There seems to be a focus this week on how a combination of AI and Trump’s tariffs are taking jobs. Naturally, the solution is to adopt the Economic Democracy Act, which we may have mentioned once or twice:
Geoffrey Hinton
• The Godfather of AI Speaks. According to an article in Fortune magazine, “Computer scientist and Nobel laureate Geoffrey Hinton [Nobel laureate and ‘Godfather of AI’] predicted artificial intelligence will spark a surge in unemployment and profits as companies replace workers with AI. But it’s not the technology’s fault, he told the Financial Times, attributing it instead to capitalism. While layoffs haven’t spiked, evidence is mounting that AI is shrinking opportunities at the entry level.” In other words, the machines are taking people’s jobs. Oddly enough, Louis Kelso addressed this problem more than half a century ago in an editorial in Life magazine, when he opined, “If the machine wants our job, let’s buy it [i.e., the machine].” That is what the Economic Democracy Act is all about.
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| Jamie Dimon |
• Dimon Begs to Differ. In yet another article in Fortune magazine, “Jamie Dimon Isn’t Convinced By the Market’s Theory That Huge Job Revisions Aren’t a Sign of Recession.” Wading through the somewhat tortured syntax of the title with it’s dual negative, we see that the so-called experts are having a slight disagreement that could have a huge impact on ordinary people who don’t have the consolation of being so-called experts: “The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ significant downward revision has sparked concerns about a weakening U.S. economy, with JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon warning the data ‘confirms what we already thought.’ Still, economists from Macquarie and Goldman Sachs’ David Mericle argue more recent data suggests the economy is unlikely to tip into recession, though it strengthens the case for Fed rate cuts.” What this proves is that orienting an economy toward gambling isn’t really healthy. What we need to correct this situation is to adopt the Economic Democracy Act.
• What Drains “Middle Class Wealth”? Americans may have more stuff than virtually anyone else in the world, but as a rule, Americans also have one of the lowest rates of net worth, at least percentagewise. In an article in Bankingrates, the biggest wealth drainers are listed: 1. Dining out, 2. Using “peak period” electrical power, 3. Impulse buying, 4. Subscription services, 5. Banks fees, 6. Insurance, and 7. Credit card interest. Of course, adopting the Economic Democracy Act. will help how you gain income, but not how you spend it, and this article gives some interesting thoughts on the subject.
• Slowing Job Growth and AI. As related in an article in Fortune magazine, “The U.S. economy created nearly one million fewer jobs over the past year than previously thought, according to newly revised data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the biggest percentage losses came from industries tied to technology—an area that is under scrutiny from economists assessing the impact of artificial intelligence.” Although we addressed this in the first news item (above), it’s good to see it confirmed by a semi-secondary source. The solution, however, remains the same: adopt the Economic Democracy Act.
• Breaking the Four Million Dollar Mile. One of the things about inflation is that so many more people can become millionaires, or at least quadruple millionaires with more than $4 million in assets. Of course, their net wealth may be less than $4 million when push comes to shove, but “here's the surprise: while $4 million is rare in percentage terms, it's not as lonely as you might think. The Federal Reserve’s Survey of Consumer Finances is the gold standard for measuring household wealth in America. It's the dataset economists, analysts, and policymakers use to track where families stand. But turning thousands of pages of government tables into something practical — like exactly how many households have crossed the $4 million line — takes careful analysis. . . . On the one hand, fewer than 1 in 20 families hit this mark — which makes it feel highly exclusive. On the other hand, 6 million households is a lot more than most people expect. This is the paradox of wealth: percentages make it feel rare, but raw numbers reveal just how many people are quietly in the same tier.” Fortunately, we know how to get a lot more people to that level — and it would mean a lot more than it does now, with the monetary and fiscal reforms embodied in the Economic Democracy Act. Net worth would be greater, and the money would buy a lot more than it does now.
• AI Taking Even More Jobs. Adopting the Economic Democracy Act may soon not be a choice, but a necessity. According to an article in Business Insider, “Sam Altman artificial intelligence is about to hit the job market, and customer service workers will be the first to feel it. ‘I’m confident that a lot of current customer support that happens over a phone or computer, those people will lose their jobs, and that'll be better done by an AI,’ the OpenAI CEO said in an interview on ‘The Tucker Carlson Show’ on Wednesday.” Everyone seems to agree on the problem, but not on the obvious solution.
• If I Had a Million. A few people recall the old film version of the novel Windfall, “If I Had a Million” in which a millionaire decided to give away his wealth to some strangers randomly selected instead of to his greedy relatives. What would happen, however, if someone like Warren Buffett only had a million dollars instead of his billions? As Buffett told Yahoo Finance’s Editor-in-Chief Andy Serwer, “If I were retired and I had a $1,000,000 portfolio of stocks paying me $30,000 a year in dividends, my children were grown, and the house was paid off, I wouldn’t worry too much about having a lot of cash around.” Interestingly, this is compatible with the goal of the Economic Democracy Act.
