Impending collapse of the American empire??

Bill Bonner of The Daily Reckoning continues to savage the American empire and sees portents of its impending collapse. He poses the question: Where will the money to fund the Katrina response come from? He proclaims: "the American empire has the distinction of being the most incompetent empire that ever existed. It conquers, but it cannot bring itself to collect tribute from its vassal states. Instead, it spends money in a vain effort to turn them into images of itself - capitalistic democracies." EDIT Thanks to Jaybird for the following link which provides an excellent article on this topic by
kirkpatricksale

According to the Daily Reckoning:

We will spend "whatever it takes," said George W. Bush of the New Orleans
dry-out campaign. But where would 'whatever it takes' come from? The
federal deficit hit a record of $412 billion last year. Republicanoes were
delighted to report that the deficit was to fall this year to $331 billion,
but along comes a rainy day and the nation is now spending another $2
billion per day it doesn't have to help clean up the mess.

It is an ill wind that blows no one good. There is no doubt that the storm
was bad for the citizens of the Big Easy and American households generally;
as well as the federal budget, the U.S. dollar and the American economy.
But it is good for the empire. Now we have another 'front' at home, and
another reason to spend money.

Fish gotta swim...
Birds gotta fly...

If you can figure out the nature of the thing itself, you can figure out
what it will do.

Financial bubbles, and teenaged drunk driving are self-correcting. They go
on for a while. And then they run into a tree...so do empires.

What we think we're watching - and here we refer to the very big picture -
is the natural correction of the American empire. Nature abhors a vacuum,
but she detests a monopoly. Only one empire was still standing after the
collapse of the Soviet Union. The U.S. pax dollarium filled the vacuum
created by the end of the Cold War with a monopoly: The world's only super-
power, spending more on its military than all the rest of the world
combined.

As empires expand, the costs of administration and policing expand, too.
Soon, there are troops and bureaucrats strung out like Christmas lights.
Even healthy empires eventually have trouble paying the electric bill. But
the American empire has the distinction of being the most incompetent
empire that ever existed. It conquers, but it cannot bring itself to
collect tribute from its vassal states. Instead, it spends money in a vain
effort to turn them into images of itself - capitalistic democracies.

The United States ran out of money a long time ago. Its citizens took up
the 'white man's burden' from the British, but never saw the need for self-
sacrifice to carry it. They save no money. While the Chinese save up to 40%
of GDP, savings rates in the homeland are near 1%. Having no ready money of
its own - America's imperial economy has come to depend on the kindness of
strangers in strange places, who are willing to lend it money. Curiously,
the imperialists borrow from China, a communist country, to pay for their
wars to make the world safe for democracy.

What Americans need is a recession; it would cool their desire for spending
and debt. But what the imperial economy needs is another reason to spend
more, and go further into debt. A new campaign! A new war! More
bread...more circuses!