This is the second half of our annual news roundup for 2024. Again, we’ve tried to pick out what seemed to be the most important news item of each week as it relates to the Just Third Way, sometimes combining two if they were related or about equally important. As always, the overall objective is to get the powers-that-be (or powers-that-are-to-be) to adopt the Economic Democracy Act:
July
• (07/05/24) Getting It Backwards. To overcome low “productivity,” Greece is going to try out increasing the work week from four days to six days for certain businesses. Aside from complaints from labor advocates and general dissatisfaction from the workforce, there is a serious problem with the program. It assumes as a given that labor is the only input to production. Thus, when “productivity” falls, you should add more labor . . . and then wonder why “productivity” falls even more! This paradox can easily be resolved by realizing human labor is not the sole factor of production and looking at the concept of productiveness instead of productivity. Both labor and capital produce, and produce in the same way, by turning things into marketable goods and services. Everything else being equal, a good or service produced by human labor is identical to that produced by technology. Technology — “capital” — is cheaper per unit of output than “labor,” however, because as technology advances, “capital” becomes more productive than “labor.” A machine might cost ten times what it costs to hire a human being, but it produces a hundred or a thousand times as much as the human being. Thus, if you define “productivity” as “output per labor hour,” you increase productivity when you remove labor, not when you add it! Increasing labor input by 50%, which is what the Greek proposal does, therefore potentially decreases productivity by a third — everything else being equal. Of course, it will not decrease by that much, as workers will produce something during the added two days, but except in labor intensive industries, it will not offset the increased costs of production as businesses add to output at increased cost and thus lower, even nagative marginal profits . . . causing them to lay off workers to increase productivity. The real solution? Replace as much human labor with machines as possible and make certain as many people as possible own the machines. That’s the idea behind the Economic Democracy Act.
• (07/12/24) Much Ado About Something. One of the first things you realize when you learn the truth about money and credit is that most of the experts in Academia and in politics have absolutely no idea about the truth about money and credit. They think money and credit are a commodity with inherent value. That is why the experts obsess about “the money supply.” Thinking of money and credit as a commodity leads to some very strange policy decisions. Frankly, things could be a lot simpler by understanding the truth about money and credit. Money is the medium by means of which I exchange what I produce for what you produce and must always represent existing value in possession of the issuer. Money and credit are derived from production, either existing or future to which a present value can be assigned. They are not things with inherent value of their own. This is one of the problems the Economic Democracy Act is designed and intended to resolve.
• (07/19/24) Can Money Really Buy Happiness? A new study has shown (yes, yet another study that proves what the researchers decided in advance) that money can, in fact, buy happiness. It seems people with adequate income are on the whole happier than those without adequate income. This is taken as proof money buys happiness. We submit for consideration the possibility that what money really buys is removal of misery that inhibits or prevents someone from being happy. All things being equal, if A and B have the same income, but A is working on becoming virtuous while B is trying to be happy, A will be happy, and B will be miserable. As philosophers though the ages have noted, virtue is true happiness, while self-gratification may lead to good feelings for a while, but then to discontent and, yes, unhappiness. What’s the real answer? Adopt the Economic Democracy Act, and educate people in the task of becoming more fully human, that is, virtuous and thus truly happy.
• (07/26/24) Attack of the Zombie Mortgages. Don’t be embarrassed if you don’t know what a zombie mortgage is. We had to look it up, too. It’s a mortgage debt a debtor might have thought was forgiven or satisfied long ago but that still exists. Lenders sometimes write off debts and sell them for a few cents on the dollar to debt collectors. Sometimes lenders stop sending statements or communicating with the debtor altogether. Years later, a debt collector reaches out to collect on the debt, reaping a return of hundreds of percent if the debtor pays up or the debt collector forecloses on the home. Not surprisingly — except to countless debtors who thought they were off the hook — debt collectors who invested in zombies are now working assiduously to collect on their gamble, and people are losing their homes, their savings, or both. This could have been avoided (and still could be forestalled) with the Homeowners Equity Corporation, a feature of the Economic Democracy Act.
