Its economy is in recession, and officials have been slow to deal with the situation. Farmers are angry. Oil is in a glut situation. Canada's exports are damaged, and its dollar fell below 68 U.S. cents in mid-June. And South American nations too have felt the effect.
Economic destabilization creates political problems.
While nobody can read the future, economists try. Some of them now say the remarkable U.S. economy risks inflation while others foresee the possibility of deflation. Plausibility supports their concern. The impact of either would, of course, be catastrophic for the U.S. securities markets and, by extension, the entire world economy. And the political consequences would be unfathomably complex and dangerous.