And, the government withholds information on the invasion of these countries- plan wouldn’t even be perceived
Turse 9 (Nick, editor at the nations institute Tom dispatch, http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=15479 , Corp watch, nov 22) ET
Given that the current conflict with al-Qaeda stemmed, in no small part, from the U.S. military presence in the region, the issue is obviously of importance. Nonetheless, coverage has been so poor that much about U.S. military efforts there remains unknown. A review of U.S. government documents, financial data, and other open-source material by TomDispatch, however, reveals that an American military building boom yet to be seriously scrutinized, analyzed, or assessed is underway in the Middle East. Consider, then, what we can at present know now about this Pentagon build-up, country by country from Qatar to Jordan, and while you're reading, think about what we don't know -- and why Washington has chosen this path.
Alternate causalities to poverty – Economic collapse is not the root.
Madan 2 (Anisha, Financial analyst for GE and MBA at Kellogg School, Northwestern University, “The Relationship between Economic Freedom and Socio – Economic Development”, pg 8-10,) AQB
There is a vast amount of literature and studies performed that show that economic growth is not the end-all and be-all of economic development. Focus needs to be on social indicators that depict the quality of life of people. The Basic Needs approach to development formulated by Paul Streeten attempts to provide opportunities for the full physical, mental, and social development of the human personality and then derives ways of meeting this objective. The emphasis is on ends rather than means and non-material needs are recognized. (Streeten, 1981). Thus, mere economic growth rates cannot be a proxy for the quality of life and cannot indicate that basic needs are met. This is explained as follows: (1) The income or economic growth approach to measuring human progress deals only with the quantity of products but not with the appropriateness of those goods and services. (2) Some basic needs can only be satisfied, or more effectively satisfied through public services (education, water, and sanitation), through subsidized goods and services, or through transfer payments. (3) Consumers, both poor and rich are not always efficient in optimizing nutrition and health. Additional income can be spent on foods with lower nutritional value leading to a decrease in health. (4) The manner in which additional income is earned may affect the quality of life adversely. Compared to others, certain production choices can increase income more but have a greater negative impact on human and environmental well being. One example of this is female employment. Although the mother's income can rise, breast-feeding may reduce, which decreases the nutrition of babies. (5) Increased income does not guarantee a reduction in the mal-distribution of wealth within society or households. Therefore, the Basic Needs Approach shows that the economic growth approach neglects the importance of non-material needs and ignores the significance of socio-economic development.
A2: Economy- Defense- resilient
US economy is resilient – it can take more than one major hit.
Blanchard 6/5/10(Niklas, economist for Modeled Behavior, “This is Resilience”)AQB
The US economy is like Rocky Balboa — it can take multiple hard hits, spend a good deal of time beaten down…but then come back and win the fight against striking odds. As you may know, I’m a proponent of the Scott Sumner view of events surrounding the Great Recession. Indeed, I think monetary policy remains too tight relative to the needs of the economy (to return to our previous NGDP growth path). However, from Stephen Gordon (via the BEA), we learn that on net, not even fiscal policy has been particularly expansionary: There has been much talk of the size of the US federal stimulus, and much debate about whether or not it has been an effective counter-cyclical policy instrument. But it’s important to remember that the proper measure for fiscal stimulus is not spending by the federal government; it is spending by all levels of government. And when you look at the contributions to US GDP growth (Table 1.1.2 at the BEA site), total government spending has been a drag on growth over the past two quarters. The increases at the federal level have not been enough to compensate for the spending cuts at the local and state levels. And yet, even severely battered, the little engine that could keeps chugging along. There is a lot of ink being spilled over the theory of fiscal policy “expectation traps”, or what Krugman terms the Tinkerbell principle. The theory is very interesting, and well-worth pursuing, but is a fiscal policy that is demonstratably not expansionary ever expansionary?
A2: Economy- Defense- US Not K to Global
U.S. not key to global economy—Other countries will replace
Baily and Slaughter 8 (Martin, senior fellow in economic studies at the Brookings Institution and Matthew Professor of international economics at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, Private Equity Council, “Strengthening U.S. Competitiveness in the Global Economy”, p. 8, )AQB
To many Americans, the persistent large trade deficit represents a sign that the US economy is no longer competitive, especially in the manufacturing sector, and is losing out to the billions of workers in China, India and elsewhere that are now participating in global trade. there is both truth and fiction to this idea. It is correct to say that the ability of the US economy to compete in international trade is not what it was in the past when the mighty US economy dominated the world with technologies and organizational and managerial techniques that were far ahead of competitors. that era is past. the US economy no longer dominates the global economy because other countries have developed their production capacity and best practices have spread around the world—oftentimes through the investments that US multinational companies have made overseas. And, of course, instead of being self-sufficient in oil, we now pay exorbitant prices to foreign producers. but just because the world has changed does not mean that the U.S. economy can no longer compete globally. Contrary to some popular opinion, we judge that the US economy—which remains one of the most productive in the world—is ca-pable of competing globally, expanding exports and even seeing some recovery in import-competing sec-tors. Nor do we cast China, India and NAFtA as villains or even as the cause of the huge US trade deficit.
U.S. not key to global econ—East Asia is the new leader.
Xinhua Net 9 (“East Asia playing bigger role in global economy, Bush says”)AQB
BOAO, Hainan, April 18 (Xinhua) -- Former U.S. President George. W. Bush said Saturday that East Asia is playing a bigger role in global economy, and the world economic center has moved from Atlantic to Asia Pacific. The Asia Pacific takes up 55 percent of the global economy, and it is of vital interest to stay "heavily engaged" with the countries in the region, he said at a banquet speech held during the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) annual conference 2009. "That's why I have never missed a single APEC meeting when I was in office, because I know how important it is to the prosperity," he said. "The global financial system does need reform, needs greater transparency," he noted. "Accessible banking standard is needed to be in place to prevent over leverage. A better warning system is needed to be put into place to anticipate crisis," he said. He said that 20 years ago, a meeting of G7 or G8 was enough to sort out the problems, since they comprised a large share of the global economy. But now they are no longer significantly large, so such a meeting has to expand to 20, said Bush. "We learn lessons from the past that we are intervened in close coordination with each other," he said. As the 43rd U.S. president, Bush spoke out the fact that he had maintained good personal relations with China. He said making friends with Chinese leaders made it easier to do diplomacy. He said changes in China are marvelous, and to have discussions without China sitting at the table makes no sense. He stressed the world must resist isolation and protectionism, and must resist the temptation to over-correct. "More we interact, more quickly we can succeed," he said. In mid-March, Bush gave his first speech after leaving office in Calgary of Canada, which stirred up a protest of 200 people and shoe throwing outside the event, according to media reports.
Share with your friends: |