That Krazy Keynesian Math II, the Quantity Theory of Money

In the previous posting on this subject, we looked at the shaky moral foundation of Keynesian theory.  This consists of Keynes’s own assertion that his system would only work if we lie to ourselves for at least a century.  We also looked at the somewhat distorted and distorting concept of productivity as understood in economics and public policy.  In contrast, we posed Louis Kelso’s concept of productiveness, the free market-determined value each factor contributes to the overall production process.

JTW Podcast: Fifteen Difficult Books

Last week we posted a podcast about the importance of reading.  This week we have a podcast about books you might want to read.  Note, however, we do NOT recommend these books because we agree with them — in most cases we anticipate we will strongly disagree as soon as we get around to reading them — but 1) because we do anticipate disagreeing with them and 2) figuring out why we disagree will force us to think.  This is similar to the way reading John Maynard Keynes’s The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money (1936) forced us to understand the Just Third Way of Economic Personalism much better and to understand Keynesian economics — and its very serious weaknesses and flaws — better than many Keynesians.

News from the Network, Vol. 19, No. 11

For once we had to cut down on the number of news items we selected for inclusion in the news notes.  There were just too many of them, and they were getting quite repetitive; all saying the same thing in not so different ways.  Frankly, the only way to stop this is to adopt the Economic Democracy Act:

That Krazy Keynesian Math I, Prevarication and Productiveness

 To some people, economics is not merely the dismal science (thanks to the Reverend Thomas Malthus), but also the incomprehensible science . . . with increasing numbers of potential and former votaries insisting it is no longer a science, if it ever was.  Of course, followers of Keynes who always knew the Master’s economics were a religion and not a science remain solidly entrenched in their faith . . . despite the lack of a solid moral or even rational foundation.

JTW Podcast: Why Should You Read?

Ever read a book titled, Darkness at Noon (1940) by Arthur Koestle?  Maybe make that a little easier: ever read a book?  Know anything about history?  Know anything other than what you read on the internet or what the powers-that-be want you to read and think?  Maybe it’s time you did, if only because (as “the Great Books Prof” — Dr. Andrew Moore, an Associate Professor of Great Books at St. Thomas University — claims) “People Who Read are Harder to Control”.  Maybe this is what Mortimer Adler and Robert Maynard Hutchins were talking about and why they were so concerned about the degeneration of education:

News from the Network, Vol. 19, No. 10

Perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised that we seem to be living in a state of permanent paradox.  In our opinion, it began in earnest when Keynesian economics began its campaign of world conquest in the 1930s and took over the world by the 1950s.  Given that Keynes publicly admitted we would have to lie to ourselves for a century or so just to make his system work — and the century is almost up — people should probably be a trifle more suspicious than they are, and consider pushing for the Economic Democracy Act:

Economic Personalism and Distributism, Part II: Analysis

    In last week’s posting on this subject, we briefly answered four questions posed by a professor about distributism and the Just Third Way of Economic Personalism: 1) What lead you to become a proponent of this economic system in the first place? 2) What are a few of the most important principles of this economic system? 3) What do you see as the major advantages of this system? 4) What are the major challenges?

JTW Podcast: The Dangerous Rise of Anti-Intellectualism

“Professor Dave” misstates the genuine religious position.  It is, for example, an “infallible teaching” of the Catholic Church that (and we quote), “absolutely speaking, human reason by its own natural force and light can arrive at a true and certain knowledge of the one personal God, Who by His providence watches over and governs the world, and also of the natural law, which the Creator has written in our hearts” (Humani Generis, § 2).

News from the Network, Vol. 19, No. 09

We have no objection to good news.  We just wish there was some to report.  Instead, from what we can glean from the media, the economic and financial chaos appears to be spreading, keeping pace with the political mess in which the world seems to be enmeshed.  Of course, our position is that political democracy follows economic democracy — and we don’t mean democratic socialism, democratic capitalism, or the Servile State, but the Just Third Way of Economic Personalism, and that means the Economic Democracy Act:

Economic Personalism and Distributism, Part I: Questions and Answers

  Recently a genuine college professor got in touch with us and asked us if we would mind answering a few questions about the Just Third Way of Economic Personalism.  He wanted to know how it stacks up against “distributism.”  Yes, we are aware that some (former) distributists now insist on calling the system developed by G.K. Chesterton and Hilaire Belloc “localism.”

