We’re a little top-heavy with financial items this week, but it was either that or go on at great length about how Zelenskyy deceived the Russians by lying about the start of the Ukrainian counter-offensive. Evidently, it’s alright for Putin to declare he isn’t going to invade another sovereign country, but not fair for the leader of that country to say that they have not yet begun to fight. Gotcha. Of course, that has a little to do with adopting the Economic Democracy Act, but not much:
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| Tyrannosaurus Debt |
• Ignore the Debt and It Will Go Away. Apparently, at least according to economist Paul Krugman, the best way to stave off bankruptcy is to go deeper into debt; if you can’t pay your current, debts, well, then incur more! All of this is based on the Keynesian assumption that only past savings can be used to finance economic growth, and that the only way to generate past savings is to redistribute savings by inflating the currency, a process Keynes called “forced savings” because it forces the poor to pay more and get less, while allowing the rich to get higher prices for fewer goods and service. Is, however, incurring more debt when you can’t pay what you already owe the only solution? No, there is the Economic Democracy Act, which would finance economic growth using future savings, and do it in such a way tht capital ownership is widespread.
• Need a Light? Once upon a time, it was mistakenly believed that the customer is always right. Nowadays, of course, we know that the customer is never right, and must take whatever the powers-that-be choose to dish out. After all, when the sleer and two groups of customers disagree, then obviously both groups of customers are wrong, and the seller is right. That seems to be the case in which the manufacturer (we no longer use the outdated term “brewer”) of “Bud Light,” formerly the single largest selling beer brand in the world, ticked off customers at both ends of the ideological aisle. Of course, if customers were also producers, they could decide for themselves which products to patronize of their own free will without having to worry about who they’re offending or failing to offend by purchasing a particular product. That, however, will only be possible by adopting the Economic Democracy Act, which will mean that the powers-that-be won’t have all that much power any more . . . just lots of cases of beer they might not be able to sell.
• Not Saving Enough for Retirement? According to yet another Harvard study, Americans who take “early retirement” are making a big mistake, mainly because they haven’t saved enough for the Great Change, i.e., to shift from productive worker to useless eater. According to conventional wisdom, if Americans don’t save enough to keep themselves above the poverty line, then other people won’t have enough of other people’s money to get rich. The possibility that everyone can invest using future savings instead of past savings is completely alien to this mindset. That is why the Economic Democracy Act which is not being adopted. The powers-that-be don’t understand that 1 + 1 = 2, not 0.
• More Money Misunderstandings. Savvy investors are starting to get concerned. It seems that for the first time in half a century, M2 is decreasing and being funneled into M1 by people using their savings for consumption. M2, by the way, is “time deposits” (savings accounts) and other stuff that can be quickly converted to spendable cash. M1 consists of coin, banknotes, demand deposits (checking accounts), credit cards, and other “cash substitutes.” Why is this a cause for concern? Because under Keynesian monetary theory, M2 — which legally cannot be used a loanable funds by commercial banks or counted as reserves — are the source of loanable funds and reserves (consistency is not a virtue in Keynesian economics). Consequently, private sector business, which gets loans from commercial banks by the commercial banks creating money, won’t be able to obtain loans from commercial banks that the commercial banks are prohibited from making in the first place. (See “Keynesian Konsistency” above). This happened before. In the late 1920s, experts were baffled by the fact that enormous amounts of money were being channeled into Wall Street speculation, yet at the same time there didn’t appear to be any shortage of commercial bank credit for business loans! The way out of this seeming paradox, of course, is to use existing money for consumption, and new money for investment, making the decrease in M2 and the increase in M1 an interesting, if ultimately meaningless bit of financial trivia. This can be done by adopting the Economic Democracy Act, which would eliminate the distinction between different kinds of money.
• How About a Politically Neutral Reserve Currency? Russia’s current financial finagling is to try and get India — which is perennially at odds with China — to accept the Chinese Yuan in payment, thereby allowing China to have influence over a significant portion of the Indian economy. If a different value of the Yuan would benefit China and harm India, there is no reason why China wouldn’t manipulate the value of its currency. People forget that the reason the British pound was the de facto global reserve currency until the 1920s until replaced by the U.S. Dollar was that the British Pound Sterling was linked to gold and had a stable value. Similarly, until 1975, the U.S. Dollar was linked to gold and had a stable value. Since the 1970s, however, no major reserve currency has been linked to gold or anything else, and reserve currencies have become a tool for diplomacy and war. This is not to say that gold is the ideal standard, but that a standard of some kind, or at least taking away the power of governments to manipulate the value of the reserve currency, is an essential not only to a stable economy but a just political order. That is yet another benefit of adopting the Economic Democracy Act.
• Another Rate Hike? In yet another round of Keep ’Em Guessing, the Federal Reserve is considering raising interest rates again. Manipulating interest rates and the quantity of money are some of the ways that Keynes saved capitalism by turning it into socialism. In other words, just as governments manipulate the value of the reserve currency to gain advantage over foreign countries, they manipulate the money supply to gain advantage over their own citizens. It may be time for the Economic Democracy Act, so that governments serve the citizens, rather than the other way around.
