Government Grants for All

Fall Car Care Month Promotes Healthy Driving Do Hybrid Cars Promote Healthy Driving Too?

Encinitas, CA (PRWEB) November 22, 2005

Fall Car Care Month, held in October, is a nationwide effort by businesses, civic groups, the government and the media to focus motorists on car health and safety. First started by the Car Care Council (http://www.carcarecouncil.org), this consumer education organization initially dedicated October as National Car Care Month, then added April as well. Now October is designated as Fall Car Care Month with the focus on motorists’ attention to preparing their vehicles for the winter months.

The primary goal of Car Care Month has always been to promote the benefits of cleaner air, energy conservation, safer roads and consumer savings through proper car maintenance. By conducting sporadic road checks, unperformed maintenance can be discovered and once corrected will lead to conservation of energy, improved highway safety and benefiting the environment. More than 400 check lanes are set up around U.S. cities to provide motorists the opportunity to have the safety of their cars checked.

Proper car maintenance prevents pollution! Motor vehicles emit three major pollutants: hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxide. Hydrocarbons react with nitrogen oxides in the presence of sunlight and high temperatures to form ground-level ozone, which can cause many health problems, such as eye irritation, coughing and shortness of breath as well as permanent lung damage. Carbon monoxide is a colorless, odorless, deadly gas, reducing the flow of oxygen in the bloodstream, and causing health concerns such as impairing mental functions and visual perception. In most cities, motor vehicles contribute as much as 90% of carbon monoxide in the air.

Up until the last few years, regularly maintaining vehicles was the primary way to prevent pollution. Recently, however, hybrid electric cars are offering another solution to reducing toxic emissions. Andy Grant and Taylor Reid, authors of the eBook, All About Hybrid Cars: Maximum Performance/Minimum Impact, explain how this works. “Because of the use of an electric motor paired with the internal combustion engine, hybrid cars use less gas, thereby producing less toxic emissions,” said Grant, a professional writer and award-winning author. “The electric motor takes over for the gas engine when starting up and accelerating.”

At their educational website http://www.AllAboutHybridCars.com, Grant and Reid offer an abundance of information on hybrid cars and alternative fuel vehicles. The site provides up-to-date new vehicle release data as well as a variety of products for anyone interested in hybrid electric cars and environmental concerns. “Fall Car Care Month is a great way to raise the awareness of car owners,” said Reid, an Internet marketing consultant. “Not only will it make people aware of the need to take better care of their current vehicles, it will also make them more aware of the need to take better care of the environment. This is one of the primary reasons people are buying hybrid cars.”

For those who do not yet own a hybrid electric car and would like to help promote healthier air with their current car, the Car Care Council offers these tips to reduce the impact on the environment: avoid high speeds, drive smoothly, don’t idle for long periods or rev the engine, keep tires properly inflated and drive less by using car pools or planning trips for efficiency.

Anyone who may be considering purchasing a hybrid car can order the free report, “7 Critical Facts Everyone Should Know Before Buying a Hybrid Car” at http://www.AllAboutHybridCars.com/eBook.htm, where the eBook is also available. This one-of-a-kind book offers a thorough explanation of how hybrid electric cars work, their history, the economic and environmental impacts and a description of the current and future models.

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Tags: Care, Cars, Driving, Fall, Healthy, Hybrid, Month, Promote, promotes

Do not fall for unrealistic expectations concerning government grants

A great deal of folks see infomercials on late night TV making claims that their products include lists of government grant programs that anybody can sign up for. The truth put simply is this, if government grant applications expire, what benefit is the book by the time you purchase it? Essentially, if you need the government grant information, you have to go to the source of exactly where this information comes from. This way, you will get the most up to date info.

This guide was produced for the complete “beginner” trying to find government grants. Hope you enjoy!

Ok, so you would like some cash. You’ve a couple of primary resources for government grants. First, the government. You have state as well as federal applications.

For federal applications you should begin by looking into the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (a hyperlink to this website as well as all of the subsequent are included on our home page). Every October the updated federal budget is unveiled to the public. You are able to find a copy on the web. The CFDA web site operates like this. Each and every government grant opportunity will specifically state who is a beneficiary of this money. This is who the program is designed to benefit. If the beneficiary says the cash is made for individuals, here’s what to do next. You need to find out exactly where the money is going so you are able to apply at that location. For instance, in the event you call the actual federal agency distributing the funds, they’ll get upset at you. The money goes from the federal government bureau to an authorized third party and next to you. This information can all be discovered inside our online ebook, check out the link below.

