Today is the first anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, or (as some are putting it) Day 366 of Russia’s 10 day “special military operation.” Given that no sane person believes claim of saving the world from gay Nazis through war crimes and atrocities, it seems reasonable to expect that the effort would have collapsed months ago. Instead, Russia continues to push . . . well, if not forward, at least along, losing sometimes more soldiers in a week than it did in Afghanistan in ten year. Of course, the rest of the world, locked into the economic insanity of Keynesian economics and accumulating more debt in nominal terms than the entire world did in a century before Keynesian economics came along, has nothing to brag about, as can be seen by the refusal to adopt the Economic Democracy Act, but, like Putin, people still insist on implementing failed programs that never worked in the first place:
Nikki Haley
• Would Nikki Haley Reform Social Security? Having gone on record making somewhat disparaging remarks about the Social Security system, possible presidential contender Nikki Haley might be open to something like the Economic Democracy Act, that might have the potential to solve many of the problems associated with the Keynesian system, but only time will tell if she sticks to her guns, or gives in to political expedience.
• Keynesian Ponzi Scheme. It turns out that we’re not the only ones who have labeled Keynesian economics a colossal Ponzi scheme, in which those who get in early get the goodies, while latecomers are saddled with the debt. In a Keynesian system, governments spend money like drunken sailors on leave, piling up debt for future generations to pay off or repudiate, neither alternative being acceptable, but at least the latter is achievable under the Economic Democracy Act.
• U.S. Government Default? Given the nature of modern government finance, it should not be surprising that the so-called experts are predicting a possible U.S. government default by July or September of this year. This, of course, is inherent in the Keynesian Ponzi scheme, but economists and policymakers always act as if it has come as a complete surprise. If they really want to solve the problem, though, we suggest adopting the Economic Democracy Act, or is that too easy?
• Bad Economic Forecasts are Scaring People. But that’s about all it seems to be doing. Economic forecasts are upsetting people, but all they can do is cross their fingers, close their eyes, and hope that some good fairy comes and fixes everything for them. Taking a more proactive role and adopting the Economic Democracy Act would do a great deal to turn the situation around, but no one seems to be considering it.
• Jerome Powell Fears the Worst. . . . but don’t expect him to do anything about it. His economic crystal (or Keynesian) ball has shown him the writing on the wall, to mix a few metaphors, and that the United States is facing economic and social meltdown, but he plugs his ears and shuts his mind, and retreats to his special place, hoping that something will happen to stop things from going wrong. Of course, adopting the Economic Democracy Act might do just what he knows has to be done, but he isn’t going to do it.
• Saudi Arabia Ditching the Dollar. In light of the weakening U.S. Dollar and its unsuitability as a stable measure of value, Saudi Arabia says it will be shifting to other currencies to fill the role of a reserve currency. The role of a reserve currency is key in an economy, and if it is unstable, the economy is necessarily on shaky ground. The monetary and tax reforms of the Economic Democracy Act would go a long way in providing elastic, asset-backed, uniform and stable reserve currencies for the world, but no one seems to be considering it in their love affair with Keynesian economics.
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| An economy on Keynes. Get the picture? |
• It’s Not Working! Much to the astonishment of the Keynesian experts, raising and lowering interest rate is having little impact on inflation. Now they are issuing warnings that things could change very suddenly for the worse . . . like that’s any big surprise. The possibility that the Keynesian remedies that have never worked might continue not to work doesn’t seem to occur to anybody, so all they can think of is to put more effort into something that isn’t working and that can’t work, sort of like Putin and his vision of the Rusky Mir encompassing the entire world, with him as god-king. No one seems to be considering the possibility of the Economic Democracy Act.
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| Mike Pence |
• Would Pence Cut Social Security? Maybe his heart is in the right place (we don’t know anything directly about his internal anatomy), and Mike Pence is rightly concerned with the looming problem of Social Security and Medicare, but simply cutting benefits without replacing them with something else is a recipe for political as well as economic disaster. We recommend that he and others consider the Economic Democracy Act.
• Another Interest Rate Hike? In a surprise move, the gamblers on Wall Street are anticipating that the Federal Reserve will raise the interest rate by June of this year in an effort to . . . do something, they’re not entirely sure what. Of course, the one thing they don’t consider is something that has actually be proven to work, the Economic Democracy Act.
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| Putin's blood-soaked fantasy |
• First Phase is Over? According to analysts, Putin’s war against Ukraine has finished its first phase of incompetent disaster compounded by war crimes and atrocities, and is now set to move into the second phase of mega-failure, crimes against humanity, and atrocities. At this point we are the first to admit that the Economic Democracy Act would not make any immediate difference at the front, but it would provide a means for financing both the current war effort and rebuilding the country after Russia’s war of world conquest finally collapses.
• Will China Collapse in the Next Decade? Similar to predictions that the Russian Federation may last at most for another ten years, some experts are predicting the end of China within the same period. Although not willing to consider the rational alternative of the Economic Democracy Act, they are beginning to see that no one, no matter how much money or power they might have, can keep kicking the can down the road. At some point they will discover that problems must be dealt with, not avoided or handed off to someone else.
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| Jimmy Carter |
• Past President Carter Rich? Apparently astounding everyone, the fact that former President Carter was able to accumulate so much wealth shouldn’t really have come as a surprise. Under the current system, anyone with wealth and power is easily able to accumulate more of both with ease, simply because of the past savings assumption that drives Keynesian economics. It is, of course, entirely possible that Carter would have accumulated just as much if not more under the Economic Democracy Act, but it would not have been while others were in want; everyone would have an equal opportunity to become rich. The Just Third Way of Economic Personalism is not a way to prevent people from becoming rich, but to prevent them from staying poor.
• Rich Dad Predicts Disaster. As he has been doing for some time to the ridicule of the experts, Robert Kiyosaki is predicting the end of the financial markets as we know them. While we share Kiyosaki’s pessimism about the present system, we have something that he doesn’t to give us hope: the Economic Democracy Act.
• 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.
• Blog Readership. We have had visitors from 24 different countries and 29 states, provinces, and territories in the United States and Canada to this blog over the past week. Most visitors are from the United States, Canada, the Philippines, Ireland, and India. The most popular postings this past week in descending order were “The Purpose of Production,” “News from the Network, Vol. 16, No. 7,” “Did C.S. Lewis Approve of Socialism?” “Was Henry George a Socialist?” and “Social Justice, IV: The Characteristics of Social Justice.”
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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