Regarding "We imported $132 billion worth of crude last year", I live in an Iowa town that gets its power from a coal fired plant in Omaha, Neb. Now imagine if, as a town, we put up so much "local" solar and wind, that the town no longer sent money to Omaha, but kept the money in the town. From here I will return your question, "How much higher would our (local) GDP have been if" this happened?
The point, your spending is another person's income, and it makes a difference who that person is!
If you "know the answers, tell us what you know rather than asking questions. A discussion is about both sides adding information.
"How much higher would our (local) GDP have been if" this happened?
Well, considering the fact that the wind and solar will never pay for themselves, I'd say your local GDP would drop.
The point, your spending is another person's income, and it makes a difference who that person is!
Well, that other person better do a good job getting me the price and quality I want, eh comrade?
It is sad when I have to explain to someone that "questions do not make an argument!"
As in:
1. How much lost economic activity last year. . . ?
2. The foreign company . . . did they eat the money?
3. How long do you think that will take?
4. How much more should I be responsibly forced to spend?
Again, "questions do not make an argument!"
Finally at the end, we get the comment "baloney" in response to "without a government there is no economy." If you go to Investopedia.com and find the article "What If There Were No Government?" you find this as the "immediate" response to no government. The article goes on to explain the long term impact.
(Quote)
If America woke up to no federal government, there would be absolute chaos in the financial markets. U.S. federal debt is the largest single investment instrument in the market, and the disappearance of a federal government would have everyone scrambling to figure out who, if anybody, would honor that debt. Moreover, since each and every U.S. dollar is essentially a debt instrument backed by the "full faith and credit of the U.S. government", what would that be worth (and also, of the billions of dollars of reserves held around the world in U.S. dollars) with no U.S. government?
Suffice it to say, the equity markets would also go absolutely haywire. So much of what is taken for granted in business - including taxes, regulations and the smooth operation of interstate and international trade - is facilitated or overseen by the federal government, and nobody would have any immediate answers as how that would continue. Likewise, what would happen to corporate profits if the federal government vanished as a customer? In such an environment, gold and silver would likely skyrocket, as speculators reassured themselves that precious metals would always be worth something in trade.
Perhaps contrary to expectation, there would not necessarily be full-scale bedlam and anarchy. Police are funded and administered at state and municipal levels, and while the National Guard is technically part of the U.S. Army and Air Force, it is still operates at the state level and could be called upon by governors to maintain order.
(End quote)
You will notice that the only thing that stops "full-scale bedlam and anarchy" is "local government." So again "without government there is no economy!!!!!!!"
In the other post, we get this comment "that other person better do a good job getting me the price and quality I want." Capitalism is not about "price and quality." It is about profits. If quality were an issue the term "planned obsolescence" would not be a part of capitalism.
Plus, the price has nothing to do with you! Price is about the competition that may, for a time, exist. However, capitalism is not about competition. Capitalism is about eliminating competition, and once that is accomplished, it is all about "monopoly pricing." You know; the kind of monopoly pricing found in America today!
