Can we say the Iraq War is the major cause of the dollars death

[lovuian]

I think we can

[C_U_L8R]

1. Or a more specific cause.... George Bush

[alfredo]

5. He had help of the Republican controlled congress. bush is old news

his water boys are still in congress. bush couldn't have done what he did without their help.

[wtmusic]

9. Yes. It's a subtler and deeper crisis of confidence attributable to W. nt

[alfredo]

2. I'd say the war and gross mismanagement by the Republicans.

[DemocratInSoCal]

3. Are You Kidding Me?

It is certainly one of the reasons, but to say that it alone brought us to this situation, is missing the mark completely.

We're really up Shit Creek right now, and there are many causes.

[Speck Tater]

4. NO.

Unregulated speculation in credit derivatives is the major cause. Deregulation, and loopholes invented by the ultra-greedy is the proximate cause.

[Vincardog]

10. Bingo Deregulation, and loopholes invented by the ultra-greedy is the proximate cause.

[alfredo]

12. There was a tolerance of corruption by those who were supposed to be

the watch dogs.

[movonne]

6. Yes...

[keep_it_real]

7. How about the billions that America spends on the defense budget.

America spends more on the defense budget than the whole world combined; money that goes to American corporation and stock holders - but for what? So America can be a "empire" over the nations of the world?

[file83]

18. If we had only spent all that money on healthcare or solar power research or...

education, this would be the best country on Earth. Now we are on the precipice of total economic disaster that hasn't been seen for almost 70 years.

[lovuian]

21. or if we spent all that money on Mass transit and Solar power

and Congress has to come to grip with getting us OUT
we can't keep paying for War

with what???

[Double T]

8. bushco and their conservative criminal henchmen are the major cause of the dollar's........

(and America's) death.

[Art_from_Ark]

11. It is one of many causes

Certainly no country can funnel as much money as the US has into the financial vortex of war and not expect to suffer economic consequences.

[file83]

13. 1 President to fuck it all up.

Iraq War
Tax Breaks during said war
Weak foreign investments because of dumb President
The bankers allowing the housing bubble to run out of control

This and so much more. Bush lead this country all right, right down the toilet.

[Kutjara]

14. Insofar as it was one of the major examples of mismanagement....

...perpetrated by the incumbent administration, yes. But it's just one of a number of factors, all of which can be gathered under a single heading: greed. BushCo worked flat out to enrich themselves and their cronies as quickly as possible, by whatever means necessary. Looting the tax base, beating the war drums and siphoning billions to defense contractors, giving the oil companies free rein to loot the public. You name it, they've done it.

And you can bet all those riches aren't sitting in any US dollar accounts. They're tucked up nice and safe in hard currencies. Like the Renmimbi.

[tabatha]

15. Also, because the republican congress spent money

like drunken sailors.

There was no pay as you go.

With the tax breaks there was also not enough money to spend without borrowing.

George's money policies have been a major F*** UP.

Voodoo economics.

[JackRiddler]

16. Actually, this is the same permanent crisis that started in the early 1970s...

Everything since has been an effort to find different ways to deal with it, using various neoliberal, plunder and imperialism strategies, but above all: financial speculation as a replacement for the profits that no longer come from production.

[AlCzervik]

17. no you can't, well you can but thats not correct.

[lligrd]

19. Mix Unpaid For War, Nafta, Deregulation, Unchecked Financial

Markets and Corporate greed. Stir in an idiot in the White House and presto, you've made a Depression.

[keep_it_real]

20. How do we get out of it?

The American government must print its own dollars and not the private corporation called the Federal Reserve.

[lovuian]

22. We can save billions and trillions of dollars by leaving Iraq

and use that money to get us back on our feet

i bet the dollar would rise if Congress said tomorrow we are leaving iraq

[enid602]

23. interest rates

I think a major cause of the dollar's decline was Greenspan and Bush's constantly reducing interest rates to pump up the economy, which caused the housing bubble. Furthermore, keeping interest rates artificially low cheapens the dollar in itself. Had we bumped up interest rates, this would have attracted more investment to this country. We might have had a recession earlier on, but a smaller one which would not have threatened our financial institutions.

That, and of course Iraq.