The second option is state grants. States receive their cash from the federal government agencies and are one of the third parties in which help redistribute these funds to individuals. Our online manual will show you a variety of state web sites which show you what your possibilities are. Some states offer small business startup grants (for specific businesses), some states offer grant programs for the very poor, some for college students. Your best bet is to start off by browsing your states web page. Again, you’ll be able to locate all this information using our free online government grants manual.

Before I go further, I just wanted to note one thing for college students looking for grants for college, scholarships, etc. When you check out your college financial aid office that office basically redistributes federal and state capital to you, the student, in the form of grants, loans, and scholarships. Some of these awards are advertised on the schools site for new students, but definately start off by visiting your colleges financial aid office! Here’s what I wanted to note though. Your schools financial aid office has a low likelihood of redirecting non-public funds. This really is where the “do-it-yourselfer” greatly benefits from the lazy that only visit the schools financial aid office. Onto the private aid info…

Private financing can be a massive and occasionally overlooked resource of funding. Here’s what i mean. Lets say you are the donor, you would like to donate some money to university students, but primarily because you only wish to reduce your taxes. Chances are you will not be contacting the financial aid offices of all of the colleges within the country to promote your award. This is where the Foundation Center Online comes in. This site is the most effective at discovering personal donors of scholarships and grants. Yeah, you do need to spend bucks, but there is no better service for finding mainly private funding. Finding private sources is really a tough job, and these guys do a fantastic job at it! Plus, their offer is unbelievable!

Here is what to take into consideration when carrying out your own online researching. First off, whenever you stumble upon a government grant site try to figure out what it’s goal is. If it is selling a product, move on. The grants are totally free, the information is all totally free. You just have to find it. The sincere marketers will do what they can to get this info out for totally free, and they cover their web site and marketing costs with their web site advertisements. These sites are alright, because their advertising technique is trustworthy. Who can compete with totally free?

Also, do not become tempted to purchase a government grants ebook. This could be the greatest mistake you ever make! A great deal of those government grants web sites operate like this. Initially, they build a web page with relevant garbage information on it. This is carried out to manipulate search engine rank. Next, they guarantee you everything, then after you purchase their government grants guide for .99, they recharge you .00 every month forever and ever! Some of these websites really have the audacity to display their web site visitors a form which they complete, only to receive a fraudulent e-mail several minutes later stating that without a doubt they are able to obtain a free grant by simply purchasing their offer. The only real reason why these criminals exist is due to the fact individuals don’t take the time to research grants the right way, which is doing it yourself!

Ok, well I really hope this article helps all of you “newbies” out there. I have spent a great deal of time and effort researching this info and I do not like to see people getting conned a month for life because they purchased garbage info from a profane online marketer. I really hope that this report as well as our primary website can help all of you. I have spent so much time and effort working on my web site, and getting the word out, I’m certain you’ll be able to spend a couple of minutes checking it out. The site was recently updated, so ignore the sales copy, all of the information is now totally free. Simply click on the “table of contents” within the online guide. You will find it…

Tags: Concerning, Expectations, Fall, Government, Grants, Unrealistic

Consumer Fraud & Financial Scams Exposed: The Lowdown on 18 Scams You Should Never Fall For

Consumer Fraud & Financial Scams Exposed: The Lowdown on 18 Scams You Should Never Fall For

With financial hardship facing people everywhere these days, consumer fraud and identity theft are on the rise. Scammers are relentless. They call you on the phone. They email you. They have their own websites and TV commercials...

These ruthless fraudsters have no conscience and no remorse. They know that the more desperate you are, the more likely you will fall for their deception. So they prey on you when you're in financial distress, with scams about work-at-home jobs, credit repa

List Price: $ 9.72 Price:

Tags: Consumer, Exposed, Fall, Financial, Fraud, Lowdown, Never, Scams., Should

Make The Transition Back To College This Fall Even Sweeter With The Summer Special On College Care Packages ‘From Mom’

Genoa, IL (PRWEB) July 31, 2007

College students are gearing up for the 2007/08 college year. Books are being purchased, dorm essentials are gathered and new clothes are folded and ready to go. For the parent, it is time to start thinking about college care packages to welcome the student back to school.

“It’s important for my parents to send me care packages,” Marcy Bower from Lincoln Nebraska explains. “I get so excited whenever the college care package arrives at my door. It lets me know that they are thinking about me and I love have the yummy snacks to get me through those late night study sessions,” Bower continues.

In the past, moms and dads had to scour the stores to get just the right snacks, wrap it up and head off to the post office to get the college care package shipped. Nowadays, the Internet makes it so easy with companies like From-Mom.com doing all of the work.

