Quite a bit about how AI is replacing human labor from the production process and none of the so-called experts or the powers-that-be appear to be understanding the implications of this. In the Keynesian universe, all production is due to human labor . . . but what do you do if human labor is completely removed from the production process? Do we eliminate the excess people? Or turn people into the owners of the technology that is replacing them? The latter is the solution in the Economic Democracy Act:
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent
• Capitalist Socialism? Socialist Capitalism? Given the fact many people cannot define either capitalism or socialism in any meaningful manner, it’s probably not surprising President Trump is now talking about State ownership of the means of production. After all, he doesn’t understand tariffs, either. As reported in Yahoo! Finance, “On Tuesday Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC that the administration was exploring converting Intel’s funding from the Biden-era CHIPS Act into equity aimed at stabilizing the company’s US manufacturing business.” Here’s a wild and crazy idea: why not open up Intel to real public financing by adopting the Economic Democracy Act? What is the justification for the State owning anything? This would seem to be yet another questionable idea from the current administration.
• More On the Chipotle’s Robot Chefs. Yes, we noted this last week, but this popped up from one of our readers, so we decided to include it. Again, the solution is to adopt the Economic Democracy Act.
• More AI, Fewer Jobs . . . Again. AI seems to be going through white collar employment like, er, you-know-what through a goose. As reported by The Business Insider, “The head of JPMorgan's consumer and community business predicted in May that AI will reduce the number of employees in its operations division by 10%. That same month, the CEO of Klarna said that the company's investments in AI has already driven the company's headcount to shrink by 40%. And the CEO of Ford — a company that employs tens of thousands of white-collar professionals — declared that AI will wipe out ‘literally half’ of all white-collar jobs.” The solution, of course, is to adopt the Economic Democracy Act, so actual human beings can have an income that doesn’t rely on a wage system job that doesn’t exist.
• Deported Labor. The problem with the “Guilty Until Proven Innocent” ICE raids is twofold. 1) People are being arrested who aren’t guilty and without due process for those who may be guilty of something. 2) People who are not guilty of anything and are in the United States legally are not going out in public, showing up for their jobs, or even attending religious services for fear of being rounded up, thrown into a concentration camp, and deported. The situation has gotten so bad even so-called experts in the Dismal Science of Economics are becoming concerned it could have an adverse effect on the economy . . . as if decades of Keynesian lunacy weren’t already enough. They are claiming inflation could rise by 4% due to the massive deportations. According to Fortune magazine, “[Moody’s chief economist Mark Zandi] says if Trump continues deporting immigrants at the current rate, inflation will go from 2.5% to somewhere close to 4% ‘by the time it hits its peak early next year.’ Zandi says his stark prediction is based on recent inflation data. ‘Foreign-born labor force is declining, and the overall labor force has gone flat since the beginning of the year,’ he added. ‘That’s causing tightening in a lot of markets, adding to costs and inflation.’” It also doesn’t help any when employers can’t find workers who will work for what they can afford to pay. The solution? How about stopping the weird assault on groups and adopting the Economic Democracy Act.
• Big Stock Domination “Done.” Ironically reported by one of the biggest of the big financial stocks, the Bank of America, “the era of the biggest stocks dominating markets ‘may be done’.” This, of course, relates only to the speculators and gamblers on Wall Street and not the real economy. It might, however, be a signal that there could be a shift to the real economy, which is not dominated by a few large companies, but by much smaller enterprises. Of course, what is really needed is a domination of the real economy over the secondary market, not a domination of the gamblers, big or small, over anything. This could be achieved by adopting the Economic Democracy Act.
• Troubling Inflation Data. Sad to say, economists are “on edge” about the inflation data from July . . . assuming it hasn’t been manipulated for political purposes. According to Yahoo! Finance, “Massive downward revisions in July’s jobs report fueled concerns that the labor market is softening too quickly, strengthening the case for rate cuts. But the hotter-than-anticipated inflation data could suggest the need for more restraint.” Well . . . okay, but what is being restrained? Evidently, the solution (at least according to Lord Keynes) is to stifle productivity and entrepreneurship by concentrating wealth and raising the costs of production. What’s the real solution? Adopt the Economic Democracy Act.
