Energy Prices as a threat to the US Economy
Of all the threats to the US economy the most worrying may high energy prices. The US is by far the largest user of energy and it depends heavily on energy imported from other countries. That means that money gets taken out of the US economy and put into the economy of the other countries. This will have a serious impact on the economy since so much money gets spent on energy. Basically we are paying higher prices and getting nothing extra in return. Since that money has to come from somewhere it is going to be a drain on the economy.
The main reason that energy prices are a threat to the US economy is that the country is a major importer of energy, particularly oil. That means that as prices go up it costs America more to meet its energy needs. The problem is that the money spent on imported oil is money that is being taken out of the economy. Basically corporations that use energy are going to have to pay more to get that energy. In order to compensate for this they are going to have to raise prices. However since the consumers don't have any more money than they did before they will have to reduce the amount that they buy. This inevitably means that the economy will shrink.
High energy prices are going to affect the American consumer in a direct manner as well. The average person uses a significant amount of energy, gas for their car, electricity for their home. As the cost of these rise the consumer will have less money to spend on other things. This inflationary pressure will slow down the economy.
The other huge problem with high energy prices is that it makes American products less competitive in overseas markets. This is a serious problem for a country that depends on foreign trade as much as the US does. In general countries that are self sufficient when it comes to energy will be able to produce products at a lower price since they can control the cost of energy. That means that locally produced products will likely be cheaper than ones imported from the US. Obviously this will make American products less competitive. There is also the issue that in order to sell products overseas you need to pay for oil to ship them. Higher fuel costs means higher transport costs. Again this will encourage people to buy local products.
Probably the worst thing about high energy prices for the US economy is that the money spent is for the most part being sent to foreign countries. Since we have to import all of that energy we need to pay the other countries to get it. This is basically like putting a tax on American products except that we don't even get the benefit of increased government revenues, that money is going to other countries.