“From Mom is the ultimate in convenience,” comments Amanda Bower, Marcy’s mom. “They have a great selection of college care packages and I can quickly choose from a wide variety of packages featuring snacks college student’s love. This year, I’m signing up for the Care Package of the Month Club. It saves me time and money and they have eight different packages to choose from! Marcy will be so surprised when the college care packages just keep coming,” Bower concludes.

Any parent wanting to make the transition back to school that much sweeter should order now and take advantage of the From Mom summer special of $ 5.00 in free snacks and beverages with each care package order.

ABOUT FROM-MOM.COM:

From-Mom.Com offers unique care packages filled with homemade baked goods, great sweets, snacks and beverages ideal for gifts for all occasions and exceptionally good for college care packages.

Cheryl Scordato

Email: info @ from-mom.com

815-784-2399

1-877-666-2968 (877-mom-2you)

###

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Tags: Back, Care, College, Even, Fall, From, Mom', Packages, Special, Summer, Sweeter, This, Transition

Bush’s Budget Axe to Fall on Poor

President Bush is proposing to reduce spending on public health and social welfare in the US to help pay for tax cuts and the war in Iraq, according to early reports of today’s White House budget.

In an attempt to keep government spending under control at a time of record deficits, Mr Bush’s proposals to Congress will include cuts in public housing subsidies, in health projects aimed at diseases related to poverty, and in food stamps, which help America’s poorest buy groceries.

Mr Bush inherited a budget surplus from Bill Clinton but is now running deficits of over $400bn (£215bn) a year, partly as a result of an economic slump and the September 11 attacks. But the turnaround is also due to huge tax cuts which disproportionately benefit the wealthiest 1% of Americans, and the war in Iraq, for which the administration has asked for another $80bn this year.

Some state governments provide food stamps not only to families on welfare but also to those receiving job-related aid such as for childcare. The new budget would restrict that practice, the Los Angeles Times reported yesterday.

A programme that helps the poor pay heating bills is to be cut by more than 8%, while 18 housing and community programmes will be consolidated with total savings of about 40% – almost $3bn.

The administration has also said it will save $60bn over 10 years on the Medicaid programme, which provides health services to the poor. It argues that the savings will largely come from administrative costs, but there will be severe cuts in several health programmes.

A health department preventative programme aimed at obesity and other chronic diseases is to be cut by 6.5% to $841m, according to the New York Times. Health training schemes will be slashed. One such scheme for nurses, dentists and other health professionals will be reduced by 64% and another to train doctors for children’s hospitals will be cut by a third.

The targeting of social welfare programmes is not a political risk for a Republican administration, as few of the very poor vote for the party, but the White House is also taking on an important political constituency by threatening to cut farm subsidies.

The government pays out $15bn a year to farms growing cotton, rice, corn and wheat. A cut in those subsidies would be a boon to developing countries but would bring protests from the agro-industrial sector, which profits most from the subsidies.

Tags: Budget, Bush's, Fall, Poor

Rhinos fall to Vikings raid

Leeds 10 – 14 Widnes

Widnes have already claimed some impressive scalps in their first season in the Super League, but this was the best yet.

Leeds had not lost at home all season, but it was Widnes who maintained their 100% away record to move joint third in the table with the Rhinos and St Helens.

Theirs was a wonderfully old fashioned spoiling performance, which infuriated an 11,361 crowd but was a credit to the tactical brain of Neil Kelly, one of the brightest British coaches in the business, and the ferocious commitment of all his players.

Daniel Frame, their Australian loose forward, was sinbinned late in the second half as the referee Ian Smith’s patience was finally stretched too far, but despite a 76th minute Andy Hay try which cut the gap to four points, the Vikings hung on.

Leeds’ shock defeat allowed Hull to go clear in second with their win at Halifax, while Bradford have retained their two point margin at the top by coming from behind to beat Salford 32-12 at Valley parade.

Widnes had not played at Headingley since February 1995 and the Rhinos seemed keen to make them feel welcome, gifting them two early penalties and a 4-0 lead.

Both came from Leeds’ errors in possession as first the captain Francis Cummins ran behind one of his team-mates near his own posts, and then Ben Walker sent the kick-off soaring into touch on the full. Barry Eaton, capitalising on the strong wind at Widnes’ backs, landed both goals.

There was no further scoring for half an hour as both teams struggled to cope with a slippery ball and surface. But the first try was worth waiting for as David Mills, the huge 19-year-old son of the notorious former Widnes and Wales prop Jim, took Steve Carter’s inside pass and showed a startling turn of speed to go over from 20 metres. Eaton’s conversion gave Widnes a 10-0 half-time lead.

The question was, would that be enough of a cushion with the wind favouring Leeds in the second half. The Rhinos pounded Widnes’ line from the restart, but the Vikings’ defence was holding up superbly until Marcus St Hiliare finally put Leeds on the board in the 52nd minute after a high Ryan Sheridan kick had bounced kindly for the winger.

Leeds, though, then gave Widnes a rare attacking chance as Hay, their error-prone second-row, chucked a pass into touch. He was severely punished as, from the resulting set of six, his team-mate Adrian Vowles assumed a Carter kick would roll dead, only for Adam Hughes to appear from nowhere and touch it down. Eaton failed to convert but Widnes were 14-4 ahead.

A fine break by the young wing Mark Calderwood raised Leeds hopes again, especially as it led to Frame being sinbinned for holding him down too long. Leeds would have scored almost immediately if Keith Senior had not knocked on over the Widnes line. Instead Hay’s try was too little, too late.

· St Helens centre Paul Newlove will appear before a Rugby League disciplinary committee today and faces the threat of suspension after a challenge on Wigan’s winger Brett Dallas during last Saturday’s Challenge Cup final. Newlove has been charged with use of the elbow.

Leeds Rhinos: Cummins, Calderwood, C Walker Snr, St Hiliare, B Walker, Sheridan, W McDonald, Diskin, McDermott, Hay, Adamson, Sinfield: Subs: Vowles, Potching, Ward, Burrow.

Widnes Vikings: Spruce, Demetriou, Potter, Hughes, Percival, Carter, Eaton, Relf, Cantillon, R McDonald, Farrell, McCurrie, Frame. Subs: O’Neill, Richardson, Mills, Weston.

Referee: I Smith (Oldham).

Tags: Fall, Raid, Rhinos, Vikings

Provident Loans: Finding Opportunities Where Regular Loans Fall Short

One can get great prices online for a car or home but what if you want to buy a computer, television or just a school uniform? Provident loans are made to measure against fulfilling such requirements. Provident loans basically came up against various pawn shops that had emerged and charged exorbitantly high interest rates for short term loans. And now they have grown to become a significant part of the lending industry.

Provident loans are offered as small unsecured loans for amounts ranging from 0„550-0„5500. Unsecured provident loans have small affordable payments which makes repayment easier. Also, repayment for provident loans is fixed. Fixed repayments for provident loans enable the borrowers to remain in control of their finances. With fixed monthly repayments, borrowers can safely plan their budget ahead. There are no other charges for provident loans and the amount remains same till the end of the term. Provident loans provide short term loans at reasonable interest rates. Without the drawback of high interest rates, provident loans become an alternative for those looking for short term loans. Provident loans fail to turn into any financial trap because interest rates are not high.

Provident loans also have a secured form. Secured provident loans are applicable for loan amounts of 0„550,000 or above. Such large amounts are not sanctioned without collateral so you would have to find a security to place for provident loans. Provident loans exhibit great flexibility when it comes to acceptable collateral. The special trait of provident loans is that, they accept gold and diamond jewellery as collateral. Also, gold coins, watches and silver ware are accepted as collateral. Try finding out what lenders accept as collateral for provident loans.

There are three provident loans product which you can choose from. These are ¨C cash loan, easy shop card and shopping vouchers. With provident loans you do not necessarily have to take out loan amount in cash form. You can take the loan amount in the form of ¡°easy shop¡± card. Easy shop card enables you to buy household goods of any sort. Shopping vouchers are from major retailers so that you are able to buy the products you have been looking for.

Provident loans include options for sub prime borrowers also. Provident loans are applicable for borrowers with bad credit. Bad credit history like late payment, CCJs, bankrupts, discharged bankrupts, arrears, defaults can find provident loans. Provident loans are affordable loans which make bad credit borrower¡¯s payback their loans in time and therefore improve credit. Bad credit will cause you to pay interest rates a little higher than market interest rate for provident loans. Provident loans lenders are offered without credit check.

Locating provident loans online is much easier. There are many options and alternatives to choose from. However, finding the right provident loans lenders is important. Online provision enables you to compare loans. Compare provident loans offers that you get from various sites and then make your decision. Decision should be based on interest rates offered and repayment terms. Look out for any hidden fee and other charges before settling for loans. Lenders make money from borrowers who have bad credit history by charging unreasonably high interest rates. Choose a provident loans lender who is not just operating another pawn shop online. Make use of the online tool – provident loans calculator. It is an easy to use calculator which enables you to know the cost of provident loans for your situation.

Loans term for provident loans is 6 months. Provident loans providers usually have agents for collection of cash or repayments for provident loans. In fact provident loans come with door to door repayment options. Before you apply for provident loans be clear in your mind about the fact that you can afford the loan. With Provident loans you are putting your personal property at stake. It is not advisable to pledge something without knowing whether you can make repayments. Provident loans are provided fast; in fact you can get provident loans approved for within 24 hrs. Provident loans enable you to face unexpected financial emergencies or make necessary purchases fast.

