Russia Poised to Teach US Leaders Another Economic Lesson

"The institution of oversight and control has lost its value" - Vladimir Putin

Courtesy: RussiaBlog.org

(CHICAGO) - For the past several years it seems that the world has spun into a strange Twilight Zone where everything is topsy-turvy and what went around is coming back in truly Mad Hatter style.

The latest evidence of this is the US federal government's foray into the minefield of unfunded dent obligations and massive deficits resulting in an expansion of the bureaucracy by historic numbers.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin has vowed to cut his government's bureaucracy by 5 percent this year and 20 percent by 2013. A whopping 174,000 government workers are slated to get the axe.

According to the prestigious Goldwater Institute, the US federal health care bill creates somewhere between 47 to 160 new agencies and offices. Maybe. The actual number is unknowable according to the apolitical Congressional Research Service.

The net result is Russia's debt as a percentage of GDP is shrinking as the USA's is steadily climbing. To bolster the strength of the ruble, Russia intends to sell sovereign bonds on the world market while the US sells debt to the Federal Reserve—future debt it is taking on primarily to meet current debt obligations.

Putin is rebuilding the house of Russia while the US administration and Congress is building a house of cards. And a flimsy house it is too.

Many economists agree the US economy has reached the tipping point and whether it plunges off the proverbial cliff or retreats from looming disaster will most likely be determined by the November elections and what Congress does or doesn’t do in the 2011 session.

As far as American business is concerned all bets are on hold. With the Bush tax cuts in doubt and the economy like a tattered flag being whipped about by unpredictable winds, corporate America is sitting on—according to some estimates—an incredible two trillion dollars.

Putin is demanding that parliament lift all the barriers to new business start-ups and swiftly eliminate the Gordian knots of excessive State regulatory controls. He wants it easier for business to do business and for farmers to farm: "For every kilo of meat produced by a farmer there are often several kilos of paperwork to be collected," Putin said..

In an amazingly Reaganesque move, the Russian leader is surprisingly moving Russia towards an economic climate that echoes the US moves during the early 1980s: deregulation.

"The institution of oversight and control has lost its value," he said.

Meanwhile, the US trudges onwards towards an economic doomsday and beefs up its command and control structure while preparing to micromanage the economy in a Kafkaesque reprise of the old Soviet 5-year plans.

Because of Washington’s policies some monetary soothsayers have already predicted the collapse of the US dollar and hyperinflation.

And while Russia has emerged from its recession, US policy continues to drive the nation towards higher unemployment and a full blown depression.

Perhaps the real solution in this new Twilight Zone world that has emerged should be simply hiring Putin away from Russia for any amount of money he wants and placing him in charge of the United States Treasury?

Terrence Aym is a Salem-News.com Contributor based in Chicago, who is well known nationally for his stirring reports on the top ranked site, helium.com. Born in Minnesota, Terrence Aym grew up in the Chicagoland suburbs. Having traveled to 40 of the 50 states and lived in 7 of them, Aym is no stranger to travel. He's also spent time in Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, Europe, Asia and Western Africa. An executive for many years with Wall Street broker-dealer firms, Aym has also had a life-long interest in science, technology, the arts, philosophy and history. If it's still possible to be a 'Renaissance man' in the 21st Century, Aym is working hard to be one.

Aym has several book projects in the works. Media sites that have recently featured Aym, and/or discussed his articles, include ABC News, TIME Magazine, Business Insider, Crunchgear.com, Discover, Dvice, Benzinga and more recently, his work has been showing up in South Africa and Russia.