Boo. Happy Halloween, whatever a “happy” Halloween consists of. You want something really scary, though, take a look at today’s economy without the Economic Democracy Act:
• Late in Life Layoffs. If the economy is in such good shape, why are people, especially long-term employees, being laid off just short of full retirement? Yes, they qualify for “retirement” under law, but without the required full time in, they won’t get full benefits. As noted in an article in Moneywise magazine, “What do you do when your 60th birthday rolls around and you haven’t saved much, if anything, for retirement? Image Ryan, a single man from Little Rock, Ark., who found himself in this situation shortly after he lost his job during a company restructuring. He was looking at two years before he could claim Social Security benefits — and a reduced benefit at that — and he had no idea how he could make ends meet for another 20 years or more.” Basically, such an individual is, well, he is not paperclipped, but something else. What is the solution? Adopt the Economic Democracy Act.
• Not a Sweet Deal. Due to fewer people getting a sugar jag during the decreasing times when they are going out since Covid, candy distributors are in trouble, with one of them, Candy Warehouse, filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. As reported in The Street, the company’s revenue has declined 20% and is expected to decline by 50% in the current year. “Founded in 1998, Candy Warehouse is a woman-owned, minority family business that specializes in online bulk candy and snack product sales from its warehouse in Carrollton, Texas. Candy Warehouse sells candy to several types of businesses, including hotels and resorts, hospitals and healthcare facilities, zoos and theme parks, restaurants and cafes, candy shops and retailers, and event planners. It also sells to private individuals, according to its website.” We’re not sure immediately how this could be resolved by adopting the Economic Democracy Act, but somehow it should be.
• Living Dangerously, Buffett-Style. According to The Motley Fool, Warren Buffett things stocks are incredibly overvalued . . . and then gives recommendations for buying three that he allegedly likes, but that’s not the takeaway we think is important, which is that stocks are overvalued, period. As the article explains, “If you're buying stocks hand over fist right now, you’re living dangerously. At least, that’s what Warren Buffett would probably tell you. The legendary investor stated in a Fortune article published in 2001 that if the ratio of total stock market capitalization to gross national product (GNP) approaches 200%, investors are ‘playing with fire.’ This ratio is now known as the Buffett indicator, with gross domestic product (GDP) replacing GNP. Guess what the level of the Buffett indicator is right now? An all-time high of 219%.” The solution? The process of share valuation needs to shift from speculation to true investment, and that can be done by adopting the Economic Democracy Act.
• Why Are Beef, Bananas, and (Coffee) Beans Increasing in Price? CBS News has noticed that some prices are going up. Yeah, this is news, right? As said an article, “For evidence that the cost of food in the U.S. remains hard to stomach for many households, look no further than the price of bananas, beef and coffee. Banana prices were up 6.9% in September from a year ago, ground beef has risen 12.9% and roasted coffee has jumped an eye-watering 18.9%, according to the most recent Consumer Price Index data for September. And now for the bad news. ‘One of the questions that I'm asked a lot is, when are prices coming down? And my answer is simple: never,’ Phil Lempert, food industry analyst and editor of SupermarketGuru, told CBS News. ‘The best that we can hope for is stabilization.’” Why? “There are a mix of factors, ranging from the impact of climate change on crop harvests and U.S. tariffs on imports to the simple laws of economics.” It’s the so-called laws of economics — meaning Keynesian economics — that are the real underlying problem. In Keynesianism, inflation is used as a useful tool to impose government control rather than seen as a problem. The solution is to get rid of Keynesian economics altogether and adopt the Economic Democracy Act.
• Are You Feeling Tense? Yes, people seem more than a little irritable these days and stress is at an all-time high. According to CNN, there’s an economic reason for all this bad feeling. “A collective angst is taking root. Maybe you feel it watching the news, scrolling social media, standing in line at the grocery checkout. Something’s off, and maybe it’s been that way for a while, but it hasn’t always been this tense, right? While there are myriad reasons for our individual anxieties, there are also economic realities underpinning our agita[tion]. Some call it a K-shaped economy, in which the wealthy are getting richer and the poor are becoming worse off. None of that is especially new, but what makes this moment different is the utter flimsiness of it all. The sense — amplified by tech outages, a government shutdown and volatile markets — that we’re just one slip-up away from calamity.” If you haven’t already guessed, the obvious solution is to adopt the Economic Democracy Act.
• The Great Wealth Transfer Bonanza. A very wealthy generation is getting ready to start dying off, and governments are licking their chops over the potential of inheritance taxes to resolve the growing national debt problem. They’re delusional, of course, but that doesn’t stop them from thinking that they won’t spend all tax revenue and keep running up the debt as fast as they can. As stated in an article in Fortune magazine, “If you’re eyeing the $80 trillion promise of the Great Wealth Transfer and wondering what it may do for your personal finances, you’re not the only one. Governments are asking themselves the same, according to UBS. The eye-watering sums due to change hands via inheritance in the coming decades, will change the financial fortunes of millions of people. But it could also help rectify the fiscal trajectories of some of the world’s most advanced nations. Those funds, UBS says, could be used to balance the books for countries with high levels of unsustainable national debt.” Yeah, right. No, the only solution is to address the problem at its source and adopt the Economic Democracy Act.
• Trusting Social Security. According to an article in “The 19th” (to which we’re tempted to ask, “The 19th what?”), older Americans, especially women, no longer trust Social Security . . . meaning (of course) that they don’t really trust the government which stands behind the system. As the article (okay, the author of the article) states, “There are few constants in American politics, but one of them has been older Americans’ faith in Social Security. That might be changing for some, including older women, according to recent focus groups hosted by AARP. ‘They’ll find a way to take it from you,’ Dorothy B., a 74-year-old Democrat from North Carolina, said during one of the focus group sessions, held this month as part of the organization’s ongoing research into the priorities and concerns of women 50 and older. . . . ‘I think it’s definitely going to be reduced,’ agreed Claudia C., a 65-year-old Democrat from Washington, who said she decided to receive her Social Security benefits earlier than she might have otherwise as a result.” The solution, of course, is to reform the system, as was the rationale for developing what became known as the Economic Democracy Act in the first place.
• 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 (now with an imprimatur), 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., 52 or more copies) at the wholesale price, send an email to info@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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