August
• (08/02/24) The Experts Predict for Social Security (Again). News flash: “Americans who are currently working and paying taxes could be paying into a [Social Security] system that won’t be there when they retire.” That’s if “the system” continues along the path it has followed since its inception. But what if Kamala Harris is elected? Dennis Shirshikov, a CUNY professor of finance, economics and accounting predicts “major changes”: “I anticipate that Social Security will undergo significant reforms aimed at enhancing its sustainability and expanding benefits. Harris has shown support for measures to protect and strengthen Social Security, including proposals to increase benefits for low-income retirees and to adjust the cost-of-living adjustments (COLA) formula to better reflect the expenses faced by seniors.” So, the solution to not having enough money in the system is . . . spend more money you don’t have!!!!! Why not just adopt the Economic Democracy Act? Then you’d be talking about a real “major change,” not just playing word games.
• (08/09/24) It’s the Fed’s Fault (Again). The experts are expressing a degree of unanimity unequaled since the last time there was someone else to blame for their mistakes. It seems it’s the Federal Reserve’s fault that we are on the verge of a recession because they won’t do what the gamblers and those who rely on them want them to do. News flash: it’s not the Federal Reserve’s fault. It’s the fault of those who have been misusing the Federal Reserve and the rest of the financial system since its inception. The answer? Adopt the Economic Democracy Act.
• (08/16/24) Meeting with UACU. This past Tuesday, members of the CESJ core group met with representatives of the Ukrainian-American Concordia University, a predominantly business-oriented institution of higher education currently focused on the needs of wounded and disabled Ukrainian soldiers and the task of reintegrating them into society as positive contributors. The UACU people expressed great interest in the potential of the Just Third Way of Economic Personalism, especially the economic and financial theories of Louis Kelso and their applications. They have suggested CESJ consider conducting a webinar about Kelso’s theory and our vision for its implementation for representatives of the Academy of Science of Ukraine and UACU students, a CESJ-sponsored scholarship for the best Bachelor’s/Master’s student essay/paper on Kelso’s theory, a CESJ-sponsored scholarship for a UACU Ph.D. student who will write thesis on Kelso’s theories, CESJ participation in the annual international UACU conference with a presentation about Kelso’s Theory and its implementation, and publication of article(s) in BESLI, UACU’s international academic journal.
• (08/23/24) How Do You Define “Liberal”? Putin has decided to make Russia a “safe haven” for everyone who rejects “liberal values” . . . evidently neglecting to realize he is himself a radical liberal of the European type, and he is merely outraged at other radical liberals whose self-realized principles differ from his. Russia “has designated itself as a ‘safe haven’ for citizens of Western countries looking to escape ‘destructive neoliberal ideas’.” Why all this confusion? Aside from the fact tyranny thrives on chaos, they evidently don’t know the meaning of liberal, which is detailed in the book, Economic Personalism. If Russia really wants to champion “conservative” values, it should adopt the Economic Democracy Act.
• (08/30/24) Parents are Overstressed. According to Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, U.S. parents are so stressed they cannot function adequately or in some cases at all. The main problem seems to be money. Thus, according to Murthy, “government aid, in the form of child tax credits, universal preschool, early childhood education programs, paid family and medical leave, paid sick time and investments in social infrastructure, can help.” In cruder terms, the solution of both parties for the upcoming election seems to be to bail out American families by making them even more dependent on government than they already are . . . which caused the problem in the first place. What’s a better answer? Adopt the Economic Democracy Act. That way, families can be financially independent of government — and the government will be dependent on the citizens for its money instead of the other way around.
