CU Dem Zach Sims Writes Piece For Spectator

CU Dem Zach Sims had a piece published in the Columbia Spectator this week; he one of six people asked to write about the most important issue of this election. You can see all of the responses here. Zach's is posted below:

As much as the rhetoric of a new America and a new American era resounds in politics, the years of American unipolarity are coming to a close. America is no longer the world leader in everything. China’s economy is rapidly growing, as is Russia’s military. Both countries could soon surpass us in those realms.

This last week has shown just how fragile our economy is. In meetings with the Federal Reserve, Representative Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) noted that “we’re literally maybe days away from a complete meltdown of our financial system, with all the implications here at home and globally.” His words echo the sentiment of the financial world, with insurance giant American International Group (A.I.G.) requiring a government bailout this week. Lehman Brothers, one of the world’s largest investment banks, was forced to file for bankruptcy. Merrill Lynch, another banking giant, was forced to seek a merger with Bank of America in order to stay solvent. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, independently owned mortgage financiers, were taken over by the US government in order to avoid catastrophic losses. This is, as economists Doug Diamond and Anil Kashyap put it, the most “remarkable period of intervention in financial systems since the Great Depression.”

To some, it may seem as if government intervention affects only those with a direct stake in these monolithic financial institutions. Yet, anyone with savings and investments in any financial instruments will be affected. The failure in the upper echelon of our financial world could signal the failure of deregulation and the American flavor of capitalism. It could signal what Pat Buchanan says is “how empires end.”

This November, we need to elect a leader who is focused on the most important issues of our time. The war in Iraq, while a pressing issue for our generation, should take a back seat to repairing the economic stability of our country. Fed Chair Henry Paulson and other members of the American financial elite have noted that this may be the worst crisis our country has seen since the Great Depression. Once solvency is restored, America can rebuild its place as a global leader and pay attention to other pressing issues.

What’s happening now will affect the country and its standing in the world for generations to come. Fixing today’s economic woes should be the focal point of this year’s presidential campaign. While health care, the war, social programs, and other topics were the subject of intense debate earlier in the campaign, fixing any of those will not stabilize America’s standing in the world. We need a president with a plan to get involved and focus his efforts on rebuilding what is essentially a broken system. Not only should the current crisis be solved, but the groundwork should be laid to ensure that Americans never see a crisis like this in their future.

At stake is more than what’s in your wallet. It’s your future—and America’s.

You should also check out Zach's blog.