Perhaps American exceptionalism was just a mirage (FT View, March 7). Economic growth after all has been fuelled by an unsustainable build-up in government, corporate and private debt. The stock market by many metrics, such as capitalisation to GDP and price earnings, is very pricey. The economic benefits of the growth were enjoyed by the well-off, while many people in the country don’t have $500 in a bank account.
Now we have elected as president a pyromaniac who is vowing to substantially raise tariffs that will disrupt global trade, build a cryptocurrency reserve, sell out Ukraine, offer unnecessary tax cuts to the wealthy and corporations that will further blow out the budget deficit, obliterate the independence of the Federal Reserve, pauperise many Americans by gutting social programmes, eviscerate the government and destroy the rule of law. No wonder the stock market is wobbly. It’s time to sell America as it is overvalued.
Steven E Cerier
Forest Hills, NY, US