September
• (09/06/24) The Federal Reserve and Employment. Another Keynesian innovation is the goal of “full employment” foisted on the Fed in the ’forties. Of course, the definition of “full employment” gets adjusted for political purposes, and the whole bogus “inflation versus employment” dogma is far too much to explain and debunk here, but whatever it says or the politicians’ plans are, the employment figures are upsetting the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee (which should not even exist) to such an extent that even the so-called “conservative” members are starting to call for cutting the interest rate so Wall Street speculators can have more money to gamble with and inflation will drive up prices. This is “economic growth,” and is supposed to “create jobs” in the mystical, magical Keynesian universe. Of course, the Fed could get itself out of the whole Keynesian game by pushing for adoption of the Economic Democracy Act. And what is the Open Market Committee? This week “Yahoo! Finance” published an article purporting to describe the function and purpose of the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee. As an explanation of how the Open Market Committee actually works today, the piece is very good. Unfortunately, the Open Market Committee is a Keynesian innovation with virtually no relation to what the Federal Reserve was designed and intended to do. The Fed was never intended to finance government, but to provide “accommodation” for the private sector. Open market operations were never intended to deal in government securities as a usual thing, just retire government debt and get rid of the deficit backing the reserve currency. After that, the sole function of open market operations was to deal in the money market to ensure there was sufficient money in the economy for day-to-day transactions. The discount window was intended to provide longer-term adjustments to the money supply by rediscounting qualified agricultural, commercial, and industrial securities. All this is explained in the Economic Democracy Act.
• (09/13/24) Good Things from Bad Things. A woman has made a fortune by investing in Detroit real estate. She bought very cheap, did a lot of hands-on work, and spent significant money on renovation. Clearly, economic chaos favors anyone with the resources and ability to take advantage of it. The problem is, an economy should operate for everyone, not just the favored few. For example, had Detroit implemented the Homeowners Equity Corporation, everyone could benefit from buying low, renovating, and moving in, rather than flipping the properties for profit. Overall, of course, this and many other problems (although not all of them) could be solved or ameliorated by adopting the Economic Democracy Act.
• (09/20/24) “The Power of the Pension.” According to a recent article in Yahoo! Finance, “A pension is a golden ticket to guaranteed retirement income until the day you die, no matter when that happens. Pensions have become nearly extinct to the general population, typically reserved for government and public service workers.” The fact that such “golden tickets” are “reserved for government and public service workers” is one of the effects of the decline of the private sector and loss of individual sovereignty over the past couple of centuries or so in favor of government control. Ultimately, of course, the result is to make as many as possible of the people totally dependent on government, or (since a condition of dependency is a euphemism for slavery) a slave of the state. What is the solution? Restore individual sovereignty by returning economic power to people by adopting the Economic Democracy Act.
• (09/27/24) Rabbi Herzel Kranz, R.I.P. We were saddened early this week to learn of the death of long-time key CESJ member Rabbi Herzel Kranz. Rabbi was a member of the CESJ advisory board, the “Board of Counselors,” and was instrumental in ensuring that both meetings with His Holiness Pope John Paul II came off. An Orthodox Rabbi in Silver Spring, Maryland, he was a member, co-founder and Counselor of CESJ. He was the Founder and Rabbi of the Silver Spring Jewish Center with 300 members, as well as the Founder and Dean of the Hebrew Day School of Montgomery County. Rabbi Kranz was instrumental in the formation of the 1986 Presidential Task Force on Project Economic Justice, helping to bring together Representatives Mike Barnes and Phil Crane, and Senators Russell Long, Chris Dodd, Paul Laxalt, Richard Lugar, and Steve Symms, to co-sponsor the legislation mandating the Task Force. He was appointed Counselor to the Task Force which presented its report to President Reagan, Pope John Paul II in 1987. In CESJ’s 1987 delegation to the Vatican, Rabbi Kranz used “the power of the yarmulke” to persuade then-Archbishop Achille Silvestrini to arrange for the delegation a private audience with the Pope. Rabbi Kranz has strong ties to the Orthodox Jewish community in the U.S. and Israel and was a major mover in the American branch of the Likud Party. He will be greatly missed.
