Top Priority-Economics

Issues abound, and to their champions, their issue is the most vital of them all. However, there is a common denominator behind all issues, and this is the struggle for power, survival, and in practice, for economic safety if not superiority.

No issue can be resolved, political, educational, social, without addressing its economic components. Sure, we have bought and paid for legislations, back-room deals, corruption, personal and corporate greed, and power cliques working assiduously to retain their advantages, and to reduce the advantage of others. Sure we have political leaders packaged and sold to the highest bidders, with little or no moral or ethical consideration.

All issues, however, are allowed, driven, and in fact encouraged by our existing economic system, that purportedly engender from political ideology, is in fact the same, with minor variations that prop up that political system's ideological concepts, but with the identical result regardless of political theory or practice.

The Root Causes

It would require more extensive understanding of our system to become painfully aware of the built-in elements in the existing system which are designed to assign and distribute and re-distribute wealth, to the sectors of the society the economic authorities and power brokers want the wealth to go. I am in the process of exposing every minute detail of how this happens and how exactly the system works. (see first article: The Ethics of Economics) But I thought it important to put on the center of attention the key elements that perpetuate and promote the process in a separate essay, so that a) readers will have an idea of where I am going with other writing, and b) if this brief essay be easily understood, it would help many realign their personal, social, and political priorities.

The voiced purpose of economic policy and controls by governments, and economic authorities is to try to maintain a fairly balanced economic system. This in effect refers to a relatively stable movement of goods and services by attempting to maintain equivalent financial instruments (money, credit, etc.) in some level of equivalence between the two, and thus control inflation, or prevent recessions.

What exists in fact, is an utter inability or reticence to take the necessary steps to eliminate inequities. The evidence of this can be seen in any news paper or magazine, in any article on finance or the economy. Most governments and banking controlling authorities have a stated goal of a certain amount of inflation, around 0.5% per year, as a tolerable goal.

Economic Recovery Not in Sight

We must focus on the real statistics of an economic system: Production, and this is tied to employment. The statement that unemployment has slowed up, or hasn't increased any further is publicly known to be an outrageous lie. Any drop in the unemployment count is the people who ran out of benefits and are dropped off the count. Why does the Administration keep sounding off on this note? The traditional media continues with its traditional blather of meaningless chatter, and not an ounce of outrage, and no sounds of alarm.

The productive capacity of the population is further being eroded by the failure of the Home Affordable Financing Program. Large numbers of people are being disqualified for bogus reasons which don't even appear on the guidelines that could disqualify them. It has become clear that the financial community, banks, et al., gain from driving people into bankruptcy and foreclosure. They make a better fee on foreclosures than on loan modifications, and other home saving programs.

People's survival are thus threatened, and their ability to work dragged on by the despondency that a weak President as much as he talks he cares, can't or wont do anything but whine at the bankers he put in place to run the programs that aren't   running.

Without real increase in production of physical in the real economy, the gains seen in the stock markets are no more than more paper, inflated by lavish TARP bailouts, accounting shenanigans, and Fed throwing more and more money into the system. It should be clear that no matter how high stocks rise, if the companies they represent continue to fire people, and rely on making "accounting" or paper profits, when it comes to cash in the high priced stocks and bonds, the bread isn't there for the purchasing; we can be certain that there's no recovery in sight.

Money isn't production. Products, real products, food, buildings, desks, knives, butter are production. The rising stocks will add to the GDP's increase (or halted decline); but rest sure that they will only be numbers which will not represent real wealth, but just inflation in the financial markets. Wealth is NOT being created. It's being destroyed: foreclosures end up with abandoned and vandalized homes the value of which keeps dropping, until the they have to be bulldozed as the final wealth destruction. People need homes, but they can't have the homes that are built and left abandoned. What is this? Is it the result of the application of good sense on the part of the financial community, and the Administration? The Stimulus legislation has been structured so almost the entirety of it is managed and channeled through the financial community, banks, et al. The level of cooperation has been such that a few more millions homes will be foreclosed upon, because they didn't want to modify loans and dragged their feet to make sure those in dire situation can't be saved in time, further driving them into desperation and reduced ability to produce.

For now the solution lies in the public understanding these things, and refused to be fooled by empty words from legislators which have been bought, and paid for by the financial community. Stay angry (if even quietly so) and keep writing to the President, and anyone you can think of. Talk about this with your friends. Tell them what you understand, and stimulate debate.

We shall not see a shred of recovery unless, and until we focus on our people's well-being, their productive capability, and putting them back to work, and not in do-little or nothing public works, but in real industry where we are building things once more. People need things; they need things, and often can't get it because it's no longer produced... such as good health, good medical service, as an example to be real and hit home with most readers... but also industrial and commercial products; there are many products that are no longer available. There are engineering skills, and technical products and shops that have disappeared over the last 20 years.