The irony of life is that sometimes even 0„550 will do and exactly at that very moment we can¡¯t find even 0„550 in our pocket. Provident loans are constantly making it easier for you to both borrow money and repay it. Provident loans are ensuring that pawn shops and high interest rates loans are not the only alternatives for a person looking for short term loans. Provident loans are indeed a unique money borrowing idea without the obvious challenges and with the unavailable opportunity.

Tags: Fall, Finding, Loans, Opportunities, Provident, Regular, Short

A Shattering Moment in America’s Fall From Power

Our gaze might be on the markets melting down, but the upheaval we are experiencing is more than a financial crisis, however large. Here is a historic geopolitical shift, in which the balance of power in the world is being altered irrevocably. The era of American global leadership, reaching back to the Second World War, is over.

You can see it in the way America’s dominion has slipped away in its own backyard, with Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez taunting and ridiculing the superpower with impunity. Yet the setback of America’s standing at the global level is even more striking. With the nationalization of crucial parts of the financial system, the American free-market creed has self-destructed while countries that retained overall control of markets have been vindicated. In a change as far-reaching in its implications as the fall of the Soviet Union, an entire model of government and the economy has collapsed.

Ever since the end of the Cold War, successive American administrations have lectured other countries on the necessity of sound finance. Indonesia, Thailand, Argentina and several African states endured severe cuts in spending and deep recessions as the price of aid from the International Monetary Fund, which enforced the American orthodoxy. China in particular was hectored relentlessly on the weakness of its banking system. But China’s success has been based on its consistent contempt for Western advice and it is not Chinese banks that are currently going bust. How symbolic yesterday that Chinese astronauts take a spacewalk while the US Treasury Secretary is on his knees.

Despite incessantly urging other countries to adopt its way of doing business, America has always had one economic policy for itself and another for the rest of the world. Throughout the years in which the US was punishing countries that departed from fiscal prudence, it was borrowing on a colossal scale to finance tax cuts and fund its over-stretched military commitments. Now, with federal finances critically dependent on continuing large inflows of foreign capital, it will be the countries that spurned the American model of capitalism that will shape America’s economic future.

Which version of the bail out of American financial institutions cobbled up by Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson and Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke is finally adopted is less important than what the bail out means for America’s position in the world. The populist rant about greedy banks that is being loudly ventilated in Congress is a distraction from the true causes of the crisis. The dire condition of America’s financial markets is the result of American banks operating in a free-for-all environment that these same American legislators created. It is America’s political class that, by embracing the dangerously simplistic ideology of deregulation, has responsibility for the present mess.

In present circumstances, an unprecedented expansion of government is the only means of averting a market catastrophe. The consequence, however, will be that America will be even more starkly dependent on the world’s new rising powers. The federal government is racking up even larger borrowings, which its creditors may rightly fear will never be repaid. It may well be tempted to inflate these debts away in a surge of inflation that would leave foreign investors with hefty losses. In these circumstances, will the governments of countries that buy large quantities of American bonds, China, the Gulf States and Russia, for example, be ready to continue supporting the dollar’s role as the world’s reserve currency? Or will these countries see this as an opportunity to tilt the balance of economic power further in their favour? Either way, the control of events is no longer in American hands.

The fate of empires is very often sealed by the interaction of war and debt. That was true of the British Empire, whose finances deteriorated from the First World War onwards, and of the Soviet Union. Defeat in Afghanistan and the economic burden of trying to respond to Reagan’s technically flawed but politically extremely effective Star Wars program were vital factors in triggering the Soviet collapse. Despite its insistent exceptionalism, America is no different. The Iraq War and the credit bubble have fatally undermined America’s economic primacy. The US will continue to be the world’s largest economy for a while longer, but it will be the new rising powers that, once the crisis is over, buy up what remains intact in the wreckage of America’s financial system.

There has been a good deal of talk in recent weeks about imminent economic armageddon. In fact, this is far from being the end of capitalism. The frantic scrambling that is going on in Washington marks the passing of only one type of capitalism – the peculiar and highly unstable variety that has existed in America over the last 20 years. This experiment in financial laissez-faire has imploded.While the impact of the collapse will be felt everywhere, the market economies that resisted American-style deregulation will best weather the storm. Britain, which has turned itself into a gigantic hedge fund, but of a kind that lacks the ability to profit from a downturn, is likely to be especially badly hit.