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| Jim Rogers |
• A Coming Stock Market Crash? Yes, everybody likes to be a Cassandra. There is something so satisfying about foretelling disaster, and something even more satisfying about being able to lean back and say, “I told you so!” Still, it might be time to listen to some of the naysayers. An article in Moneywise quotes Jim Rogers: “In an interview with ET Now last year, Rogers expressed that he is ‘extremely worried’ about what lies ahead. With the roller-coaster the markets have been experiencing, it seems Rogers’ insights have proven at least partly correct. ‘The U.S. has not had a problem since 2008, 2009 — that's the longest in American history,’ he stated. ‘America, and therefore the world, is long overdue for a problem.’” So where does Rogers say to put your cash? Well . . . into cash. “‘I have a lot of cash. The reason I have a lot of cash is because I expect the next sell-off to be the worst in my lifetime because the debt has gone up by so very, very much everywhere,’ he said.” Warren Buffett is echoing Rogers’s advice but is also cautious about the advisability of holding cash in the long term because inflation and growing debt destroy the value of cash. It’s time to shift from speculation and get into true investment by adopting the Economic Democracy Act.
• Consumers Feel Accelerating Inflation. Although the usual powers-that-be and the fiscal and monetary policymakers insist that everything is beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, consumer behavior tells a different story. “Grocery prices surged 0.5% in August and are 3.2% higher than a year ago. Coffee prices are a notable pain point, jumping 3.6% from July. The cost of the morning staple is 20.9% higher than it was this time last year. Meat prices, especially beef, remain elevated: Ground beef is 12.8% higher than in August 2024, and steaks are up 16.6%. According to the BLS, a pound of ground chuck now averages $6.34. Chicken, fish, and other seafood saw more modest increases — less than 3% year over year — while ham and pork chop prices decreased. Eggs, whose price spirals have come to symbolize inflation anxiety, saw no monthly increase but are still a steep 10.9% higher year over year. A dozen large Grade A eggs, on average, cost $3.59 in August, down a penny from $3.60 in July and $3.78 in June. ‘Many of these food products were affected by tariffs as the U.S. is a net food importer,’ noted Gargi Chaudhuri, BlackRock's chief investment and portfolio strategist, Americas. The cost of eating out increased 0.3% from July and was 3.9% higher than a year ago.” There is, of course, a solution: adopt the Economic Democracy Act.
• Tariff Revenue Soaring. Although it has supporters of the present regime licking their lips in anticipation of having a large accumulation of spoils to distribute, the rise in tariff revenue to nearly $30 billion in August hides a serious problem: the source of the tariff revenue. What all the so-called policy experts don’t seem to understand is that an increase in tariff revenue is a decrease in consumer demand. They are baffled by the rise in inflation and the fall in employment, little realizing both are driven by consumer demand. What’s the answer? Adopt the Economic Democracy Act.
• Interest Rates and Stock Prices. As usual, gamblers in the stock market are viewing the Federal Reserve’s next decision on interest rates with grave concern. They’ll make money whichever way it goes, but the amount they make depends on knowing which way it goes. As noted in Yahoo! Finance, “Investors have taken in several weeks' worth of economic data to gain clues on the Fed's next move. Over the last week, jobs data has shown clear signals of labor market weakness, with just over 20,000 jobs added last month and weekly initial jobless claims surging to a near four-year high. Meanwhile, inflation remains stubborn, with consumer prices rising last month amid more signs that President Trump’s tariffs are filtering their way into the economy.” Perhaps the biggest problem here is that policymakers don’t really understand the key role of the stock market. The focus should be on credit for productive purposes, not gambling on Wall Street. This shift can be accomplished by adopting the Economic Democracy Act.
• Consumer Sentiment Dropping. As noted in an article in Yahoo! Finance, “US consumer sentiment continued to slide in September as Americans worried about their jobs and inflation.” So, what else is new? Well, as the University of Michigan’s preliminary Survey of Consumers, “‘Consumers continue to note multiple vulnerabilities in the economy, with rising risks to business conditions, labor markets, and inflation,’ Joanne Hsu, director of the survey of consumers, said in a statement. ‘Likewise, consumers perceive risks to their pocketbooks as well; current and expected personal finances both eased about 8% this month.’” This is not good. As any reputable economist can tell you, it isn’t business or government demand that drives an economy, but consumer demand. As Adam Smith stated as his first principle of economics, “Consumption is the sole end and purpose of all production.” What’s the solution? As you probably already guessed, adopt the Economic Democracy Act. to restore power back to people, not government or faceless corporations.
• 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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