Yet another week of the same old same old. Putin is destroying Russia in his bid to save Ukraine from itself and the hordes of gay Jewish Nazis, while politicians and academic economists cannot seem to understand how an economy that benefits the few at the expense of the many isn’t benefiting the many! Oh, the humanity. No one seems considering the possibility of making it easy on themselves by adopting the Economic Democracy Act:
• “House Poor” Americans. According to a recent study (yes, we know how flimsy these studies tend to be), many Americans are spending too much on housing and may not be able to sustain it. Part of this, of course, is the fact that making more money available to more people to purchase houses drives up prices of houses. That’s supply and demand — demand-pull inflation. Then there’s the fact that with government creating money willy-nilly with no backing other than its own debt the price level also goes up — a combination of demand-pull and cost-push inflation; existing houses go up in price due to more money available for housing, and new houses go up in price due to increased construction costs. Finally, there is the idea that a house is an investment, and the increased cost of a house can be recouped, and a profit made by prices going up even more and then selling the house. What’s the solution? We developed the Homeowners Equity Corporation (HEC) to address the problem of the high cost of housing, and it’s an important feature of the Economic Democracy Act.
• Federal Reserve Tells Us Why We’re Gloomy. A study by the Federal Reserve (those studies again!) claims that people are pessimistic about the economy because people feel they’re doing okay, but don’t see things getting better, only worse. The study goes into raptures about how well the economy is doing, but it fails to note that the real benefit is going to the ultra-rich, not ordinary people. Obviously, what is needed is a comprehensive economic reform package that makes it possible for everyone to share in the gains, not just a few. That, of course, is the Economic Democracy Act.
• Putin Signals Desperation. A few days ago, we saw a cartoon showing Putin dressed in beggar’s rags groveling to North Korea’s Kim Jung-un to get more weaponry to continue his effort to conquer Ukraine. Global media are touting this as a clear sign of desperation on Putin’s part, which is understandable, given Russia’s mounting losses and the fact that an educated guess has Russia running out of artillery and tanks by 2026 (estimates are Russia has at most 7,500 artillery barrels left, and they have already run through an estimated 12,500, and they don’t have the technology base left to replace them in any quantity; Russia has megatons of ammunition but may be unable to use it), while troop losses are consistently estimated at 1,000+ per day, with some units suffering nearly 90% casualties, a result of receiving virtually no training and trying to make up for lack of equipment by using centuries-outdated battle tactics relying on massed assaults. If Ukraine can simply hold out, Russia’s suicidal invasion may fall apart on its own.
• The Parallel Economy. According to a poll (worse than studies, above) many Americans are living in “parallel economy where everything is terrible.” This comes as no surprise to us, what with the fascination politicians and academic economists have on aggregate numbers and averages . . . which means they ignore actual people. If they want to integrate the so-called parallel economy into the presumed real economy, then they should adopt the Economic Democracy Act.
• More Fed Fiddling with Interest Rates. The problem with having people who don’t know what they’re doing in charge of the monetary system is that they have no idea what they are doing. They might by chance come up with something, but don’t count on it. That’s why we are both concerned and rather blasé about the announcement that the Federal Reserve expects to continue messing around with something they obviously don’t understand . . . rather like the evidently untrained Russian soldier who started beating on a presumed dud Ukrainian drone with a stick and blew himself and his squad to bits (on camera yet). If we want to keep from blowing ourselves up by doing something we shouldn’t, we should do something we ought to do instead — such as adopt the Economic Democracy Act.
• Saving Social Security . . . Again. Social Security reform is once again in the news, with no real solutions being advanced. The best the experts can do at this point within the Keynesian framework is to let everyone know how bad it could get. All of this would be moot if they would adopt 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 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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