News from the Network, Vol. 10, No. 13

Another week of extremely important advances that do not make for particularly exciting news reporting.  That, however, is one of the problems with reporting about what a think tank does . . . which is, primarily, thinking.  And there just aren’t too many ways to say people did a lot of thinking (and talking about thinking).  So what else has been going on?

Good as Gold, VIII: Toward Monetary Reform

The mistakes England made with the Bank Charter Act of 1844 managed to get themselves duplicated in the United States with the National Banking Act of 1863 (amended 1864).  In both cases the legal tender reserve currency was backed by government debt, convertible into gold, and inelastic, i.e., fixed in amount, to try and avoid inflation.  This lack of understanding about money and credit caused or contributed to a series of financial panics and currency crises in both countries.

Good as Gold, VII: Battling the Banks

In the previous posting in this series — cut short on the Ides of March — we saw how the tenets of the British Currency School became predominant.  We also saw how one branch of it, that which held that government debt is an asset of the issuing government, quickly became public policy . . . if only because it allowed politicians to spend as much money as they could until the public lost confidence in them.

4. Is Distributism a Parody of Christianity?

As we conclude this brief series examining “The ABC’s of Catholic Economics,” it becomes evident why Chesterton was so adamant that, while the principles of science, politics, and religion must be compatible with each other and consistent with reality, they cannot be combined or mixed without disaster.

3. Is Distributism a Parody of Christianity?

Last Thursday we continued our examination of “The ABC’s of Catholic Economics,” which the author of an article in Regina Magazine claimed was realized in the “distributism” of G.K. Chesterton and Hilaire Belloc.  Going through the letters G through M we found more discrepancies between Chesterton’s and Belloc’s concept of distributism and what the author of the article claimed was their system, and what the Catholic Church actually teaches as opposed to what the author claimed the Catholic Church teaches.

News from the Network, Vol. 10, No. 12

A number of things are happening that tend to bear out the sense we got last week that things were starting to heat up in the Just Third Way . . . despite the “cold snap” being experienced inside the DC Beltway (you’d think all the hot air coming off Capitol Hill would warm things up a bit, though).  That being the case, we’ll get right to it:

2. Is Distributism a Parody of Christianity?

Yesterday we began an examination of “The ABC’s of Catholic Economics,” which the author of an article in Regina Magazine claimed was realized in the “distributism” of G.K. Chesterton and Hilaire Belloc.  The goal was to determine whether it is correct to say that what was presented in the article as “Catholic Economics” was, in fact, the case, or if what was presented was a distorted version of what the Catholic Church teaches.

1. Is Distributism a Parody of Christianity?

A few days ago on FaceBook we came across a reposted article from Regina Magazine (“Inspiring.  Intelligent.  Catholic.”), an internet journal “interested in everything under the Catholic sun . . . [seeking] the Good, the Beautiful and the True” — surely a laudable goal, regardless of your religion or lack thereof.  The article was “The ABC’s of Catholic Economics” by either Beverly Stevens or William Schultz, possibly both — it wasn’t clear, and a visit to the website didn’t make it any clearer.

Max Weismann, 1936-2017

Max Weismann

It is with deep regret that we learned recently of the death in Chicago of Max Weismann, who served on the Board of Counselors for the Center for Economic and Social Justice (CESJ), allegedly of an undiagnosed kidney ailment.  Max, an American philosopher and a long-time friend and associate of Mortimer J. Adler (co-author with Louis O. Kelso of The Capitalist Manifesto, 1958, and The New Capitalists, 1961), co-founded the Center for the Study of the Great Ideas in Chicago with Adler in 1990.

The Byzantine Homestead Act

Roman history, whether Latin or Greek, graphically illustrates the importance of widespread ownership to national security — and the inevitable tendency of the rich and powerful to concentrate ownership, whether privately (capitalism) or publicly (socialism) to the detriment of national wellbeing, even disaster.

News from the Network, Vol. 10, No. 11

Despite a sudden cold snap, a “DC Blizzard” (i.e., a quarter inch of snow or the threat thereof), and a semi-lost day of work, things have been “heating up” at the Just Third Way.  A great deal of it has been in the form of meetings and conversations, which are very hard to report, but it’s obvious that things are starting to move:

Your Brand: It’s Your Everything

Guest Blogger: William R. Mansfield, Founder, Mansfield Institute for Public Policy and Social Change, Inc.

According to the quintessential entertainer, P.T. Barnum, founder of “the Greatest Show on Earth” and other modest productions, you could fool all of the people all of the time . . . but only with their full and willing consent.  Many people are, in fact, surprised to learn that “America’s Showman” was not only a model of personal rectitude, always keeping his word, but insisted on strict honesty in all business dealings.

The Logic of Empire

“Consumption,” as Adam Smith declared in The Wealth of Nations, “is the sole end and purpose of all production.”  This makes sense, for if something has not been produced, how can it exist to be consumed?  And why produce something if it is not intended for consumption?

Good as Gold, VI: Removing the Restraints

As we saw in yesterday’s posting, governments were not able to control the currency for political purposes to any appreciable degree until they were able to hijack the institution of the central bank.  Even then, their power over the money supply was generally limited by two factors which tended to subject the value of the currency to the forces of the market, rather than the force of politicians’ arguments.

