Not too much new in the “news” this week, but perhaps there are a few items of interest. Frankly, it’s difficult to know what tack to take in putting together the news items every week because that requires some idea of what the powers-that-be are likely to do, and in the current economic and political atmosphere, that is very difficult to figure out. One thing remains constant, however: if we want things to change, we should adopt the Economic Democracy Act as soon as possible:
• Goodbye “Cheap” Gas. Despite the fact President Trump has assured everyone the surge in inflation is temporary and that prices will soon return to normal (i.e., the inflated price level we had prior to the war on Iran that was supposed to be “quick and decisive”), other voices insist that it will be some time before oil and other prices return to what we think of as normal — if ever . . . and things are predicted to get much worse. The simple fact is that when you have both types of inflation (cost-push from rising oil prices and demand-pull from government printing and spending money like a drunken sailor on leave) going full blast, and anti-production and anti-consumption policies in place in the form of tariffs and roundups of workers, and a number of other factors, you are going to have a lot of nervous people . . . and that means cautious buying and cutting back as prices continue to rise: the phenomenon of “stagflation.” Not surprisingly, this situation could easily be addressed by adopting the Economic Democracy Act (EDA).
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| Robert Maynard Hutchins |
• Killing the Goose that Lays the Eggs. No, they are not golden eggs, but at least they are eggs, although not grade AAA. Despite our quarrels with the state of American education (shared by many, including the last Robert Maynard Hutchins and Mortimer Adler since the 1930s), it cannot be denied that higher education plays a significant role in economic as well as political life, and cutting spending on education — such as it is — is like expecting a field to keep growing wheat when you refuse to plant any. That is why Trump’s budget, which makes broad cuts in spending on education and research, is more counterproductive than most of the president’s ideas. The reasoning is somewhat . . . shaky, in our opinion, and is directed at throwing the baby out with the bath and seems based more on unproved assertion and wishful thinking than anything else. The solution — as you might expect from reading this blog — is to adopt the Economic Democracy Act, so that everyone can afford the education he or she wants or needs, and that the private sector can do the research essential to advancing economically, or regain control of the purse strings so government will spend only in the way it can justify to the taxpayer, not just print whatever money it wants or can get away with.
• A Case for Affordable Housing, By HEC. As reported in an article in Bankrate, there is a serious problem with affordable housing in the United States, and the problem is only going to get worse. It’s not the main emphasis of the Just Third Way — that is getting the Economic Democracy Act (EDA) adopted — but it wouldn’t hurt to have something in place right now while we work on convincing the powers-that-be that there is something much, much better than the current system. That is why we also advocate the “Homeowners Equity Corporation” or HEC to make it easier for people to purchase a house or other dwelling through a rent-to-buy arrangement and an innovative strategy by means of which people don’t own the home directly, but own the company that owns the home, thereby gaining many advantages such as economies of scale and low to zero down payment.
• Is Social Security Really in Trouble? What with the spate of articles we’ve mentioned on this blog about the serious problem facing Social Security and running out of money, it’s almost refreshing to find one that isn’t full of gloom and doom . . . although it borders on the delusional, frankly. We’ll explain. As noted in an article in USA Today, “Social Security faces a looming fiscal cliff. More money is going out of the federal program than coming in, and a once-plentiful cash reserve is dwindling. When the reserve runs out, if nothing is done, the federal agency will have sufficient funds to pay only about 81% of full benefits, according to an estimate from AARP. There’s a big difference between 81% and zero, but many Americans don’t see it. The new research explores the fundamental misunderstanding about the fate of America’s retirement trust fund.” The article explains that there is really nothing to worry about because Social Security was always intended as a “pay as you go” system. Uh, huh. It was also intended that there would always be 15 people paying in for every 1 receiving benefits, that the tax would never be more than 3% of anyone’s labor income, and it would never go above the first $3,000 of your pay. There are currently about 2.7 people paying in for every 1 receiving benefits and the rate is 12.4% on the first $184,500.00 of earned income. As for the trust fund, it’s not invested in assets, but in government bonds: money the government owes to itself. For every dollar paid out of the trust fund, the government collects more than $2.00 in taxes (it costs money to run the system, you know). There is the $1 it collected and used to purchase a bond, and then the $1 to redeem the bond to pay out benefits, and of course the tax or debt money it took to run the system. What’s the solution? Merge the FICA tax into general revenues, make receipt of benefits need-based and — most important — adopt the Economic Democracy Act.
• The Wealthiest (De)Generation. Of course, it all depends on what you mean by “wealth.” According to an article in Yahoo! Finance reporting on an Axios survey, “Baby Boomers” are the wealthiest generation in history (in aggregate, we assume, since we don’t seem to have been cut in on this . . .), but look at the chart. We did and noticed something that isn’t even mentioned in the article. Everything is put in terms of annual wages and salary and how much you save and invest out of earnings from labor. As the article states, “the older you are, the longer you have to save money, accumulate assets, and let them grow.” You see the catch? You have to get that “good job” paying enormous quantities of cash before you can save and
invest and start accumulating wealth. What about the people who didn’t get on the gravy train of having a good job? Interestingly, the people with the most wealth are not the ones with good jobs and often don’t get paid a salary at all. Instead, they used other people’s money or had the banks create money for them, which they invested and let the new capital pay for itself and then throw off income for consumption or (more often) reinvestment in even more new capital. The lesson is clear. Wealth doesn’t come from past savings, but from future earnings. Yes, people should work when they want to or have to — and can find a job — but wealth accumulation and a decent life need not rely on whether you can find a job or get welfare or charity. That is the idea behind the Economic Democracy Act (EDA) which makes everyone economically equal, at least in terms of opportunity and access to the means to becoming wealthy.
• 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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