Quote Originally Posted by Surferbeetle View Post
... and eventually to service based ways of livelihoods (all of which favor different types of political systems). R
Service-based or not (and if anything, we're agriculture- and mining-based):

You're in deep trouble if you continue to consume and invest more goods than you can afford. It doesn't matter whether your service sector has a gazillion volume. If it cannot export enough value to make up for the deficit in goods trade, you're not in a sustainable mode.

http://www.bea.gov/newsreleases/inte...ime_series.xls