When I was a child I used to play with a large plastic punching bag that was weighted at the bottom. You could hit this figure all day long and it would bounce right back into an upright position.
I have thought about the resilience of this toy as I have watched the global financial crisis unfold in recent weeks. The loss of wealth has been staggering. The Bank of England estimated that by the end of October $2.8 trillion had evaporated from world financial ledgers.
But when you consider the U.S. economy is valued at over $14 trillion, you see there is still a lot of wealth left over, especially in America. Now I have to confess, I have no concept of how much $1 trillion is, much less $14 trillion. These are numbers with a lot of zeroes behind them. But what I do know is America is a vastly wealthy country and it can take, and has taken, a big hit and can bounce back. As I write, that appears to be what is happening even as the country seems to be settling into a long recession.
Don't mistake what I am saying. There will be more bad news ahead for major U.S. companies. Many workers will lose their jobs. There will be some hard times ahead. But the U.S. economy is very large, very deep and very entrenched in the global world. It is not going away overnight, and it will be around for some time yet, even if in a different role in relation to the rest of the world.
America's wealth is staggering. There has been nothing like it in all history—a land of bounty stretching from sea to sea. A land with vast forests, mineral-rich lands and waterways traversing the continent, all waiting to build a powerful country. Rich fields waiting for the plow and seed that would feed a growing nation and spill over to feed a hungry world. And all of this, as an American president once said, waiting as if by the preparation of God for the right time and people.