October
• (10/04/24) Assets But No Wealth. For too long Americans have been brainwashed into thinking their homes are investments. No, housing is a consumption expense, not an investment. That’s why it is a very bad sign when people are borrowing on the equity in their homes to pay down other consumer debt. Talk about robbing Peter to pay Paul. The solution is to cut expenses and work to enhance income, not to maintain your lifestyle by cashing in on necessities to pay for luxuries. That’s a short-term solution, however. For the mid- to long-term, the solution is to adopt the Economic Democracy Act so people can generate sufficient income and build investment assets that really are investments instead of mortgaging (literally) their futures. What might also help is “Nudge Theory.” And what is “Nudge Theory”? According to the experts, the easier it is to spend money, the more likely you are to spend it. That’s why “nudge theory” — that small changes in behavior have big results . . . for good or ill — can be useful in the short-term to start getting America’s personal debt problem under control. And government’s as well; if government had to tax to get its money, it wouldn’t spend anywhere near as much (nor could it) as it does when it can monetize deficits by emitting debt. On the plus side, making it harder to spend your money can stop the cash hemorrhaging until new revenue sources are found . . . such as adopting the Economic Democracy Act, and then teaching people how to spend.
• (10/11/24) Sports for Sale. The Pohlad family, which has owned the Minnesota Twins baseball team since 1984, is selling the team. Whatever the reasons for selling, there is one reason not given for buying and one strategy. If, as the Pohlad family declares, the team is an integral part of the community, why not sell the team to the players and the community? Something similar was done with the Green Bay Packers football team ’way back when, but it is not a perfect model and can be improved upon to give the ostensible owners (i.e., players and community members) control and income. Perhaps the principals involved might want to take a look at the Economic Democracy Act, and possibly come up with some creative ideas.
• (10/18/24) Another Problem of Homes as Investment. An asset that doesn’t self-liquidate is not a true investment, but a speculation. That is why it is a more than a little worrying that so-called “middle class” buyers are purchasing homes they can barely afford. Forgetting they are purchasing housing that might have a significant resale value once they’re no longer using it, they behave as if they are purchasing an investment that will increase their productive wealth instead of endangering the wealth they might have and makes their financial position extremely precarious. If people are truly concerned about investing for the future, they should purchase or rent housing within their means and push for the adoption of the Economic Democracy Act, which is geared toward empowering everyone with the ability to acquire self-liquidating capital assets, that is, pays for itself and then generates income for the investor, not become a money pit.
• (10/25/24) Time Again to Rethink Retirement. What with the economy being the way it is for normal people (we’re ignoring the wealthy gamblers on Wall Street), there is more buzz about “returning to work” after “retirement.” On top of trying to convince employers to hire you after you’re over the age of 60, finding a job that doesn’t make you barf, possible taxation of Social Security benefits, etc., etc., etc., there’s the realization that it’s all so unnecessary, or would be if Congress had adopted the Economic Democracy Act. It may be time once again to think about the concept of retirement. Instead of “saving for retirement,” why not “invest for life”? Concentrate on obtaining enough capital ownership to generate an adequate and secure income for people at any age, and people will be able to work when they want to, not when they need to, regardless how old or young they are. And again, with “Homes as Investment.” As regular readers of these news notes are aware, we do not view primary dwellings as investments. They are a necessary consumer expense, shelter, that just happens in many cases turns out to have a substantial residual value if purchased instead of rented. That is why, although we strongly advocate home ownership over renting, we are irritated at promoting home ownership as an investment. Now, that being said, there is a way both to make home ownership much more feasible by treating it “as if” it was a capital investment, and to manage it the same way — up to a point. It’s called the “Homeowners Equity Corporation” or “HEC” and it’s an integral part of the Economic Democracy Act (“EDA”). Interestingly, both the HEC and the EDA could easily be implemented in Ukraine to finance the rebuilding of the country without the necessity of government debt or foreign loans or grants.
November
• (11/01/24) They Want a Defined Benefit Plan! Boeing workers on strike are demanding a restoration of their old defined benefit pension plan . . . which was bankrupting the sponsoring company. This sets up something of a doomsday scenario or a “be careful what you pray for” situation, for if the company goes bankrupt, the pension plan is worthless, and it gets turned over to the Pension Benefits Guarantee Corporation . . . which itself faces bankruptcy if too many companies go bankrupt from being saddled with defined benefit pension plans. Believe it or not, once upon a time, it was up to the individual to prepare for retirement, not the employer or the government. This could be the case again by adopting the Economic Democracy Act.
