Yes, once again we have a collection of news items which seem the same only more so. Admittedly, it’s a little discouraging to continue reporting incidents and occurrences which would not even be blips on the radar if any country in the world adopted the Economic Democracy Act, but here goes:
• Saving Social Security. Despite all the political rhetoric and the emotion involved — not to mention the misconceptions about the system floating around (some of them deliberately instilled to make the system acceptable, such as “It’s ‘your’ money”) — the underlying problem with the U.S. Social Security system isn’t going to go away or solve itself: more money is paid out than is coming in. According to an article in Fortune magazine, the system has significantly less than a decade before it goes belly-up and needs a bailout. As the article states, “Social Security is six years from insolvency. That’s not a projection buried in an actuarial footnote—it’s the opening finding of a new report from the Penn Wharton Budget Model (PWBM), released Thursday, which puts the program’s Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund on track to run dry by 2032. And the fix lawmakers will likely reach for first—raising taxes—may be precisely the wrong move. . . . The mechanism is straightforward: Tell Americans their Social Security checks will be smaller, and they’ll save more on their own. Smetters and Shin call this the “incentive to save.” More private savings means more capital available for productive investment, which drives up wages. By 2060, wages are projected to be 5.7% higher under Option E versus just 1.6% higher under Option A.” We hate to say it, but all the options are WRONG ON ALL COUNTS. People won’t save more, they will spend the “extra” money as they always have. Past savings won’t spur capital investment but inhibit it. The only solution is to adopt the Economic Democracy Act.
• Crumbling Economic Foundation. Back in the days when people had incandescent light bulbs, a bulb would occasionally suddenly burn very bright and then burn out completely. Similarly, as reported in an article in The Street, “The U.S. economy appears to be resilient on the surface, but a new UBS report shows that the foundation underneath is remarkably less stable. UBS economist Jonathan Pingle and his team warn that the economy is running on a narrow engine in AI investment, while broad swaths of the economy remain sluggish. Consequently, the next few years might be a lot bumpier than the headline numbers suggest. ‘Despite the headline resilience, sources of growth are narrow,’ Pingle wrote.” In “laymen’s terms,” it means that — in Pingle’s opinion — the U.S. economy is being kept above water by focusing on a few shiny red wagons owned by a few wealthy individuals while the productive sector in which more people participate is wallowing and in danger of sinking. Okay, that might be mixing a few metaphors or something, but the fact remains that as reported in Fortune magazine, mega amounts of money are being poured into AI while fewer employers are hiring, hoping to replace human beings with machines . . . who (as Walter Reuther noted) don’t buy what is being produced. In other words, the very thing presumably accounting for economic growth is the very thing undermining it in the foreseeable future. The only answer is to ensure that the workers (and, eventually, all people) being displaced by AI own the AI that is displacing them, and that can be done by adopting the Economic Democracy Act.
• Worse Than Inflation. We might disagree on a few technicalities, but as reported in the Business Insider, the Bank of America is arguing the main danger from the Iran War is not inflation, but higher energy prices: “Rising inflation has emerged as the market's biggest fear from the Iran war, but Bank of America analysts think there's a more disruptive impact investors may be overlooking. . . . Bank of America analysts said they think the likelihood of the conflict extending into the second quarter is just as high as a quick resolution. ‘The most important factor for the global economy is how persistent energy and uncertainty shocks are,’ they wrote. And yet, despite the relatively high odds of a longer war, the market is still largely treating the event as a transitory shock.” In other words, instead of “demand-pull” inflation fueled by runaway government monetization of deficits, we should be worried about “cost-push” inflation fueled by runaway government power grabs and delusions of world conquest. Aside from governments not printing and spending money like drunken sailors on leave and going out and starting incomprehensible wars, what’s the solution? How about adopting the Economic Democracy Act. The EDA would work directly on reducing and then eliminating monetization of government deficits, and indirectly to provide funding into alternative energy sources.