Talk won't do... even our own in telling what's going on. That's just to prepare the minds of people to deal with truth and reality. Immediate action in the form of direct funding of production is far better than what's being done now.We got to open the purses that are now being drained in a sterile group of financial market, and offer it to people to rebuild the companies they have had to close down, and hire the people that have been fired, and get people back to work. Put out an announcement that any company that presents a half decent business plan for products that our society really needs, will be financed, and employee salaries guaranteed (or better yet paid directly by government agency), and get the production going again...

Economics

I hope to use this section for economic news, and articles, but particularly, basic economics concepts which are little understood, and broadly misunderstood. For example, we all know what causes inflation... we say, prices go up when demand for the product or service goes up, while the supply remain the same. On the other hand, I can't get a clear answer from anyone as to who is the first business or activity to raise the prices and why? Somebody has to make a decision on raising the prices... right?

Urgent Issues

This Category is where they would appear...When an author or contributor has items of vital important, he can categorize them as "urgent issues" and it would probably end up under this heading.

As I said, we're still building, so we don't know where it will end up, but I'm sure you can still read information that is posted and available to everyone.

The Ethics of Economics

The Ethics of Economics

I propose to present a new rational basis for modern economic systems that should replace existing systems for the purpose of a rational distribution of wealth, and resource control, and management. I will present what I have concluded are untenable fundamentals, and explain why with reasoning anyone can understand; and show with the same reasoning what are logical fundamentals for a sound system. All of which is something I’ve been pondering since 1968.

I spent more than forty years re-examining a large body economic theory, from Pre-Classical, Anglo-American, Heterodox, Classical, Continental, Keynesian and others, all of which can be classified as macro-economics; and likened to a Push Button System of hyper-broad remote-control-activation, too distant from the effect arena, to achieve precise controls. The reactions are delayed to such point that overcompensation is unavoidable.

There is no lack of brilliance in the field of economics, much of it little known outside academic circles.

We can trace the development of economics to Socrates, Greek and Roman cultures, into the middle ages with Thomas Aquinas economic theory based on theological and religious or ‘theological’ doctrinal concepts. The assumption in this review of past ideologies is that the underlying premise, having been essentially the same through most of western history, would likely repeat themselves in other lands and other cultures, and would likely lead to the same general observations herein:

Definition Era: Throughout all historical information available, the common thread underlying economic policy from which theory and practice is then derived, in their formative stage, is the concepts of Ethics and morality, and what must necessarily be an underlying rationale to justify them, i.e.: natural law. There are conflicts in the definition and basis for natural law. Nevertheless, the philosophy is an attempt to realize an underlying logical foundation to human behavior.

Management Era: Following the cementing of basic practice and economic philosophy, the modern economist focus on managing the reality of the times, and this is where I believe Adam Smith’s “An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations” sets the beginning of modern thought.

The differences between scholars lie on each school’s control button(s) of preference to exercise macro or micro management, which is generally derived from the behavior of economic entities within their historical background and setting. In other words, in attempting to arrive to the “push button” control at a high level in the system (macro), they estimate the importance, behavior, and motion of each component (money, investment, labor, capital, output, etc.), from which they conclude and propose what they consider the optimum element to control that will maintain an economic balance. There is merit and validity in these examinations when viewed against their specific frame of reference.

Nevertheless, the thrust of study and discovery, from antiquity until the modern-most “Game Theory” of economics (with its many variables) is in predicting behavior within the then existing methodologies, and attempting to channel that behavior. This falls apart when it becomes clear that the most significant entity, the human actor and observer becomes yet another variable in the equation; thus expanding its complexity to infinity. Yet, said ideology taken for grated as the single valid foundation for economic thought. Thinkers that deviate are marginalized and little known.

This review of past authors yields various obvious observations, which can be seen as common denominators to the foundation of their work for the various periods:

a) During the early times when economic was becoming a definable activity, it fell upon theologians and philosophers to resolve economic issues and rules, yielding to public demand for protection from unscrupulous agents.

b) After the root patterns of economic activity has been established, economists were, and are now, no longer concerned with philosophical theory of Ethics, but with management of established basic elements rooted in practice;

c) The system they have built and continue to build and expand, rest on a foundation of the wealth protection of monarchies, and rulers; and this, within the backdrop of elite-elite struggle for control, and retention of power; it is visible that these writers were well versed in their respective contemporary ideologies; and would naturally gravitate to the ruling strata. They are considerations of what was viewed as the natural order of things, based purely on prevailing elitism: for example, Malthus' acceptance of poverty as the part of the 'natural' order of things.

To be continued