• Whether You Trust the Data or Not. Evidently throwing temper tantrums and commanding that things get better doesn’t work. Just ask King Chanute. As for the United States, as reported in Fortune magazine, “For decades, statistics that came directly from the U.S. government, especially from agencies like the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), have long been the gold standard for measuring the health of the American economy. But this trust has been shaken by recent events, including substantial downward revisions to jobs data, bruising political accusations, and the unceremonious dismissal of Erika McEntarfer, the BLS’s top official, at the beginning of the month. The resulting uncertainty has left many Americans asking: If official government data can’t be trusted, how can you know if the economy is struggling?” Well (according to Fortune), 1) Labor market conditions that don’t rely on official statistics, 2) Consumer behavior and social signals, 3) Business activity, 4) Alternative and composite data, and 5) Public mood and media reporting. We’re not sure how the Economic Democracy Act would resolve this problem, but it would do something.
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| Ernest Hemmingway |
• Habits of Wealthy People. “The rich are different,” as F. Scott Fitzgerald said, to which Ernest Hemmingway purportedly replied, “Yes, they have more money.” They also have different ways of looking at and using money, as this article on Medium relates. What are the eight habits? 1) They prioritize ownership over consumption, 2) They treat money like a game — and they want to win, 3) They pay for expertise without hesitation, 4) They obsess over time, not just money, 5) They talk about money openly — but strategically, 6) They spend heavily on learning, 7) They detach status from spending, 8) They plan for generations — not just next year. Many of these money habits could be built by adopting the Economic Democracy Act, so why isn’t it being adopted?
• Another HEC of an Argument. The problem, of course, is that lacking ownership of capital or any chance of becoming a capital owner without years of reducing consumption by unrealistic amounts, many Americans have been led to believe that they can leverage the value of their home, buying more than they can really afford in the hope that the value will rise and they can “flip” the home for a profit to cover the increased cost . . . whereupon they go and “invest” the profits in another home, buying more than they can afford in the hope of repeating the maneuver. Unfortunately, as has happened too many times in the past (there is a good reason why the popular image of a haunted house is an overbuilt and overpriced Victorian monstrosity from the early 1890s — people bought houses they couldn’t afford and left town in the night when the mortgages went underwater). It’s happening again, just as it did in the early 2000s (and 1890s). People are making “huge gambles” buying houses they can’t afford in the hope of making a profit on them. The solution? How about the Homeowners Equity Corporation (HEC)? It’s a part of the Economic Democracy Act.
• Yet Another Bad Idea. Or at least not a very good one. Goldman Sachs thinks there will be “a stablecoin gold rush, driven by new regulations and massive potential for payment market expansion. Stablecoins, which must be backed by U.S. dollars or Treasuries, could boost demand for government bonds, though some argue this mostly redistributes money, rather than increasing the net demand for debt.” In other words, “Stablecoins” are essentially warehouse receipts for U.S. currency or U.S. government debt . . . which translates into a currency backed by debt which is backed by debt which in some cases is already backing other debt. You see, the U.S. dollar as a reserve currency is backed by government debt, so when a Stablecoin is backed by U.S. dollars, those dollars are backed by U.S. government debt. Well, at least it’s backed by something instead of nothing. Of course, it’s possible to get away from the artificial idea you must have money before you have anything else by adopting the Economic Democracy Act.
• White Collar Robots. In a far from surprising move, Morgan Stanley says that AI will cut $1 trillion from the budgets of S&P 500 companies . . . by reducing the need for human workers. As the report in Fortune magazine states, “The Wall Street bank estimates widescale deployment of so-called agentic AI software and embodied AI humanoid robotics could generate $920 billion in net annual benefits for companies in the S&P 500. The lion’s share of those savings, analysts say, will come from lowering payroll expenses and reducing the need for human workers in repetitive or process-heavy roles.” There’s only one problem. A Ford executive was touring a robotized automobile factory with Walter Reuther and joked, “You’ll have a hard time collecting union dues from those robots.” Reuther immediately replied, “You’ll have an even harder time selling them automobiles.” Of course, this would be a moot point if, as Louis Kelso noted, workers displaced by advancing technology are given access to the opportunity and means to purchase the machines that are replacing them. This can be done by adopting 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 (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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