• (11/08/24) Marriage or Wedding? Once upon a time, people got married to build a life together, have a family, all that sort of thing. The emphasis was on things like dowries (money the bride brought in), marriage settlements (money the groom assigned to the bride), houses, investments, jobs, all that sort of thing to ensure the marriage was at least on a financially sound footing, and the husband and wife could fight about more important things, such as whose in-laws were eviler, why the pie didn’t taste like mother used to make, or why are you wearing that again? The wedding, while not exactly an afterthought, was just the entrance into the stadium, not even the kickoff, and certainly not the main event. Then came the Royal Wedding of Queen Elizabeth II and, with all due respect to Her Majesty, she skrood all of us by raising the bar a little bit too high, creating generations of “Bridezillas” and fantasy wedding entitlements. Too many people nowadays put all the emphasis on the wedding itself and give little if any thought to the reason for getting married. Gone are the days when Marryin’ Sam the Preacher Man would get y’all hitched in a jiffy with his thirty-five cent special, and even supply the boo-kay fo’ fifteen cents extry. Now some people spend more on a wedding than they make in a year, and prospective brides make unrealistic demands of prospective grooms (and probably the other way around, too, although they don’t usually make the news). Case in point: the prospective bride whose demands were so outrageous the prospective groom decided to bag it. This item is a subtle suggestion that people might want to return to reality and focus on future finances for the family, not twinkly trinkets for the twits, and work for the adoption of the Economic Democracy Act.
• (11/15/24) 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.
• (11/22/24) Trump and Social Security. Trump has proposed two non-reforms to Social Security: 1) Leave it alone, and 2) Stop taxation of benefits. Either one is grossly inadequate, together they are . . . okay, grossly inadequate. Something has to be done. That something should logically be to adopt the Economic Democracy Act, which as “The Capital Homestead Act” was pitched as a way to save Social Security. It’s still a valid and viable option.
• (11/29/24) Truth Be Told Newsletter is Back. After a six-year hiatus, the “Truth Be Told” newsletter is back. This is both significant and useful for the Just Third Way of Economic Personalism. The newsletter is put out for a “Dominican Province” and is very religious in tone, but also publishes a great deal of material relating to economic and social justice. Keep in mind that Thomas Aquinas, whose philosophy is integrated into the Just Third Way and is the foundation of Catholic social teaching, was a Dominican. Read if for the philosophy (at least that is consistent with the Just Third Way), not the faith-based material (unless that is what you’re after), and add it to the momentum for adopting the Economic Democracy Act.
December
• (12/06/24) Wrong Way to Restore a Currency. Trump is threatening to impose 100% tariff on any nation that refuses to use the U.S. Dollar as its international reserve currency. This is not the way to ensure the U.S. Dollar remains the principal global reserve currency, but to undermine the stability of the global economy. The way to go is to restore the soundness of the dollar by implementing the monetary reforms of the Economic Democracy Act, and making it advantageous for people and countries to use the U.S. Dollar, not to try to impose it coercively.
• (12/13/24) Imprimatur. The important news this week (at least from a Just Third Way perspective) is the granting of a Nihil obstat and imprimatur to CESJ’s 2020 book, Economic Personalism: Property, Power and Justice for Every Person. The notice has not yet been added to the book file, e-book or print version, but will be, soon. We will post a notice as soon as it has been added. Note that the Nihil obstat and Imprimatur are official declarations a book or pamphlet is (at least so far as the Catholic Church is concerned) free of doctrinal or moral error. No implication is contained therein that those who have granted the Nihil obstat or Imprimatur agree with the contents, opinions, or statements expressed. It is NOT an endorsement, and cannot be taken as such, although that is the meaning to many people. In any event, the book can be used by anybody of any faith or philosophy with the assurance that, while they may not agree with what is said, it does not contradict the official position of the Catholic Church. This is useful, since even many non-Christians accept the Catholic Church’s position as a moral authority, without believing a single one of the Catholic Church’s purely religious teachings. So, we are now assured the Economic Democracy Act doesn’t contradict the Catholic Church’s moral teachings, even if the pope himself did not agree with the specific economic program proposed (and Pope John Paul II personally encouraged the work of CESJ, as did President Ronald Reagan).
• 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 second half of the year as reported in our weekly News from the Network. 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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