• A Lost Opportunity. Admittedly, we have no intention whatsoever of taking advantage of this cost reduction, no matter how cheap it gets, but the U.S. government is missing a golden (pun intended) opportunity to make a buck off the current dissatisfaction with the current administration and the embarrassment, even humiliation it has caused for American citizens. And what is “it”? The fee to renounce one’s U.S. citizenship. As reported by the Associated Press, “The State Department has slashed by about 80% the fee for Americans to formally renounce their U.S. citizenship. After years of legal battles with several groups representing Americans wanting to give up their citizenship, the department on Friday published a final rule in the Federal Register that reduces the cost from $2,350 to $450.” The way things are going, it would actually make sense to raise it, or (better) why not offer people who want to renounce their citizenship the opportunity to trade even-up with people who want to become U.S. citizens? This would be of great benefit to lower-income immigrants who can’t afford the “golden visa” entry. Better yet, adopt the Economic Democracy Act in every country in the world so people can live wherever they want without having to make choices based on anything other than genuine preference.
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| “Diamond Jim” Brady |
• Let ’Em Eat Cake. As “Diamond Jim” Brady unapologetically once said in response to criticism of his lavish lifestyle during the First Gilded Age, “Hell, I’m rich.” Most of the fun — if that’s what you want to call it — in being rich is being able to lord it over the less advantaged, at least materially. Of course, that comes with a price. The rich are “supposed” to engage in philanthropy and “pay it back” at least enough to purchase a little envy avoidance. That’s now passé, at least according to Peter Thiel as reported in Fortune magazine. As Fortune says, “Peter Thiel isn’t just skeptical of the Giving Pledge—he’s been actively working to dismantle it from within, telling signatories to walk away from their commitments and calling the organization an ‘Epstein-adjacent, fake boomer club.’ In an interview with the New York Times, Thiel claimed the Giving Pledge, or the philanthropic campaign to get the world’s wealthiest to commit to giving away 50% or more of their wealth, has fallen out of style. ‘They got an incredible number of people to sign up those first four or five years, and it somehow has really run out of energy,’ he said. ‘I don’t know if the branding is outright negative, but it feels way less important for people to join.’” Of course, this is only to be expected, but there is a way to neutralize the power the rich have over others without neutralizing the rich. That is to empower every child, woman, and man by adopting the Economic Democracy Act.
• Economic Security. In keeping with the shifting of the American Dream from upward mobility to stability, as reported in USA Today, the emphasis in many recent news stories is how Americans feel increasingly insecure, socially, politically, and — of course — economically. As inflation, the effects of advancing technology (especially AI), and recent actions of the current administration make their impact felt, people feel more insecure than ever before. As reported in CBS News, “Roughly half of Americans fall short of the annual income needed to cover their basic needs, according to new research. A U.S. family with children needs about $145,000 in income to be considered economically secure, according to a March 16 report from the Urban Institute. About 49% of Americans live below that financial threshold, the nonpartisan think tank found. . . . The research comes as many Americans continue to feel the pinch of rising prices, with even some six-figure households saying they are struggling to pay for basics like utilities and health care.” We won’t beat an almost-dead horse on this, but simply point out the obvious solution: adopt the Economic Democracy Act.
• Economy Strong but Delicate. In the comic opera Patience, or, Bunthorne’s Bride, the chorus of lady admirers of Reginald Bunthorne (an aesthetic, fleshly poet) are chastised for giving in to weakness, whereupon one of them excuses the group by saying yes, but the weakness is so strong! Something equally contradictory might very well be said of the U.S. economy with its focus on ephemeral speculative gains instead of genuinely productive activity. As reported in an article in Yahoo! Finance, “As DataTrek’s Jessica Rabe wrote in a note this week, the recent spike in oil prices ‘will certainly’ upend the low hire-low fire dynamic ‘if it persists long enough to cause recession concerns among public and private businesses.’ The ratio of job openings to unemployed workers has fallen sharply since June, dipping below 1x, meaning that there are more people looking for work than there are open positions. At 0.9x, it’s still above the long-run average of 0.7x, she noted. ‘While this ratio does not yet signal a labor market/consumer-led recession, it has come down quickly and bears watching in the months ahead, given rising oil prices and recession worries.’” No kiddin’. We won’t harp on this, but the only viable solution to the constant “rethinking” of the U.S. (or any other) economy is to adopt the Economic Democracy Act.
