Thom Hartmann confronts Victor Davis Hanson on why America is in decline

Run time: 09:19 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POM_hDISpJo   Posted on YouTube: February 22, 2011 By YouTube Member: thomhartmann Views on YouTube: 141   Posted on DU: February 23, 2011 By DU Member: alp227 Views on DU: 583

 
Thom Hartmann confronts Victor Davis Hanson, Senior Fellow in Residence Hoover Institution on the declining middle class www.victorhanson.com

The interesting part of this is around the 3-minute mark: Hanson responds to Hartmann's question regarding the Reagan debt and deficit spending, and Hartmann brings up that deficit spending (according to the Cato Institute) makes government seem less expensive and that when government costs what it costs, there'll be less demand.

Hanson is also the author of numerous books including Carnage and Culture: Landmark Battles in the Rise of Western Power (2001). He writes excellently about ancient history (Greece/Rome), but he uses his knowledge to amplify his neocon, pro-war voice. I personally enjoyed reading Carnage and Culture and recommend it to any history buff out there. Hanson said in a 2003 interview that he was a registered Democrat who voted for Bush in 2000.

on all products sold in the US with money given back to companies that produce the products in the US with American labor.

I would like to point out that, from what I see in history (and the topic is vast, so I have not studied every possible situation), that while it is true that excessive debt had caused the downfall of many great empires including the Roman Empire and the French ancien regime and many others, the cause of the debt is nearly always EXCESSIVE EXPENDITURES ON WARS USUALLY OF CONQUEST, not on consumer goods.

Also, having just read a book on the topic, I believe that the fall of the Egyptian government of Cleopatra in Alexandria was not due to excessive debt but rather to other factors such as unlucky alliances.