Armed Forces Journal

“America is back,” said the President of all the Americans, “Anyone who tells you America is in decline or that our influence has waned, doesn’t know what they’re talking about.” Well, Dear Reader, we’re here to tell you: America is in decline. We can give it to you straight because we’re not running for public office. And if we were elected, we would immediately demand a recount. Anyone who tells you America is not in decline is either running for office…or not paying attention. In 1969, more than one out of every three dollars of income in the entire globe was earned in the US. That’s what the IMF’s World Economic Outlook tells us. By 2000, that number had fallen…but not by much. The US still took home 31% of global income. But in the last 10 years, the US share has fallen hard — ...

Not much action in the stock market on Friday. Gold didn’t do much either. The big news was that Hosni Mubarak called it quits. After supporting him for 3 decades, the US threw him under a tank. Almost everywhere except the Mubarak household, people rejoiced. We were surprised they had an opinion, one way or the other. We got emails from strangers telling us what a “hopeful” development this was…or how “free elections” might be coming next. Typical was the report in The Washington Post: “Mubarak became the second Arab leader in a month to succumb to his people’s powerful thirst for freedom.” “Thirst for freedom?” If Egyptians were thirsty for freedom they must be like camels. They only need a drink of it once every 30 years. Mubarak ruled for three decades. Egyptians went without ...