Unfortunately, to paraphrase a trivial Christmas song, “Jest afore Christmas we’re as pessimistic as kin be.” The surreal nature of the news items each week speaks for itself, much of which would disappear or fade away by adopting the Economic Democracy Act:
When the idle poor become the idle rich? No.
• Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? What does it mean to be wealthy in America (meaning the United States of America) in A.D. 2025, at least the end of it? According to Charles Schwab in Fortune magazine, “[A]s inflation and tariffs have made essentially everything more expensive, that amount of money [$1 million] doesn’t feel like that much at all. In fact, Americans now think it takes an average of $2.3 million to be considered wealthy, according to a Charles Schwab report. The financial services firm surveyed 2,200 adults between the ages of 21 to 75 from April 24 to May 23, so a variety of generations offered their input. The average response for what it takes to be considered “financially comfortable” was $839,000. While the reported $2.3 million was a slight drop from last year’s Modern Wealth Survey at $2.5 million, it’s still 21% higher than the 2021 figure of $1.9 million.” What comes to mind is the old joke about saving your money because it might be worth something someday. The fact is that under Keynesian economics, inflation — and thus a decrease in the value of the currency — is not merely taken for granted, but is an essential element of economic policy. As the article continues, “Respondents . . . reported the bar to achieve monetary wealth feels as if it’s increasing, and 63% said it feels like it takes more money to be wealthy today compared with last year, citing the impacts of inflation, a worsening economy, and higher taxes.” Of course it does. If a loaf of bread costs 10¢ and you have a wage of $10 a week untaxed, you can afford a hundred loaves of bread. If a loaf of bread costs $5 and you have a wage of $20 a week taxed at 25% ($5), you can afford three loaves of bread. What’s the answer? How about a rational tax reform, asset-backed currency that appreciates instead of depreciating through inflation, and universal access to “inflation proof” capital assets paid for with future profits of the assets themselves? This can be done by adopting the Economic Democracy Act.
More money that's worth less
• Minimum Wage Raises. As an article in Yahoo! Finance reports, “A pay raise is on the way for millions of American workers next year. On Jan. 1, minimum wage rates will climb in 19 states and 49 cities and counties across the US. That’s good news for many Americans struggling to make ends meet as prices on everything from groceries to electric bills continue to climb.” As the article continues, “‘The cost of living has been top of mind for workers,’ said Yannet Lathrop, senior researcher and policy analyst at the National Employment Law Project, which rounded up the minimum wage increases taking effect soon. ‘Paychecks are just not covering the basic necessities for workers and families at the lower end of the pay scale.’” There are one or two — or a million or so — problems with this. Yes, getting a larger paycheck make it appear as if you are getting “more.” You are getting more currency, but by increasing pay without a corresponding increase in production due to the “input” now costing more simply increases costs and thus nullifies the increase in the amount of currency received; prices always increase when pay rates increase. Always. At the same time, since the government keeps printing money backed only by its own debt, the value of the currency falls even more. Thus, people are not getting more purchasing power, but less because they are getting hit with both “demand pull” and “cost push” inflation. The way to reverse this and increase actual purchasing power as well as wealth accumulation is to adopt the Economic Democracy Act.
• U.S. Economic Warning Sounds. As reported in GMA, the “backlog” of reports from the shutdown continues to spread discontent with facts often rejected by the current administration as “fake news.” As reported in an article which appeared this past Wednesday, “The data flashed some warning signs, showing the unemployment rate had ticked up to its highest level in four years and retail sales had stalled at the outset of the holiday season, some analysts told ABC News. . . . The jobs report on Tuesday ‘paints a sobering picture of a job market that may officially be turning frigid after a prolonged cooling period,’ Laura Ullrich, director of economic research in North America at the Indeed Hiring Lab, told ABC News in a statement. . . . A retail sales report on Tuesday also sounded a cautionary note about consumer spending, which accounts for about two-thirds of U.S. economic activity. Retail sales were left unchanged in October from September, meaning performance remained flat despite the ramp up of the holiday season, U.S. Census Bureau data showed.” In other words, despite the megatons of whitewash and irrational exuberance (or whatever you want to call it) being broadcast about how just great, great, great everything is, reality has a way of deflating these claims rather rapidly. The solution, of course, is to adopt the Economic Democracy Act.