The irony of the post-Cold War period is that the fall of communism was followed by the rise of another utopian ideology. In American and Britain, and to a lesser extent other Western countries, a type of market fundamentalism became the guiding philosophy. The collapse of American power that is underway is the predictable upshot. Like the Soviet collapse, it will have large geopolitical repercussions. An enfeebled economy cannot support America’s over-extended military commitments for much longer. Retrenchment is inevitable and it is unlikely to be gradual or well planned.

Meltdowns on the scale we are seeing are not slow-motion events. They are swift and chaotic, with rapidly spreading side-effects. Consider Iraq. The success of the surge, which has been achieved by bribing the Sunnis, while acquiescing in ongoing ethnic cleansing, has produced a condition of relative peace in parts of the country. How long will this last, given that America’s current level of expenditure on the war can no longer be sustained?

An American retreat from Iraq will leave Iran the regional victor. How will Saudi Arabia respond? Will military action to forestall Iran acquiring nuclear weapons be less or more likely? China’s rulers have so far been silent during the unfolding crisis. Will America’s weakness embolden them to assert China’s power or will China continue its cautious policy of ‘peaceful rise’? At present, none of these questions can be answered with any confidence. What is evident is that power is leaking from the US at an accelerating rate. Georgia showed Russia redrawing the geopolitical map, with America an impotent spectator.

Outside the US, most people have long accepted that the development of new economies that goes with globalisation will undermine America’s central position in the world. They imagined that this would be a change in America’s comparative standing, taking place incrementally over several decades or generations. Today, that looks an increasingly unrealistic assumption.

Having created the conditions that produced history’s biggest bubble, America’s political leaders appear unable to grasp the magnitude of the dangers the country now faces. Mired in their rancorous culture wars and squabbling among themselves, they seem oblivious to the fact that American global leadership is fast ebbing away. A new world is coming into being almost unnoticed, where America is only one of several great powers, facing an uncertain future it can no longer shape.

• John Gray is the author of Black Mass: Apocalyptic Religion and the Death of Utopia (Allen Lane)

Tags: America's, Fall, From, Moment, Power, Shattering

A Shattering Moment in America’s Fall From Power

Our gaze might be on the markets melting down, but the upheaval we are experiencing is more than a financial crisis, however large. Here is a historic geopolitical shift, in which the balance of power in the world is being altered irrevocably. The era of American global leadership, reaching back to the Second World War, is over.

You can see it in the way America’s dominion has slipped away in its own backyard, with Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez taunting and ridiculing the superpower with impunity. Yet the setback of America’s standing at the global level is even more striking. With the nationalization of crucial parts of the financial system, the American free-market creed has self-destructed while countries that retained overall control of markets have been vindicated. In a change as far-reaching in its implications as the fall of the Soviet Union, an entire model of government and the economy has collapsed.

Ever since the end of the Cold War, successive American administrations have lectured other countries on the necessity of sound finance. Indonesia, Thailand, Argentina and several African states endured severe cuts in spending and deep recessions as the price of aid from the International Monetary Fund, which enforced the American orthodoxy. China in particular was hectored relentlessly on the weakness of its banking system. But China’s success has been based on its consistent contempt for Western advice and it is not Chinese banks that are currently going bust. How symbolic yesterday that Chinese astronauts take a spacewalk while the US Treasury Secretary is on his knees.

Despite incessantly urging other countries to adopt its way of doing business, America has always had one economic policy for itself and another for the rest of the world. Throughout the years in which the US was punishing countries that departed from fiscal prudence, it was borrowing on a colossal scale to finance tax cuts and fund its over-stretched military commitments. Now, with federal finances critically dependent on continuing large inflows of foreign capital, it will be the countries that spurned the American model of capitalism that will shape America’s economic future.

Which version of the bail out of American financial institutions cobbled up by Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson and Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke is finally adopted is less important than what the bail out means for America’s position in the world. The populist rant about greedy banks that is being loudly ventilated in Congress is a distraction from the true causes of the crisis. The dire condition of America’s financial markets is the result of American banks operating in a free-for-all environment that these same American legislators created. It is America’s political class that, by embracing the dangerously simplistic ideology of deregulation, has responsibility for the present mess.

In present circumstances, an unprecedented expansion of government is the only means of averting a market catastrophe. The consequence, however, will be that America will be even more starkly dependent on the world’s new rising powers. The federal government is racking up even larger borrowings, which its creditors may rightly fear will never be repaid. It may well be tempted to inflate these debts away in a surge of inflation that would leave foreign investors with hefty losses. In these circumstances, will the governments of countries that buy large quantities of American bonds, China, the Gulf States and Russia, for example, be ready to continue supporting the dollar’s role as the world’s reserve currency? Or will these countries see this as an opportunity to tilt the balance of economic power further in their favour? Either way, the control of events is no longer in American hands.

The fate of empires is very often sealed by the interaction of war and debt. That was true of the British Empire, whose finances deteriorated from the First World War onwards, and of the Soviet Union. Defeat in Afghanistan and the economic burden of trying to respond to Reagan’s technically flawed but politically extremely effective Star Wars program were vital factors in triggering the Soviet collapse. Despite its insistent exceptionalism, America is no different. The Iraq War and the credit bubble have fatally undermined America’s economic primacy. The US will continue to be the world’s largest economy for a while longer, but it will be the new rising powers that, once the crisis is over, buy up what remains intact in the wreckage of America’s financial system.

There has been a good deal of talk in recent weeks about imminent economic armageddon. In fact, this is far from being the end of capitalism. The frantic scrambling that is going on in Washington marks the passing of only one type of capitalism – the peculiar and highly unstable variety that has existed in America over the last 20 years. This experiment in financial laissez-faire has imploded.While the impact of the collapse will be felt everywhere, the market economies that resisted American-style deregulation will best weather the storm. Britain, which has turned itself into a gigantic hedge fund, but of a kind that lacks the ability to profit from a downturn, is likely to be especially badly hit.

The irony of the post-Cold War period is that the fall of communism was followed by the rise of another utopian ideology. In American and Britain, and to a lesser extent other Western countries, a type of market fundamentalism became the guiding philosophy. The collapse of American power that is underway is the predictable upshot. Like the Soviet collapse, it will have large geopolitical repercussions. An enfeebled economy cannot support America’s over-extended military commitments for much longer. Retrenchment is inevitable and it is unlikely to be gradual or well planned.

Meltdowns on the scale we are seeing are not slow-motion events. They are swift and chaotic, with rapidly spreading side-effects. Consider Iraq. The success of the surge, which has been achieved by bribing the Sunnis, while acquiescing in ongoing ethnic cleansing, has produced a condition of relative peace in parts of the country. How long will this last, given that America’s current level of expenditure on the war can no longer be sustained?

An American retreat from Iraq will leave Iran the regional victor. How will Saudi Arabia respond? Will military action to forestall Iran acquiring nuclear weapons be less or more likely? China’s rulers have so far been silent during the unfolding crisis. Will America’s weakness embolden them to assert China’s power or will China continue its cautious policy of ‘peaceful rise’? At present, none of these questions can be answered with any confidence. What is evident is that power is leaking from the US at an accelerating rate. Georgia showed Russia redrawing the geopolitical map, with America an impotent spectator.

Outside the US, most people have long accepted that the development of new economies that goes with globalisation will undermine America’s central position in the world. They imagined that this would be a change in America’s comparative standing, taking place incrementally over several decades or generations. Today, that looks an increasingly unrealistic assumption.

Having created the conditions that produced history’s biggest bubble, America’s political leaders appear unable to grasp the magnitude of the dangers the country now faces. Mired in their rancorous culture wars and squabbling among themselves, they seem oblivious to the fact that American global leadership is fast ebbing away. A new world is coming into being almost unnoticed, where America is only one of several great powers, facing an uncertain future it can no longer shape.

• John Gray is the author of Black Mass: Apocalyptic Religion and the Death of Utopia (Allen Lane)

Tags: America's, Fall, From, Moment, Power, Shattering

A Shattering Moment in America’s Fall From Power

Our gaze might be on the markets melting down, but the upheaval we are experiencing is more than a financial crisis, however large. Here is a historic geopolitical shift, in which the balance of power in the world is being altered irrevocably. The era of American global leadership, reaching back to the Second World War, is over.

You can see it in the way America’s dominion has slipped away in its own backyard, with Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez taunting and ridiculing the superpower with impunity. Yet the setback of America’s standing at the global level is even more striking. With the nationalization of crucial parts of the financial system, the American free-market creed has self-destructed while countries that retained overall control of markets have been vindicated. In a change as far-reaching in its implications as the fall of the Soviet Union, an entire model of government and the economy has collapsed.

Ever since the end of the Cold War, successive American administrations have lectured other countries on the necessity of sound finance. Indonesia, Thailand, Argentina and several African states endured severe cuts in spending and deep recessions as the price of aid from the International Monetary Fund, which enforced the American orthodoxy. China in particular was hectored relentlessly on the weakness of its banking system. But China’s success has been based on its consistent contempt for Western advice and it is not Chinese banks that are currently going bust. How symbolic yesterday that Chinese astronauts take a spacewalk while the US Treasury Secretary is on his knees.