JTW Podcast: Current Philosophy, Part III: Epistemology, Perception, and Science

 In today’s podcast we conclude Professor Dave’s final series on philosophy . . . although we might find another one of his series we like (he knows a lot of stuff).  Again, as we noted last week, this three-part series covers what is happening today in the world of philosophy, and so what the Aristotelian-Thomists of the Just Third Way can expect when dialoging with others outside the JTW paradigm.  As Professor Dave says, “Continuing through a survey of current ideas in philosophy, we reach some newer work in epistemology, perception, and the philosophy of science. Let's take a look at some ideas from John McDowell, Alvin Goldman, Ernest Sosa, Robert Audi, Helen Longino, Miranda Fricker, Joshua Knobe, Jonathan Haidt, and more!”:

News from the Network, Vol. 19, No. 08

  There have been some interesting developments this week . . . although we were hoping for “positive” and “hopeful” rather than merely “interesting.”  Be that as it may, these are worth bringing to your attention, although possibly not as worthwhile as adopting the Economic Democracy Act:

Inflation Indexing and the EDA

    An article in last week’s Yahoo! Finance, “Inflation slowed in January as consumer prices rise 2.4% over prior year to start 2026,” noted the rate of inflation had, well, slowed in January.  Of course, there is the small issue that there are at least two different kinds of inflation, cost-push and demand-pull.

JTW Podcast: Current Philosophy, Part II: Logic, Language, and Knowledge

 In today’s podcast we continue Professor Dave’s final series on philosophy.  As we noted last week, this three-part series covers what is happening today in the world of philosophy, and so what the Aristotelian-Thomists of the Just Third Way can expect when dialoging with others outside the JTW paradigm.  As Professor Dave says, “We just examined some aspects of current philosophy around the field of ethics. Now let's check out some developments in terms of our study of logic, language, and knowledge. This will involve looking at figures like Saul Kripke, Jerry Fodor, Ruth Millikan, Karl-Otto Apel, and others.”:

News from the Network, Vol. 19, No. 07

On the one hand, the so-called experts keep telling us the economy is doing great.  On the other hand, we keep hearing how individuals and families are worse off than before.  On the other, other hand, we hear about the “K-shaped economy” that explains matters . . . sort of.  On the other, other, other hand . . . forget it.  Just push for the adoption of the Economic Democracy Act so we have something positive to talk about in this news report:

Kelso v. Keynes on Money

As we saw in the previous posting on this subject, many people seem to confuse God and money, as well as religion and finance.  This, in the modern age suffused with what people like Mortimer J. Adler have delicately referred to as “philosophical mistakes,” is a disaster, whether the result of Belloc’s purported accusation of “knavish imbecility,” unthinking self-interest, or deliberate and considered villainy.

JTW Podcast: Current Philosophy, Part I: Ethics and Critical Theory

 Today we begin the final series on philosophy by “Professor Dave” (who knows a lot of stuff, according to his tag line and theme song).  This three-part series covers what is happening today in the world of philosophy, and so what the Aristotelian-Thomists of the Just Third Way can expect when dialoging with others outside the JTW paradigm.  As Professor Dave says, “After studying the history of philosophy and logic for quite some time, we have finally made it to present day. What are some important topics in current philosophy? Let's begin to answer this question by first examining ethics, and something called critical theory.”:

News from the Network, Vol. 19, No. 06

What is going on in the Just Third Way and related areas around the world?  Your guess is as good as ours.  We only know what we read in the paper . . . if there are any of those left, that is.  Does anyone read newspapers anymore?  One news item we would like to see but haven’t yet is to see some country adopt: the Economic Democracy Act:

How to Understand Money

    In the introduction to one of his satiric songs written for the late, great show That Was the Week That Was (“TW3”) performed and recorded at the late, great “Hungry I” nightclub in San Francisco (the one that closed in 1970, not the strip club that replaced it . . . sort of), the late, great Tom Lehrer made the obvious and characteristic (“Seldom has any point to make except the obvious”) ironic comment that his Christmas Carol celebrated what everyone deeply and sincerely believes in: Money.  Of course, St. Paul made a similar comment in one or other of his letters to somebody or other, that love of money is the root of all evil.

JTW Podcast: Logical Fallacies, Part II: Most Commonly Used Fallacies

 This week we conclude our look at people’s favorite way of arguing today: the logical fallacy.   Again, this should be very useful for proponents of the Just Third Way — both to show them what to avoid and what to expect.  As Professor Dave says, “We just learned about formal and informal fallacies. Now it's time to go through a list of the most common types of fallacies, so that we can be familiar with as many of them as possible. These would be things like the No True Scotsman fallacy, ad populum fallacy, ad hominem, poisoning the well, genetic fallacy, begging the question, straw man fallacy, and many others. Let's see how many we can get through!”:

News from the Network, Vol. 19, No. 05

Each week we wish we could report on something fundamentally different rather than just unimportant details that reflect no genuine improvement anywhere.  Of course, we define improvement as adopting the Economic Democracy Act, but we’re hoping that something in the current situation will get people to wake up:

Faith, Reason, and Irrationality

As we have often noted on this blog, we like it when Faithful Readers send in comments or questions we can answer and use as the raw material for a posting . . . especially when the FR does most of the work him- or herself.  Today’s question-and-answer is from a Reader who is both Faithful and faithful (although not in our faith), whom we shall call “Rocky.”  And what was her (or his, as the case may be) comment or question . . . or a bit of both?  As Rocky (and maybe even Bullwinkle) said,

JTW Podcast: Logical Fallacies, Part I: Formal and Informal Fallacies

This week we take a look at people’s favorite way of arguing virtually anything: the logical fallacy.   This just might be one of the most useful series, albeit short, for proponents of the Just Third Way — both to show them what to avoid and what to expect.  As Professor Dave says, “In learning about logic, we've come to understand how an argument involves two or more premises followed by a conclusion. When the conclusion does not follow from the premises, this is an invalid argument. In such a case, a logical fallacy has been committed. This can be the case due to a faulty coherence between the premises or from external factors, but either way it just means bad reasoning. What are formal fallacies vs. informal fallacies? Let's get a better understanding of this concept.”:

News from the Network, Vol. 19, No. 04

Remember when the slogan was “It’s the economy, stupid.”  Of course, that might be interchangeable with, “It’s the stupid economy,” but the point here is the practice of the current administration to keep insisting everything is A-OK and America is Great Again might not be what will lead people to recognize the obvious solution to a problem they appear to believe doesn’t even exist: the Economic Democracy Act:

Running Out of Money?

    “You can never be too rich or too thin” (or something like that) said, uh, somebody or other . . . maybe — it’s attributed to a bunch of people few members of the public today ever heard of.  Leaving aside the “too thin” bit as a bit beyond our competence, we’ll focus on whether you can be “too rich.”  Quick answer: yes, you can be too rich, especially if no one else has any money . . . money here defined as “all things transferred in commerce.”  (That’s in Black’s Law Dictionary, at least the edition we have.)

JTW Podcast: Contemporary Logic, Part III: Current Predicate Logic

This week’s podcast continues the series on contemporary logic.  Yet again, this podcast is for informational purposes since we have no intention of ever abandoning Aristotle, but there are useful things besides information in the different schools of thought.  As Professor Dave says, “We just introduced a lot of notation in order to understand post-Fregean predicate logic. So now let's look at some concepts behind this type of logical thought so that we can compare it to earlier types of logic. In doing so we will wrap up our study of contemporary logic.”:

News from the Network, Vol. 19, No. 03

Again, this week’s news items illustrate what we think is a growing divide between reality and what the powers-that-be would like to be the case.  As the Roman poet Horace said, however, you can chase Nature — reality — out with a pitchfork, but she always comes back.  To avoid having to try and create your own reality and become more truthful (truth, after all, means conformity with reality), people need the power to become virtuous, and — as we have repeated early and often on this blog, quoting Daniel Webster — “Power naturally and necessarily follows property.”  That being the case, the obvious thing for the powers-that-be to do is to adopt the Economic Democracy Act:

Trump’s Morality and the Natural Law

It is a pillar of Aristotelian-Thomist philosophy that the natural law — knowledge of right and wrong constituting the general code of human behavior — can be known by the force and light of human reason alone.  This is because (in Aristotelian-Thomist philosophy) human beings “participate” in God’s Nature, and therefore reason the way God does, at least analogously, and in a far more limited scope.

JTW Podcast: Contemporary Logic, Part II: Current Systems and Methods

 Today, we continue the series on contemporary logic.  Again, this podcast is for informational purposes since we have no intention of ever abandoning Aristotle, but there are useful things besides information in the different schools of thought.  As Professor Dave says, “We just learned about the Fregean revolution, but we have actually adapted logic further still, so let's see what we have been doing with Frege's theory ever since. This will involve learning some new symbols and notation. Let's dive right in!”:

News from the Network, Vol. 19, No. 02

Housing costs and debt seem to be at the top of the list of concerns for many people this week.  We see that reflected in the warnings about the rising national debt of the United States and concerns about housing affordability.  Both could be solved by adopting the Economic Democracy Act, which of course could include the Homeowners Equity Corporation (HEC):

Whither Venezuela?

 After spending most of the first part of this week bemoaning the effect of AI on readin’ and ritin’ after viewing several videos on the subject — we ain’t got no information on no ’rithmetic — we decided to surrender to the machine (while reserving the right to criticize such dependency at such time as we are no longer pressed for time and can take the time to write something ourselves) and steal a summary one of the AI programs generated for a proposal the Center for Economic and Social Justice (CESJ) put forward a number of years ago and dusted off in light of what we can euphemistically call “recent events.”

JTW Podcast: Contemporary Logic, Part I: Frege’s Revolution

Today, we get into logic.  Today’s podcast is for informational purposes since we have no intention of ever abandoning Aristotle, but there are useful things besides information in the different schools of thought.  As Professor Dave says, “When it comes to logic, there are two figures that stand head and shoulders above the rest. Aristotle defined logic and developed the field profoundly, and as such Aristotelian logic reigned supreme for over 2000 years. But eventually figures like Leibniz and Boole attempted to develop a system of logic that intertwined with a mathematical approach, an endeavor that finally came to fruition with Gottlob Frege, the second giant in logic. What was Frege’s revolution? Let’s get some more details!:

News from the Network, Vol. 19, No. 01

 Welcome to the first “News from the Network” for 2026.  Unfortunately, that’s all that’s new.  The rest — as you can see — sounds depressingly the same.  What we need is immediate adoption of the Economic Democracy Act, and when that is going to happen is anyone’s guess:

A Short Course in Social Justice, I: What is Social Justice?

Ask anybody.  Go ahead.  We dare you.  For best results, carry a microphone and have somebody pointing a videocam at you and whoever (or whatever) you are asking.  And the question? “What is social justice?”

JTW Podcast: Continental Philosophy Part 3: Existentialism and Postmodernism

Today, we get back to continental philosophy and present Part 3 of Professor Dave’s talk on it.  As Professor Dave says, “We've learned a bit about continental philosophy and the Frankfurt School. Let's continue this thread by examining existentialism and postmodernism. This will include figures like Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, Albert Camus, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Hans-Georg Gadamer, Michel Foucault, Gilles Deleuze, Jacques Derrida, and others”:

News from the Network, Vol. 18, No. 52

 For the 2025 Year-End News Roundup we decided to try something different and just take what seemed to be the most significant story from each month . . . more or less, and there is no doubt some valid disagreement regarding our admittedly quick and dirty choice.  Whatever you think should have been selected, however, the most significant story was one that didn’t happen: adoption of the Economic Democracy Act:

It Ain’t Wealth Creation

 It’s not the main point of the article, but it’s worth looking at, anyway.  But first, a few words on what the article, “White House economist says ‘massive refund checks’ are coming to Americans in biggest refund cycle in history,” is about.  As stated in the article, “The present administration in Washington is promising big, beautiful tax refund checks to big, beautiful Americans.  As reported in an article in Moneywise, “President Donald Trump is promising a windfall for millions of Americans — declaring that spring 2026 will bring the ‘largest tax refund season of all time.’ And one of his top economic advisers says the checks won’t just be big — they’ll be ‘massive.’”

JTW Podcast: Contemporary Ethics Part 3: New Deontologies and Moral Concepts

 Today, we present Part 3 of Professor Dave’s talk on Contemporary Ethics . . . which, if you’ve been following all of this, helps explain why the world today seems so surreal.  As Professor Dave says, “To wrap things up with contemporary ethics, let's pivot away from metaethics and look at the development of deontology. To do this, we will look at figures like William Ross, John Rawls, Thomas Nagel, Hilary Putnam, and others”:

News from the Network, Vol. 18, No. 51

 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:

Do You Grok Kelso’s “Second Income Plan”?

 It’s a bit of cultural trivia from Robert Heinlein’s 1961 science fiction novel, Stranger in a Strange Land (it’s a Biblical reference), a with-it neologism that never really caught on, but had a certain vogue into the seventies among geeks and others (like us) grouped among the quasi-normal: “grok.”

JTW Podcast: Contemporary Ethics Part 2: Metaethics and New Virtue Theories

 Today, we present Part 2 of Professor Dave’s talk on Contemporary Ethics.  As Professor Dave says, “Continuing with our discussion of metaethics, how did this field develop from Moore's initial proposals? Let's talk about new virtue theories, along with figures like Richard Hare, Bernard Williams, Gertrude Margaret Anscombe, Alasdair MacIntyre, and Philippa Foot, the author of the famous trolley problem”:

News from the Network, Vol. 18, No. 50

 Yet again this week the news items are more of the same only more so.  And yet again, the usual solution is to adopt the Economic Democracy Act:

Why America Needs an Ownership Reset

Guy C. Stevenson, Guest Blogger

It is being touted as a groundbreaking achievement . . . it is, however, neither groundbreaking nor really much of an achievement.  Recently, Michael and Susan Dell pledged over $6 billion to fund the “Trump Accounts,” as the proposed government-backed savings program for children are being labeled.

JTW Podcast: Contemporary Ethics Part 1: The Birth of Metaethics

 Today, we present Part 1 of Professor Dave’s talk on Contemporary Ethics, “The Birth of Metaethics.”  As Professor Dave says, “Until the 20th century, discussions of ethics had been centered around Aristotle's virtue ethics, the Kantian/Platonic deontology, or the utilitarian model known as consequentialism. But in the early 1900s, the field of metaethics was born, which was a novel manner to identify how we can discuss ethical subjects in general. What was metaethics all about, and what innovations did it bring? Let's find out!”:

News from the Network, Vol. 18, No. 49

 It’s astonishing how each week’s news items resemble those of the previous week . . . Not.  The simple fact is that this is going to keep up until the powers-that-be adopt the Economic Democracy Act:

Can It Happen Here? Part II: The Solution

 Last week we took a look at a book with a hook in a nook with a cook.  That in itself is not unusual, even without a visit from Dr. Suess.  We read a lot of books.  We even write a lot of books.

JTW Podcast: More on Language and Meaning in Analytic Philosophy

Today, wondering what happened to Part 2 of Professor Dave’s talk on Epistemology, we present his talk on “More on Language and Meaning in Analytic Philosophy.”  As Professor Dave says, “We've already talked about the linguistic turn in analytic philosophy, so let's return to this school and learn about some more figures in this tradition that followed after Wittgenstein. This will include Donald Davidson, Peter Strawson, and Herbert Peter Grice”:

News from the Network, Vol. 18, No. 48

 Although “May you live in interesting times” is probably not an ancient Chinese curse (although it should be), events this week are both interesting and a bit cursed, if that isn’t tangling syntax a bit too much.  In any event, the solution to many of the issues and problems we note this week is to adopt the Economic Democracy Act:

Can It Happen Here? Part I: The Problem

 Recently, a Faithful Reader sent us a copy of “Disappeared to a Foreign Prison” by Sarah Stillman, from the November 24, 2025, issue of The New Yorker.  No, this is not a commentary on the New Yorker article, but on a few thoughts that bubbled up as we read the article.

JTW Podcast: Epistemology Part 1: Quine, Sellars, Gettier, and Putnam

 Today, we present Part 1 of Professor Dave’s talk on Epistemology.  As Professor Dave says, “Having gotten a sense of the continental and analytic traditions in contemporary philosophy, we are ready to examine advancements in the field of epistemology that occurred around that time. Let's see how Willard Quine, Wilfrid Sellars, Edmund Gettier, and Hilary Putnam contributed to this progress.”:

News from the Network, Vol. 18, No. 47

 One of these days we hope to have some good news to report, but until someone among the powers-that-be wise up and push for the adoption of the Economic Democracy Act:, we have a sneaking suspicion we won’t be reporting too much good news:

The Meaning and Purpose of Life, IV: The Maker’s Answer

In the first and third parts of this article we — or rather our guest blogger Guy Stevenson — asked questions.  In Part I the question was, “Why do I exist?”  In Part III, the question was, “What is social justice?”  Today Guy gives Fulton Sheen’s version of “The Maker’s Answer.”

JTW Podcast: Analytic Philosophy Part 3: Language and Meaning

 Today, we present Part 3 of Professor Dave’s talk on analytic philosophy.  As Professor Dave says, “Continuing with analytic philosophy, after the Vienna Circle had its influence, the tradition continued and grew into several new areas, inspired largely from Wittgenstein and other prominent figures. John L. Austin developed his theory of meaning through speech acts. Noam Chomsky developed his concept of universal grammar. Let's learn about this and more!”:

News from the Network, Vol. 18, No. 46

 This week’s news items seem strangely familiar yet at the same time surreal.  Still, the constant theme is how much better most people’s lives could very well be if we would adopt the Economic Democracy Act:

The Meaning and Purpose of Life, III: What is Social Justice?

 Last week we looked at the question of “justice as love.”  This week we look at the question of “social justice”.  This will baffle many people today, because they think they have already answered the question, and the answer they have is that something called “social justice” replaces and transcends both justice and charity as traditionally understood.

JTW Podcast: Continental Philosophy Part 2: The Frankfurt School

 Today, we return to a sequential order and present the second part of Professor Dave’s talk on continental philosophy.  As Professor Dave says, “Pivoting back to continental philosophy, we must discuss a very important movement in this tradition, and that is the Frankfurt School. This group utilized the ideas of Marx and Freud to advance the field, led by figures like Max Horkheimer and Theodor Adorno. Let's see what they were all about!”:

News from the Network, Vol. 18, No. 45

 They always say it’s always darkest before the dawn, although who this “they” are can be a trifle vague at times.  In any event, it is easy to see in many of the news items reported this week how the Economic Democracy Act would be of immense benefit:

The Meaning and Purpose of Life, II: Justice as Love

In Part I of this article, we looked at the question, “Why do I exist?” as answered by the legendary Fulton Sheen.  Admittedly, Sheen’s answer was framed within a specific philosophy and religious faith, but that takes nothing away from its universality.  To summarize, the meaning and purpose of life is to become more fully human by conforming yourself to human nature.

JTW Podcast: Analytic Philosophy Part I: Dewey, Russell, and Whitehead

Today, we present the first part of Professor Dave’s talk on analytic philosophy.  This breaks the sequence a bit, but we think there must be a reason Professor Dave presented the lectures in this particular order.  In any event, as Professor Dave says, “Pivoting from the continental tradition, let's introduce the analytic tradition that also emerged at the beginning of contemporary philosophy. This involved figures such as John Dewey, Bertrand Russell, and Alfred Whitehead. What were they all about, and how did they differ from the continental philosophers?”:

News from the Network, Vol. 18, No. 44

 Boo.  Happy Halloween, whatever a “happy” Halloween consists of.  You want something really scary, though, take a look at today’s economy without the Economic Democracy Act:

The Meaning and Purpose of Life, I: The Burning Question

If we believe media hype and the typical behavior of other people, the answer to the question as to the meaning and purpose of life is to be better, have more, or do more than someone else.  If we believe philosophers and spiritual leaders, however, we tend to come up with a different response, and one that argues a fundamentally different orientation than treating other people as either competition or accomplices.

JTW Podcast: Continental Philosophy Part I: Husserl, Bergson, Heidegger, and Jaspers

Today, we present the first part of Professor Dave’s talk on continental philosophy.  As Professor Dave says, “With modern philosophy covered, let's cross over into contemporary philosophy. And let's begin by introducing the continental tradition in this time period. This included philosophers like Husserl, Bergson, Heidegger, and Jaspers. Let's see what they were all about!”:

News from the Network, Vol. 18, No. 43

 Rising national debt, job loss, AI bubble . . . is there any good news this week?  Yes — the good news is that there is a solution: the Economic Democracy Act:

The Blind Leading the Blinder

We may have mentioned one or two dozen (or hundred) times how much we like it when people ask us questions we can answer and then use as a posting on this blog.  What we like even better is when someone takes the bull between the teeth or the bit by the horns and writes the entire blog posting for us, with only a little bit of editing and formatting to make it fit our needs.

JTW Podcast: Logic in Late Modern Philosophy

Today, we present Professor Dave’s talk on logic in late modern philosophy.  As Professor Dave says, “How did logic continue to develop as the modern period in philosophy progressed? Mill and Comte discussed the inverse deductive method. But then a huge figure arose, George Boole. He innovated new logical symbology that got us closer to reducing logic to pure mathematics. Then Peirce developed abductive or retroductive logic. Let's get a closer look at these figures now!”:

News from the Network, Vol. 18, No. 42

 Believe it or not, there is an alternative to debt and taxes . . . it’s debt or taxes, and for a government, it’s better to go with taxes and live within its means as proposed in the Economic Democracy Act:

The Economic Answer to AI, II: The Spread of the Problem

In the previous posting on this subject, we noted — consistent with the Past Savings and the Sole Ownership assumptions combined with the Labor Theory of Value — most of “the rest of us” in the present day are constrained to wages and welfare for our subsistence.  Government policy has thus been focused on (as one of the founders of the Center for Economic and Social Justice used to put it while mimicking playing a cello) “jawbs, jawbs, jawbs” . . . with no thought as to what was behind the, er, “jawbs.”

JTW Podcast: Logic in Early Modern Philosophy

Today, we present Professor Dave’s talk on (obviously) logic in early modern philosophy.  As Professor Dave says, “With modern philosophy somewhat understood, it's time to pivot and see how logic developed during this time period. First, in the early part of this period, Pascal's wager was an important development, which was followed by the Port Royal Logic. There were also important developments by Kant, Bacon, Hume, Mill, and Llull. Let's see how Aristotelian logic developed during this time!”:

News from the Network, Vol. 18, No. 41

Again, much of this week’s news items wouldn’t be news items if the Economic Democracy Act: had been adopted.  Keep that in mind as you read:

The Economic Answer to AI, I: The Problem

 Recently we re-read New America (1983) by the late Poul Anderson, a compendium of four related science fiction novellas tied together into a coherent whole.  It was, as is typical of Anderson’s work, well-written, fitted within known science and social trends at the time it was published, and dealt with serious themes in a thoughtful yet entertaining manner.

JTW Podcast: Late Modern Philosophy Part 2: The Roots of Analytic Philosophy

 Today, we present “Part 2” of Professor Dave’s talk on Late Modern Philosophy, this one on “Analytic Philosophy.”  He doesn’t mention Comte’s reliance on Henri de Saint-Simon and socialist theology (“modernism”), but what the heck.  As Professor Dave says, “We just introduced continental philosophy, so let's take a look at the analytic tradition that arose around the same time, as the modern era was drawing to a close. Of the two schools, this was the one more concerned with philosophy of science and epistemology, which came about through figures like Comte, