Get our wallets into gear?

For decades our entire economic policy has been geared towards getting Americans to spend more. This has worked so well that Americans individually (and collectively) are pinned down with record debt. This is most of the argument about extending unemployment benefits - the dollars given to the unemployed will be spent on average quickly and the multiplier effect will result in not one but multiple Xboxes being purchased. Of course the Xboxes are built in China.

But how much does it really help our economy to have the government borrow from China (the world’s leading producer and lender these days) in order to encourage Americans to buy another IPad or plasma television set?

Americans are already pretty darn good at spending - on houses, cars, gasoline, computers, cell phones and concerts. But Americans are not as good good at manufacturing and exporting goods to other countries. We used to be the king of manufacturing and exporting but no more.

When you are the wealthiest country (by some measures) and the biggest economy, the world grants you more credit than they give to Ireland, Greece or Nigeria. But even the big can fail and when they do it is louder, harder and messier.

Perhaps we should direct our entire focus on getting Americans to produce more. Let's expand our manufacturing to meet more of our own needs and to export to meet the needs of others. Let’s stop spending less on our own personal comfort and start producing to make the rest of the world a better place.