Despite incessantly urging other countries to adopt its way of doing business, America has always had one economic policy for itself and another for the rest of the world. Throughout the years in which the US was punishing countries that departed from fiscal prudence, it was borrowing on a colossal scale to finance tax cuts and fund its over-stretched military commitments. Now, with federal finances critically dependent on continuing large inflows of foreign capital, it will be the countries that spurned the American model of capitalism that will shape America’s economic future.

Which version of the bail out of American financial institutions cobbled up by Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson and Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke is finally adopted is less important than what the bail out means for America’s position in the world. The populist rant about greedy banks that is being loudly ventilated in Congress is a distraction from the true causes of the crisis. The dire condition of America’s financial markets is the result of American banks operating in a free-for-all environment that these same American legislators created. It is America’s political class that, by embracing the dangerously simplistic ideology of deregulation, has responsibility for the present mess.

In present circumstances, an unprecedented expansion of government is the only means of averting a market catastrophe. The consequence, however, will be that America will be even more starkly dependent on the world’s new rising powers. The federal government is racking up even larger borrowings, which its creditors may rightly fear will never be repaid. It may well be tempted to inflate these debts away in a surge of inflation that would leave foreign investors with hefty losses. In these circumstances, will the governments of countries that buy large quantities of American bonds, China, the Gulf States and Russia, for example, be ready to continue supporting the dollar’s role as the world’s reserve currency? Or will these countries see this as an opportunity to tilt the balance of economic power further in their favour? Either way, the control of events is no longer in American hands.

The fate of empires is very often sealed by the interaction of war and debt. That was true of the British Empire, whose finances deteriorated from the First World War onwards, and of the Soviet Union. Defeat in Afghanistan and the economic burden of trying to respond to Reagan’s technically flawed but politically extremely effective Star Wars program were vital factors in triggering the Soviet collapse. Despite its insistent exceptionalism, America is no different. The Iraq War and the credit bubble have fatally undermined America’s economic primacy. The US will continue to be the world’s largest economy for a while longer, but it will be the new rising powers that, once the crisis is over, buy up what remains intact in the wreckage of America’s financial system.

There has been a good deal of talk in recent weeks about imminent economic armageddon. In fact, this is far from being the end of capitalism. The frantic scrambling that is going on in Washington marks the passing of only one type of capitalism – the peculiar and highly unstable variety that has existed in America over the last 20 years. This experiment in financial laissez-faire has imploded.While the impact of the collapse will be felt everywhere, the market economies that resisted American-style deregulation will best weather the storm. Britain, which has turned itself into a gigantic hedge fund, but of a kind that lacks the ability to profit from a downturn, is likely to be especially badly hit.

The irony of the post-Cold War period is that the fall of communism was followed by the rise of another utopian ideology. In American and Britain, and to a lesser extent other Western countries, a type of market fundamentalism became the guiding philosophy. The collapse of American power that is underway is the predictable upshot. Like the Soviet collapse, it will have large geopolitical repercussions. An enfeebled economy cannot support America’s over-extended military commitments for much longer. Retrenchment is inevitable and it is unlikely to be gradual or well planned.

Meltdowns on the scale we are seeing are not slow-motion events. They are swift and chaotic, with rapidly spreading side-effects. Consider Iraq. The success of the surge, which has been achieved by bribing the Sunnis, while acquiescing in ongoing ethnic cleansing, has produced a condition of relative peace in parts of the country. How long will this last, given that America’s current level of expenditure on the war can no longer be sustained?

An American retreat from Iraq will leave Iran the regional victor. How will Saudi Arabia respond? Will military action to forestall Iran acquiring nuclear weapons be less or more likely? China’s rulers have so far been silent during the unfolding crisis. Will America’s weakness embolden them to assert China’s power or will China continue its cautious policy of ‘peaceful rise’? At present, none of these questions can be answered with any confidence. What is evident is that power is leaking from the US at an accelerating rate. Georgia showed Russia redrawing the geopolitical map, with America an impotent spectator.

Outside the US, most people have long accepted that the development of new economies that goes with globalisation will undermine America’s central position in the world. They imagined that this would be a change in America’s comparative standing, taking place incrementally over several decades or generations. Today, that looks an increasingly unrealistic assumption.

Having created the conditions that produced history’s biggest bubble, America’s political leaders appear unable to grasp the magnitude of the dangers the country now faces. Mired in their rancorous culture wars and squabbling among themselves, they seem oblivious to the fact that American global leadership is fast ebbing away. A new world is coming into being almost unnoticed, where America is only one of several great powers, facing an uncertain future it can no longer shape.

• John Gray is the author of Black Mass: Apocalyptic Religion and the Death of Utopia (Allen Lane)

Tags: America's, Fall, From, Moment, Power, Shattering