President who feels we need to be taken down a notch. But when Americans by necessity mimic Chinese and Japanese who have long been net savers and sock more of their earnings away, revenue coming in to government in America goes down and taxes consequently go up. This is no time for the US to be further weakening herself and subjugating the needs of United States citizens to the interests of foreign nations.