Economic and social insecurity is increasing at an increasing rate these days. Ironically, a lot of this could probably be eliminated by the Economic Democracy Act:
• Push to Expand Social Security (Again). According to an article from the Associated Press, “The House is expected to try next week to pass a Social Security-related bill to ensure benefits for workers who are also eligible for other pensions despite a surprise move by hard-right Freedom Caucus leaders to derail the effort.” Part of the resistance to this move is the belief that money paid in to Social Security belongs to those paying it in. No, it is a tax, not a contribution. Consequently, Social Security benefits are not a return of principal, but income to the recipient. Another part is that Social Security has become an entitlement and is only in part need based. Objections are therefore confused, treating them as if benefits are at one and the same time an exercise of private property, an entitlement regardless of need, and need based. What’s the solution? Make Social Security completely need based and adopt the Economic Democracy Act to allow people to take care of their own needs through their own efforts without undue interference by government.
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| Modern economic policy |
• Trumping the Economy. According to the experts — who are always 100% correct about why they were 100% wrong — the fears of inflation that got Trump (re) elected are only going to get worse if he implements the measures he wants. Interestingly, it wouldn’t matter who was in the Oval Office and what magic spells they employed if we had the Economic Democracy Act and there would, in theory at least, be neither inflation nor deflation.
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| Jerome Powell |
• Careful, Patient Approach. Jerome Powell cut interest rates and is now saying any further actions must be taken carefully and patiently. In other words, he has no realistic idea what effect twiddling with the interest rates will have, so he wants to go slow before making any new changes . . . especially in light of Trump’s threat to “fire” him. As you might expect, the Economic Democracy Act would solve the problem.
• Saving Anxiety. Americans are increasing the rate at which they save in response to economic uncertainty. This “over-saving” is, from a Keynesian perspective, disastrous because companies need consumers to spend, spend, spend so that the rich can get richer and richer so that they have enough money to buy more and more capital so they can create jobs so that consumers can get the income to spend, spend, spend . . . well, you get the idea. What’s the answer? First, it’s not that saving is bad (unless you’re Keynes telling people what to do), it’s how people are saving. That needs to change. People need to realize that savings equals investment, and that they will be better off if they save-invest for themselves instead of other people. Instead of accumulating past savings by cutting consumption so others can invest, they need to accumulate investments by increasing production in the future by buying capital and paying for it with what they produce in the future with the capital they purchased, that is, change from past savings to future savings. That’s the idea behind the Economic Democracy Act.
• Disappearing Jobs. A recent survey presented a list of jobs familiar to us older folks but that have virtually (or in many cases completely) disappeared. This has always been the case as society and technology advance but is increasingly so as the pace of change accelerates. The answer? Adopt the Economic Democracy Act. so that people are no longer utterly dependent on jobs and fixed benefits.
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| Yes, but where does the money come from? |
• Fixed Pension Philia. Is the traditional fixed pension dead? According to this article, no. Word on (the easy) street is that eighty percent of Americans think all workers deserve a defined benefit pension plan that could easily (and increasingly does) bankrupt the sponsoring company, not an ESOP or 401(k). What we really need is not more instances of the modern entitlement mentality, but the opportunity and means for people to be able to take care of their own needs through their own efforts, which could be done by adopting the Economic Democracy Act.
• Scandinavian Trends That Won’t Catch On. Like them or not, this list of Scandinavian customs or traditions will not catch on, whether they are good, bad, or indifferent. This has little or nothing to do with the Economic Democracy Act. . . . except that adopting it would allow people to do such things. Of course, there is the Irish wisdom that warns never to make or break a tradition, but that’s another issue and gets into the social justice aspect of the Just Third Way, which we’ve often addressed, and will again . . . but not today.
• Fake Currency Hits New High! Bitcoin, the premier cryptocurrency, has hit a “value” of $87,000. Unfortunately, if you want to know the real value of a Bitcoin, you might be in for a bit of trouble, since it’s only worth what you can fool somebody else into paying for it. You can’t eat it, drink it, or wear it, nor can you cash it in by demanding that the issuer give you the alleged value in whatever backs it, because there is nothing backing it. A rational alternative would be the monetary reforms of the Economic Democracy Act.
• The Trump Transformation. The media are full of the presumed upcoming Trump Revolution to Make America Great Again. Why is it we don’t see the Economic Democracy Act on the table? Why do we think there is going to be no effective change?
• Miniscule, Meaningless Drop
in U.S. Inflation. You probably didn’t
notice it, but consumer
prices for some items that you might not be using dropped by 0.1%, not even
a blip on the radar. For a meaningful
and significant drop in prices without any harmful side effects, adopt the
Economic Democracy Act.
• Huge Jump in Russian Inflation. Russian inflation is so bad even potatoes are becoming unaffordable, and people are shoplifting butter. If they would get rid of Putin and adopt the Economic Democracy Act, there might be a vast improvement.
• A Radical Change? Not Really. Elon Musk has what he thinks is an innovative idea to fix the monetary system: institute more of the same, only more so. He wants the federal government to take over direct instead of indirect control over money and credit so that stupid decisions can have a faster and more sweeping effect. He does not consider the possibility that maybe ordinary people can have control over money and credit by using the banking system as it was designed to be used and by adopting the Economic Democracy Act.
• The “No Buy Challenge”. In addition to the “4B movement,” some hysteria in the United States following the recent election has some people thinking of withdrawing from economic life to ensure the failure of anything Trump might do. Whether you’re for or against the president elect, however, you might want to consider doing something positive and effective instead of meaningless symbolic gestures. That is, adopt the Economic Democracy Act so the economy can run itself by the people and for the people regardless who is in office.
• Worse Than a Recession? More people in Russia are going to have to stay away from balconies and staircases. As reported in a recent article, “On Wednesday, TsMAKP [a Russian think tank tied to the (Russian) government] condemned Russia's tight monetary policy, warning that high interest rates would trigger an economic downturn. With inflation still running hot, that could create a nightmare outcome for Kremlin officials: stagflation.” You’ll never guess the solution: get rid of Putin and adopt the Economic Democracy Act.
• Boomerang and Dependent Children. According to this article, nearly half of adult children are getting financial help to make it in today’s economy. This includes those who have jobs. None of the experts, however, fail to realize the real problem, which is that a society in which most production is carried out by capital, and yet most income comes from jobs ostensible generating income from labor has a serious discontinuity between production and consumption. As Louis Kelso pointed out, if capital is displacing labor as the principal means of production, then most people need to own capital to put things back in sync. This can be done by adopting the Economic Democracy Act.
• The Experts Weigh In . . . Again. According to the experts, the usual suspects were responsible for the recent spate of inflation and thus the election of Trump. In other words, Keynesian economics is a given, and nobody really knows what to do except more of what has failed repeatedly in the past. Conspiracy theorists, for example, will blame compound interest and fractional reserve banking, neither of which they truly understand. The effect of compound interest per se in today's economy is minimal, however, if limited to actual cash put into savings or lent to others. The real impact comes from diverting funds (past savings) from consumption and into investment in new capital formation. This is true compound interest, as in a properly structured monetary system, only new money based on future savings should be used for investment instead of reinvesting unconsumed production (past savings). Reinvesting earnings causes an insufficiency of demand which in Keynesian economics is made up by having government print money not backed by anything other than its own debt (or as debt itself, which is what it would be if issued directly by the Treasury; a difference that makes no difference). Whether government issues new debt that is monetized by the central bank or issues money directly, the effect is purely inflationary. What’s the solution? The monetary reforms of 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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