This big election day and potential for definitive Obama victoryamplifies and highlights dramatic 21st century political,economic, and demographic trends underway:
- The United States population will be majority non-white withinthe next generation. African Americans will lose clout as Hispanicand Asian populations advance. White Americans will no longerdominate.
- The New Deal and Great Society had a 40-year run before runningout of gas. Now Reaganomics goes over the cliff after nearly threedecades. Just as the Roaring Twenties ended the last majorRepublican ascendancy, now the credit meltdown crashes the latestversion of free market--trickle down policies, hopefully withoutthe devastating impacts of 80 years ago.
- The global economy, the rise of China and India as economicpowers, and the roiled Islamic oil-field region force a change inAmerica's competitive standing. We're a high cost producer whoseeconomy has been depending on consumer spending and high energyuse. We are finding out that producing less and consuming more is azero sum game that needs to be reversed or our standard of livingwill decline.
- Urban areas, including urbanizing suburbs, continue to gainclout connecting to global pathways. Secondary and tertiary citiesremoved from the larger global pathway markets are disadvantaged.Rural areas decline further.
From an election day perspective, the Republicans cling to alargely white, more rural Joe Six Pack "Real America" constituencytouting old bromides like tax cuts for everyone, free markets, andsuper-power bluster. That's why it appears they will lose big. Whoknows whether Obama can deliver--time will tell. But he representsthe New World Order: An increasingly diverse country that must cometo grips with reinventing itself with 21st solutions to regain itsglobal footing.
Continue Reading for Free
Register and gain access to:
- Breaking commercial real estate news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical coverage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
*May exclude premium content
Already have an account?
Sign In Now
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.