INVESTING: To ensure economic growth, we must look to Europe

I don’t like that we allow our government to have so much control over our fortunes, but it is the reality we live in. Most Americans would benefit from a long-term, generally rising stock market, so with that in mind, I am going to propose an idea that can contribute greatly to a steadily rising American market.

This proposal comes from a notion the 200-year track record of generally rising stock prices in this country is in danger. We have gotten ourselves in tight spots before and we have always come out OK. America is the only modern nation that has not reset its stock market to zero in the last century. I want to believe we can do it again, but there are issues.

We live in an age of entitlement. The problems General Motors Corp. is facing today are simply an early warning about the disaster our Social Security system has become. And GM is only the beginning. Now, United Airlines is shedding its pension obligations onto American taxpayers. Take a look at the state and municipal unfunded obligation situation, which is another way of saying we can’t keep our promises. It’s frightening.

Americans have always relied on the ability to grow out of economic problems and if we could begin a powerful growth spurt today we could potentially decrease the game-altering unfunded risks we face.

One proven way to grow is to attract talented and fast-growing enterprises. An enormous target market for these types of companies is just across the pond in Europe. As a whole, Europe does not have enough talent to grow its way out of its own entitlement fiasco, but companies fleeing the socialists can add nicely to our picture.

Europe is dying. Part of the reason we are having so many diplomatic problems with France is because France needs to sell bad things to bad people in order to keep French people working. The European Union is literally falling apart today due to the struggle between capitalists who are trying to improve life and the lazy, ungrateful work force that wants shorter work weeks and longer vacations. It’s the capitalists we are after.

We need to drastically reduce our corporate and individual income tax rates, and make it easy for European companies to relocate here. We are competing on a global stage. Our business environment needs to be competitive. That means making it easier for businesses to operate.

Europe is dying and we need to take advantage of that right now. There are thousands of intelligent and hard-working people there who want nothing more than to realize personal gain from their personal effort. Let’s build a better business environment, go over there and invite those people to bring their work here.

On a secular trend basis, our stock market is not going to grow just because it has in the past. And it’s not going to grow just because we want it to. We have to work for it. And based on the mounting debts we face, we have to work hard. Bringing whatever talent remains in Europe over here is one step in the right direction.