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Savings Deficit
Dangerously high leverage is the only way for people to finance high levels of consumption without saving first. In 2008, that high leverage proved itself disastrous when house prices fell. Mortgages became an important part of financial crisis. People with savings can insulate themselves from hard times in a way that people without savings cannot.
http://taxfoundation.org/article/losing-future-decline-us-saving-and-investment -
Government Shutdown (Leadership Deficit)
The government shutdown in September 2013 because the leaders in congress could not agree on a fiscal funds for 2014. The Republicans and Democrats could not pass a funding bill because of the discrepancy over the Affordable Care Act. Goldman Sachs estimated that a three week shutdown of the government would reduce the GDP by .9%.
http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/16/politics/shutdown-showdown/ -
2015 Trade Deficit
In 2015, the U.S. imported $596 billion in drugs, consumer electronics, clothing, and other household items. It only exported $198 billion, creating a $397 billion deficit. America imported $348 billion worth of cars, trucks and auto parts, while only exporting $152 billion, running a deficit of $197 billion.
https://www.thebalance.com/u-s-trade-deficit-causes-effects-trade-partners-3306276 -
Affordable Care Act (Budget Deficit)
The Affordable Care Act was signed into law as of March 23, 2010 and was supposed to make sure that all citizens had health insurance.The federal budget deficit was $524 billion dollars as of June 30,2016. In the August 2016 projection, it was believed that in ten years that deficit will be $9.2 trillion dollars. This event falls under the budget category.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/johnmauldin/2016/11/02/thanks-to-obamacare-government-debt-is-worse-than-you-think/#1c4483397872 -
2016 Trade Deficit
The trade gap in the United States increased from $2.9 billion to $45.2 billion in November of 2016. Exports fell 0.2 percent because of the lower shipments of civilian aircraft. Oppositely, imports increased 1.1 percent and reached the highest level in 15 months due to crude oil purchases. http://www.tradingeconomics.com/united-states/balance-of-trade -
2016 Election
In this election the 2 major party candidates were not among the best that the country could have pulled. We were left with one candidate who had been accused of irresponsible handling confidential information. And the other candidate being a businessman who has been accused of sexism, racism, and fraud. There is clearly a leadership deficit if these are the most qualified candidates in the entire United States.
http://www.cnn.com/election/results
