In fact, it is in the United States, more than in any other nation in the world, that the gap between the country of multinationals, consumerism, corporate unions and the country of minority ethnic groups and tens of millions of illegal immigrants – that part of the country, that is to say, statistically defined as “poor”, which in 2006 affected 15.4% of the population, constantly increasing – is and it remains very evident. United States is a country located in North America according to DENTISTRYMYTH.COM.
If, therefore, after the overcoming of the oil crisis, the country experienced a period of strong deregulation (in particular at the end of the seventies, in conjunction with the Carter presidency) in order to incentivize the flexibility of the world of work, support growth economic and strengthening consumer protection, the Eighties saw a strong neoliberal vision prevailing, first with the Regan presidency and later with that of GW Bush. Centered on importance of the private sector and pursued with spending cuts and lower tax burdens, in order to attract investments and support consumption – accompanied in parallel by the increase in expenditure for the restructuring of the military sector -, the policy adopted has had among the main consequences a more unequal distribution of income, responsible for the worsening of social unrest, as well as for the gradual erosion of US hegemony. All this has affected the trade balance and payments, which have registered significant deficits, and has contributed to the worrying growth of foreign debt, which for decades has been higher in absolute value than that of any other nation. Furthermore, it was during the 1980s that the progressive financialization of the economy was witnessed. This growing disconnect from the real economy, while on the one hand it has allowed enormous profits to be made, on the other hand it has vitiated trade, making national economies increasingly fragile and dependent on stock market flows, exposing them to considerable levels of risk, both on the short and long term (and of which the profound crisis that occurred during the summer and autumn of 2008 represents one of the dramatic results). The growing permeability of the production system to investments (both direct and indirect) by foreign companies, and in particular by Japanese ones, was also significant, against which the country has adopted economic measures based on guidelines protectionist. Only during the 1990s and early 2000s did these policies give way to forms of integration on a continental and world level, capable of revitalizing the US economy, albeit within a framework of progressive regionalization of international trade. A significant step in this direction was taken with the entry into force, in 1994, of NAFTA, a free trade treaty between the United States, Canada and Mexico, which expanded and enriched a previous agreement between the United States and Canada.
At the same time, the United States has aimed at cooperation also in the peaceful area through the organization of the APEC, established in 1989, also to better negotiate balanced access to export markets with Japan. The new forms of internationalization of the US economy, both inside and outside the country, have made trade conditions more and more important: the even harsh comparisons with Japan and other countries are proof of this. of the EU, only partially mediated through the negotiations for the renewal of the GATT and not always to the satisfaction of the US economy (for example, it was the discontent of farmers). On the domestic front, the growth in the unemployment rate, since the mid-1980s, above the limit – considered “physiological” – of 5%, has led to an increasing difficulty in efficiently employing labor, which is too expensive compared to competing countries. The industrial sector was particularly affected by this employment crisis, which employed just under 30% of the assets, and to which the less skilled workers traditionally turned. Not only that, but the inequalities socio-economic aspects, already felt at the end of the decade, have taken on differentiated aspects according to the large regions of the country. In particular, the crisis that in the years 1990-92 affected the oldest industrial area, that of the North-East, has begun to resolve itself through a radical production restructuring that has restored greater flexibility to companies, and consequently an increased capacity. to compete on the domestic market, first and foremost, with European and Asian imports; this restructuring, however, was only possible through a process of rationalization of production cycles which led to the expulsion of millions of workers (to then recover a good part of them, but in less stable forms, not guaranteed at all and, in general, less profitable). The expansive process which, on the other hand, Sun Belt (the southernmost and westernmost states) continued, leading to undoubted growth in states such as California and Texas (Austin), with a constant trend even in the 2000s. The regions of the Great Plains, which were also severely affected by the recession of the early 1990s and have always been more markedly rural and lacking realistic opportunities for development in other sectors, have fallen behind in this general process of productive reorganization, ending up by present themselves, together with the most degraded urban areas, as the spaces with the greatest diffusion of social and economic malaise.