• The Trump Tariff Trauma, Part . . . Whatever. While it remains a complete mystery to anyone who knows anything substantive about the Just Third Way of Economic Personalism, the current administration remains absolutely wedded to the idea tariffs are a good idea . . . although for whom is increasingly unclear. As reported by the Associated Press, “Jay Allen is a fan of President Donald Trump, and voted for him on the belief that the Republican would cut taxes and trim regulations, helping his manufacturing business in northeast Arkansas. But the tariffs at the core of Trump’s economic agenda have wreaked havoc on his company, Allen Engineering Corp., which makes industrial equipment used to install, finish and pave concrete. The import taxes have raised the costs of engines, steel, gearboxes and clutches made abroad that Allen needs to build power trowels that can sell for up to $100,000 each. Allen’s experience embodies a growing body of evidence that the tariffs that Trump said would help American factories are, in fact, squashing many of them. The problem could get worse as the administration scrambles to craft new tariffs to replace the emergency import taxes that the Supreme Court ruled illegal in February.” Thus, it seems apparent that instead of making the American economy great again, current administrative policies are directed to destroying its viability as quickly as possible. Our recommendation, of course, is to scrap the whole thing as soon as possible instead of attacking it, and replacing it with the Economic Democracy Act. It’s about time we had a little sanity in economic or any other kind of policy.
• Bravo for Trump. We finally found something we could praise President Trump for . . . up to a point, and only for sixty days. He has issued a waiver of the Jones Act for two months (whether he has the right to do this is another issue, and Congress might want to raise a few questions . . .). And what is “the Jones Act”? It’s a law that says cargo carried between U.S. ports must be carried in U.S. vessels. And why is this important? Because it means that U.S. vessels have a legal monopoly on all cargo carried between, say, New York and San Francisco, and from San Juan, Puerto Rico and New Orleans, or anywhere else. That raises costs dramatically, and pretty much shuts out Puerto Rico — which is ideally situated as a trade hub between Europe and Africa and North and South America and East Asia via the Panama Canal . . . but the Jones Act makes it far more expensive to use Puerto Rico than cheaper, so instead of being a magnet for international trade and bringing prosperity to the island, the island is kept poor instead of generating immense wealth. How would the Economic Democracy Act solve this? Perhaps not directly, but it would certainly make the counterproductive nature of the Jones Act obvious.
• Doubling (Down on) the Debt. Yes, we know that the principal architect of the modern global financial system, John Maynard Keynes, it didn’t matter how big a national debt might grow, because it’s just money we owe ourselves . . . except for the trillions of dollars of debt held by foreign governments and individuals, of course, which the government owes to them. That is why the great increase in the U.S. national debt — almost doubling since President Trump promised to reduce it — might be something to excite a little bit of concern. As reported in an article in Fortune magazine, “The United States national debt crossed $39 trillion for the first time Tuesday, arriving at the grim milestone less than five months after it first hit $38 trillion in late October—a pace of accumulation that budget watchdogs and academic economists are now calling, with unusual unanimity, ‘unsustainable.’” Rather than rant and rave about how a government shouldn’t be printing and spending money like a drunken sailor on leave, we will content ourselves with noting that the obvious solution is as we have reported on the blog already countless times: adopt the Economic Democracy Act.
• The Cost of Buying into the System. As the American Dream has eroded and evolved, the cost of enjoying that dream, or even being able to get in the running has increased. It used to be the American Dream was having a farm or a business. Then it was having a home and a good job. Now it’s having a place to live . . . and that has become increasingly expensive. As reported in an article in realtor.com, “It's not secret that housing is expensive, but what’s less apparent is the widening financial gap between existing homeowners and those looking to gain a foothold in the market. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. housing market has fractured into two, mirroring the broader K-shaped economy. On one side are the new buyers, paying a record premium to enter the market; on the other are existing homeowners, whose housing costs—as a share of income—are at near-record lows.” While it doesn’t solve the underlying problem — lack of adequate income as advancing technology and concentrated ownership of capital displaces human beings from producing marketable goods and services — something like the Homeowners Equity Corporation (HEC) . . . or the HEC itself — could go a long way toward alleviating some of the symptoms. Of course, solving the problem would involve something like the Economic Democracy Act (EDA) . . . or the EDA itself.
Book Department
• The Wealth of America. Under "Coming Attractions" we have CESJ stalwart Jim Aulenti and his upcoming volume on (obviously) "the wealth of America." Jim is engaged in putting the finishing touches on the work, and we'll keep you posted. Jim is exploring aspects of what constitutes wealth and how it is measured with an eye toward integrating his findings into the proposals of Louis O. Kelso and the Just Third Way of Economic Personalism.
• 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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