Right now the world is quite properly focused on what is happening in Ukraine at the present time and not worrying about the future rebuilding of the country (with the Economic Democracy Act, of course), but there are other things going on, of which we present a few here:
Henry George
• Quasi Georgism Redux. It seems to be a national plague. People who have been receiving rent free use of rental properties are claiming they’re being treated unjustly as their presumed landlords are going broke by allowing them to stay, with nobody offering to pick up their tab for taxes, utilities or anything else. This was the fundamental problem in Henry George’s scheme. He declared that people should get free use of the land and the landlord pay what would have been received as rent to the government as a single tax. The problem, of course, is that if landlords are paying out money and taking nothing in, there’s no reason to remain an owner. Just walk away or sign it over to the government . . . and then there would be zero tax revenue. Or they could pass the Economic Democracy Act, but nobody seems to be thinking of that.
• Fun With Numbers. In an effort to put a damper on whatever they’re putting a damper on this time, stock futures are falling in response to a rumor that the Federal Reserve is going to raise interest rates. Presumably this will fight inflation by raising the price level . . . which is fighting fire with fire and then pouring gasoline on it. Inflation, after all, is defined as a rise in the price level caused by too much money chasing insufficient goods and services. The only real way to fight inflation is to get away from backing the reserve currency with government debt, and to make everyone productive by adopting the Economic Democracy Act.
• Yellen in a China Shop. Evidently under the impression that the United States desperately needs to have the Peoples Republic of China lying, cheating, and stealing from America, Janet Yellen is making a frantic and humble trip to impress the Chinese with our sincerity and gullibility. Somehow it has never occurred to the economic and political powers-that-be that the citizens of the United States should be the primary beneficiaries of the American economy, since they are the ones presumably creating and living in it. Of course, Keynesian economics is built on the fundamental assumption that you have to hold other countries’ debt and they have to hold yours or we’d be stuck with an asset-backed reserve currency that the politicians couldn’t control. They haven’t yet realized that we wouldn’t need China if we had the Economic Democracy Act.
• Crypto Collapses (Again). There has been another collapse of the crypto currency bubble, which is what we should expect of something that has no existence apart from the human minds that create it and no backing or official sanction. Of course, it also means that a lot of job dependent on the crypto market have taken a nose dive. One way to avoid this, of course, would be the monetary reforms embodied in the Economic Democracy Act, but nobody seems to be thinking of that.
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| Pity the poor rich man |
• Threatening the Federal Reserve. Every time the Federal Reserve threatens to raise interest rates, many of the experts get all upset and claim that it will cause a stock market crash and a recession (we don’t use the “d-word” anymore). This is a totally bogus situation due solely to the global domination of Keynesian economics. It’s also a complete misunderstanding of what “interest” really is, and the role that sound money and capital equipment play in an economy. All this could be fixed by adopting the Economic Democracy Act, but that doesn’t seem to occur to anybody.
• Chinese Jumping Ship. Evidently panicking at the direction the economy of the Peoples’ Republic of China is taking, wealthy Chinese are trying to get their assets out of harm’s way as fast as they can. It doesn’t occur to anyone that this sort of thing is at best a temporary fix, as everyone else is making the same mistakes as the Chinese, only not on so massive a scale. The solution, as you probably already know, is 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 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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