Good as Gold, V: Debt Money Replaces Asset Money

Last Thursday we closed the previous posting in this series by noting how Henry VIII Tudor’s debasement of the English and Irish coinage did not affect as many people in the same way it would have had the two countries been more dependent on a cash economy.  It was bad, of course, but the fact that most trade and even daily transactions were carried out by means of direct barter and contracts well into the nineteenth century limited the evil.

The Millennial Workplace

Guest Blogger: William R. Mansfield, Founder, Mansfield Institute for Public Policy and Social Change, Inc.

In one very real sense, it is extremely misleading to talk about “the Millennial Workplace” as if Millennials are somehow inherently different as human beings from every generation that has gone before.  Obviously that is not true, as basic common sense tells us.  If someone is human, he or she is as fully human, and is human in the same way, as everyone else, no ifs, ands, or buts.

Cardinal Dolan’s Mistake

Last Thursday’s Wall Street Journal carried a short piece by Timothy Michael Cardinal Dolan on public funding of private schools.  (“How Trump Can Expand School Choice,” WSJ, 03/09/17, A19.)  His Eminence’s idea is that parents should receive tax credits that will enable them to send their children to the schools of their choice.  Unfortunately, while the Cardinal Archbishop of New York’s intentions are good, this is a very bad idea.

News from the Network, Vol. 10, No. 10

Things are still a little quiet around CESJ, but there have been a number of events and situations in the world that highlight the need for Just Third Way-type solutions.  We are, of course, fully away that the Just Third Way is not a panacea for all the world’s ills, but it is based on natural law assumptions that do apply to every human situation.  We will never have a perfect system, but we can have one that is perfectible and consistent with the basic principles governing human behavior:

Effective Communication and Conflict Resolution

Guest Blogger: William R. Mansfield, Founder, Mansfield Institute for Public Policy and Social Change, Inc.

Conflict is unavoidable in any situation involving other people.  The art of management (or, if you will, servant leadership) involves to a great extent the ability to resolve conflicts in a just manner. That means respecting the natural dignity of every human person involved in the situation.

Good as Gold, IV: The Money Monopoly

Yesterday we looked at how the shift to a cash economy accelerated the concentration of capital ownership in the hands of the few people who had access to this relatively scarce form of money.  And make no mistake: until the twentieth century, when governments began taking over currencies and backing them with their own debt to control economic activity, what most people think of as “money” (coin, banknotes, demand deposits, and some time deposits) was not the vehicle by means of which most transactions were carried out — and even then it was far from being the only form of money.

Good as Gold, III: The Cash Problem

Yesterday we noted that, while gold has certain advantages as a monetary standard, it also has a number of weaknesses.  Primary among these is the fact that the amount of gold in an economy has no direct tie or link to the level of productive activity.

Good as Gold, II: What Is “The Gold Standard”?

Yesterday we noted that reinstituting the gold standard wasn’t all that bad an idea.  It would restore a measure of sanity to the financial world, plagued throughout the globe by “flexible standards” for currencies . . . despite the fact that “flexible standard” is a meaningless concept, useful only for confusing the public beyond hope of comprehension.

Mentorship: Making Tomorrow’s Future

Guest Blogger: William R. Mansfield, Founder, Mansfield Institute for Public Policy and Social Change, Inc.

The Just Third Way — any culture, in fact, that includes capital ownership as an essential element of the system — is such a complete shift from today’s pervasive “Jobs-Jobs-Jobs” mentality that training the new type of servant leader needed is critical to “making tomorrow’s future.”  This is all the more necessary when we consider that tomorrow’s leaders will have the primary responsibility for teaching their fellow worker-owners how to be the best persons, and best members of the team at the same time, to say nothing of using their ownership responsibly.

Good as Gold, I: What’s Good About Gold?

According to a recent report, President Trump is in favor of returning to “the gold standard.”  We haven’t verified the quote, but he allegedly said, “Bringing back the gold standard would be very hard to do, but, boy, would it be wonderful. We’d have a standard on which to base our money.”  The report went on to say that few economists were in favor of such a move.

News from the Network, Vol. 10, No. 09

Things have been a little quiet around the Just Third Way network, what with the Three Rs of reading, researching, and ’riting.  We located a number of very rare (but fortunately relatively inexpensive) books about the Revolutions of 1848 and the New York City mayoral campaign of 1886 — yes, there’s a connection with the Just Third Way — and have had some rather interesting breakthroughs in tying together some seemingly disparate elements.  There have, however, been a few items of note:

Leading with Excellence in a Changing World

Guest Blogger: William R. Mansfield, Founder, Mansfield Institute for Public Policy and Social Change, Inc.

What is changing in the world?  Is it people?  Or is it the “tools” — including our “social tools” — that people have invented to meet every level of human needs?  People’s needs range from survival and security needs, to social and political needs, and from individual personal needs, to the highest level of human development.  Changes in these “tools” are having a profound impact on everyone’s daily life.

Philosophies at War, XIII: Vatican Letters, Part Two

Since today’s blog posting is simply a continuation from yesterday, we’ll just launch right into it:

Dear Just Third Way Blog:

Philosophies at War, XII: Vatican Letters, Part One

This brief series on “Philosophies at War” is not just of academic interest, nor is it particularly religious, although the issue is being fought out most visibly in religious circles.  Obviously, however, how we view the human person is key to how we understand the role of the State, the natural law, organized religion and, increasingly these days, the family, all of which are under attack today in one way or another.