Global forces are taking control of the US economy. In 2007, for the first time ever, the cost of imported goods and services will exceed federal revenues. In other words, Americans will be paying more to foreigners than they do to their own government. Today, the key influences that affect the US economy are not in Washington but in Beijing, London, and overseas.

Since 1995 US imports have risen from 12% of GDP to 17%. Foreign money finances about 32% of US domestic investment, up from 7% in 1995. In the global economy, where companies move factories and facilities around the world like pieces in a chess-game, US workers are getting seriously short-changed.

The stock market is rising, and household wealth is higher than it was at the peak of the 1990s boom, even after adjusting for inflation. But this is thanks to the global economy, which has been fueling the US expansion with cheap goods and cheap money. Yet real wages are down over the past 5 years, the trade deficit is enormous, and there are widespread worries about America's continued ability to compete.

In the past I never quite agreed with Lou Dobbs when he preached that Outsourcing hurts American jobs. But I appreciate his recent preaching on the plight of middle-class America.

In the US over the last 2 decades economic gains have been shifting to an ever smaller portion of the population. Consider this: From 1999 to 2004, the income of the bottom 90% of all US households grew by 2%, compared with about 60% for the richest 10%. Incomes jumped by almost 90% for households annually making $1 million, and more than doubled for those make $20 million a year. And the gap keeps widening.

Globalization and automation have not only hurt manufacturing workers but also mid-level managers, engineers and software programmers. In job-loss shifts, most of those who lost their jobs had high school diplomas, community college and four-year degrees. The American middle class has lost purchasing power, especially in big cities where the super-rich have driven up housing prices and the cost of living.

In a recent LA Times article, Joel Kotkin and David Friedman suggest that we should forget tax cuts and minimum-wage hikes; it's time for massive infrastructure projects that put millions to work in well-paying jobs. Their practical suggestions: rebuild highways and bridges, upgrade ports, construct new energy systems, and expand public transportation.

China, Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan have poured billions of dollars into upgrading airports, transit systems, schools and roads, and their economies have benefited. The US did it before - during the 1930s people were put to work on huge infrastructure improvements; in the 1950s, we built highways under the Eisenhower administration, which generated dynamic American leadership.

America needs leaders - now!