• Normal Inflation? Even though the three mainstream schools of economics — Keynesian, Monetarist, and Austrian — can’t agree on the definition of inflation, and the powers-that-be change it constantly to conform to political goals along with unemployment, depression, and recession, it has been announced that inflation is back to normal in some sectors. Of course, this assumes that inflation is or can be “normal” . . . which begs the question. What type of inflation, and how do you define it. Are you talking about cost-push or demand-pull inflation? Do you mean any increase in the money supply whether or not the price level rises or falls (Austrian), a rise in the price level when too much money creates demand for fewer goods and services (Monetarist/Chicago), or a rise in the price level after reaching full employment (Keynesian)? Speaking bluntly, speaking authoritatively about inflation when you haven’t defined inflation is a way of saying — and doing — nothing. Why not use the Monetarist/Chicago definition of demand-pull inflation, and eliminate it by adopting the Economic Democracy Act? At least people would know what you’re talking about.
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| It's depressing at the top. |
• Warren Buffett is Depressed. By what right is one of the world’s richest men depressed and worried about the American economy? He is unlikely to be beggared or even mildly inconvenienced by economic events, having more money than he could spend in a thousand lifetimes. Buffett, however, is smarter than most gazillionaires and knows that having all the money in the world is useless if a) you have all the money in the world and no one else has any (paradoxically, your money is only worth anything because other people have their money), and b) there’s nothing to spend it on (see a, and realize that money has no independent existence, but is a derivative of production). Logically, the best way to ensure that your store of wealth remains valuable, then, is to be in an society in which other people have stores of wealth that they are willing to trade with you so that everyone can have what he or she wants or needs. The best way to do this is by adopting the Economic Democracy Act.
• Oh, Promised Land. America is no longer the City on the Hill for some Americans, and they believe that soon Russia under the Prophet Putin will be the only Christian country left on Earth. That is why Russia is considering founding a village to allow Americans to live in a Christian country. Reportedly, two hundred American and Canadian families, tired of the liberal ideology in the west, plan to move to an as-yet unconstructed village in a suburb of Moscow to preserve traditional moral values. Of course, the version of Christianity reportedly believed by many Russians (“the New Chronology”) might not be exactly what they’re looking for, and the habit Russians have of jumping off balconies when they find themselves depressed over being at odds with those in power, the rates of alcoholism, divorce, abortion, corruption, wife-and-partner beating, murder, drug addiction, and getting arrested for saying you don’t enthusiastically support Der Führer, well, that’s just the price you pay for living in the Kingdom of God on Earth and getting rid of Gay Pride parades. Of course, the idea that it might be possible to improve the American and Canadian systems by organizing and carrying out acts of social justice, and putting power back into ordinary people’s hands by adopting the Economic Democracy Act (and of not showing up for Gay Pride parades or making a fuss about them, taking all the fun out of it) is completely alien to them.
• Greater Reset “Book Trailers”. We have produced two ninety-second “Book Trailers” for distribution (by whoever wants to distribute them), essentially a minute and a half commercials for The Greater Reset. There are two versions of the videos, one for “general audiences” and the other for “Catholic audiences”. Take your pick.
• The Greater Reset. CESJ’s new book by members of CESJ’s core group, The Greater Reset: Reclaiming Personal Sovereignty Under Natural Law is, of course, available from the publisher, TAN Books, an imprint of Saint Benedict Press, and has already gotten a top review on that website. It can also be obtained from Barnes and Noble, as well as Amazon, or by special order from your local “bricks and mortar” bookstore. The Greater Reset is the only book of which we’re aware on “the Great Reset” that presents an alternative instead of simply warning of the dangers inherent in a proposal that is contrary to natural law. It describes reality, rather than a Keynesian fantasy world. Please note that The Greater Reset is NOT a CESJ publication as such, and enquiries about quantity discounts and wholesale orders for resale must be sent to the publisher, Saint Benedict Press, NOT to CESJ.
• Economic Personalism Landing Page. A landing page for CESJ’s latest publication, Economic Personalism: Property, Power and Justice for Every Person, has been created and can be accessed by clicking on this link. Everyone is encouraged to visit the page and send the link out to their networks.
• Economic Personalism. When you purchase a copy of Economic Personalism: Property, Power and Justice for Every Person, be sure you post a review after you’ve read it. It is available on both Amazon and Barnes and Noble at the cover price of $10 per copy. You can also download the free copy in .pdf available from the CESJ website. If you’d like to order in bulk (i.e., ten or more copies) at the wholesale price, send an email to publications@cesj.org for details. CESJ members get a $2 rebate per copy on submission of proof of purchase. Wholesale case lots of 52 copies are available at $350, plus shipping (whole case lots ONLY). Prices are in U.S. dollars.
• Sensus Fidelium Videos, Update. CESJ’s series of videos for Sensus Fidelium are doing very well, with over 155,000 total views. The latest Sensus Fidelium video is “The Five Levers of Change.” The video is part of the series on the book, Economic Personalism. The latest completed series on “the Great Reset” can be found on the “Playlist” for the series. The previous series of sixteen videos on socialism is available by clicking on the link: “Socialism, Modernism, and the New Age,” along with some book reviews and other selected topics. For “interfaith” presentations to a Catholic audience they’ve proved to be popular, edging up to 150,000 views to date. They aren’t really “Just Third Way videos,” but they do incorporate a Just Third Way perspective. You can access the playlist for the entire series. The point of the videos is to explain how socialism and socialist assumptions got such a stranglehold on the understanding of the role of the State and thus the interpretation of Catholic social teaching, and even the way non-Catholics and even non-Christians understand the roles of Church, State, and Family, and the human persons place in society.
Those are the happenings for this week, at least those that we know about. If you have an accomplishment that you think should be listed, send us a note about it at mgreaney [at] cesj [dot] org, and well see that it gets into the next “issue.” Due to imprudent and intemperate language on the part of some commentators, we removed temptation and disabled comments.
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