• Electric Car “Downfall.” First, we have nothing against electric cars . . . other than their inadequate development and the fact that the cars themselves may be “clean,” but the electricity they use often isn’t. In any event, there is currently a pullback from electric vehicles. As reported in Bloomberg, “This week brought a cascade of signals that the EV era is entering a more uncertain, more contested phase. The European Commission backed away from what had been the world’s most aggressive timeline for phasing out internal-combustion engines, granting manufacturers and consumers more time to move off gasoline. A day earlier, Ford (F) Motor Co. announced $19.5 billion in charges tied to the retreat from an electric strategy it vowed to go all in on eight years ago. The pullback is no longer confined to a few laggards or skeptics. From relative newcomers to legacy giants, the signs of reckoning have been mounting for months.” Several things are needed, such as shifts to other energy sources (e.g., hydrogen, fusion, etc.), but what might kickstart necessary developments is adopting the Economic Democracy Act, which could very well spur an era of creativity and innovation.
• Oligarchic Obligations? Yes, with great power comes great responsibility . . . unless you can weasel out of it by substituting something cheaper. What is the chief obligation of a human being? To comply with nature and pursue the good. (That is, like, so profound and Aristotelian.) So, what does that mean in practical, i.e., economic, terms? It means carrying out acts of social justice and making it possible for everyone to become productive and take care of themselves. Are the so-called “Trump accounts” acts of social justice? No way. They do nothing to change the system to empower people and leave people as dependent as before on the currently rich and powerful. Nowhere is this more evident than with the current administration’s plea to the ultra-wealthy to fund the accounts. As reported in the Washington Post, “The Trump administration wants to supplement taxpayers’ contributions to newborn stock market accounts by soliciting donations from some of the nation’s wealthiest people and corporations, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced Wednesday. . . . Bessent said the administration was launching a ‘50-state challenge’ to draw additional ultra-wealthy individuals to the cause. ‘The president is calling on our nation’s business leaders and philanthropic organizations to help us make America great again by securing the financial future of America’s children,’ Bessent said.” Bologna. It does nothing of the sort. This is simple redistribution and leaves the recipient dependent as before. The only real solution is to adopt the Economic Democracy Act.
• Not Killing Us as Fast. It seems a bit surreal, but if you declare inflation is easing, many people somehow think prices are coming down. No, it means prices are not going up quite as fast. If you couldn’t afford to live before, you still won’t be able to afford to live, but your decline in purchasing power is just slowing down, not reversing. Added is the fact that the “official” inflation statistics omit certain “core prices” of what people actually buy. As reported in an article in Yahoo! Finance, “On a ‘core’ basis, which strips out the more volatile costs of food and energy, prices rose 2.6% over the prior year in November. Economists had also expected to see a 3.1% increase in core prices.” In English, that means — after not factoring in things like food that some people might need to survive (not being able to eat statistics or speeches) — people are still paying more to live so that the politicians can spend. Some economists are “casting doubts” on these reports, however. There is, of course, a way out of this peculiar situation: adopt the Economic Democracy Act.
• Consumer “Confidence” Lower. It seems to astound the so-called experts at an astonishing rate, but “consumers” (as if some people didn’t consume . . . why not just say, “people”?) aren’t really happy campers about the economy. As reported in Yahoo! Finance, “Americans are heading into the holidays feeling worse about jobs and inflation than they did this time last year, with consumer sentiment hovering near record lows. Though the University of Michigan’s final reading of consumer sentiment for December showed a modest improvement of 1.9 points from November, the overall index remains 28.5% lower than it was a year ago at 52.9. Last December, the reading was at 74.” As you might expect, a lot of this is due to insecurity about future income . . . uh, and current income, too! It also gives the lie to the fixed belief that politicians — any politicians, any country, any where — can do anything positive and directly about “the economy.” No, the best they can do is fiddle with existing matters and hope something turns out the way they hope. Frankly, the only thing the politicians can do that is both positive and realistic is to remove barriers to people being able to take control of their own economic (and thus political) lives 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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