Is it all for show?
• It’s All How You Define “Strong Economy”. The experts are saying that the economy is strong, but it could go into a tailspin at any time. Uh, huh. It all depends on how you define “strong economy.” If it means that mega-amounts of money are being created and poured into the stock market instead of being invested in the private sector primary economy to provide production and consumption instead of gambling and speculation. For the record, a high stock market is indicative of a high stock market — nothing more. The fact remains that simply because there is a lot of money floating around it does not mean a strong economy . . . just ask the victims of hyperinflation. How to get away from all this fantasy? Adopt the Economic Democracy Act.
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| Not worried about a recession, short or long. |
• A Short Recession? For Whom? The experts are (still) predicting a recession is coming, but are hedging by saying it may be a short one. Short? For whom? Given that the experts keep insisting that a high stock market means economic growth, and the reality that a high stock market only means that tons of money are being poured into the market instead of into real investment or consumption, the “recession” will be short for the people with enormous amounts of money and piles of stocks and bonds, and everlasting for the rest of us who live in the real world. The only way to get away from this is to adopt the Economic Democracy Act.
• The Danger of High Interest Rates! According to the experts, high interest rates (which the experts want to come down) will drag down the housing market and thus drag the economy into a recession. Of course, since low interest rates will allow the experts and their friends to borrow lots of money and pour it into the stock market and make tons of money, demanding lower interest rates for any reason could be self-serving. One way to get away from this sort of thing is to put the economy on a sound basis by adopting the Economic Democracy Act.
• Rates Will Remain High — Maybe. After getting a peek at the minutes of the latest Federal Reserve board meeting, experts are predicting that interest rates will remain high . . . unless they come down, of course (see below). Again, to get away from all the damage and uncertainty caused by artificial manipulation of the economy, we should adopt the Economic Democracy Act.
• Looking for a Year-End Stock Market Rally. It doesn’t take a genius to know that whenever the Federal Reserve messes around with the interest rate instead of letting the market set the rate, the gamblers on Wall Street will take advantage it. Despite the claim that rates will remain high (above), the so-called experts are declaring that if the Federal Reserve keeps interest rates low, there will be a stock market rally at the end of the year instead of the usual wave of profit taking (although don’t count on the profit-takers driving down the market). One way to avoid all this manipulation of the economy is to adopt the Economic Democracy Act, but nobody seems to be considering that for some reason.
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| A delusional analysis |
• Do They Even Know What “Deflation” Means? China is in a panic as the consumer price level might start dropping as consumer purchasing power dries up having been diverted into fake investments. Deflation means an insufficient money supply, while inflation means too much money floating around. Yes, a symptom of deflation is a lowering of the price level as sellers try to lure scarce money to purchase their products. A lowering of the price level is not, however, deflation as the Chinese seem to assume, but a symptom. It can also mean that consumer goods have become more available, and thus sellers are not competing for scarce money, but for scarce customers with money. If people don’t want what you have at a high price, they might want it at a lower price, regardless how much or how little money is in the economy. The idea that a lower price level automatically means deflation is a Keynesian fantasy. What’s the solution? Linking the money supply directly to the production of marketable goods and services by applying Banking Principle techniques such as found in 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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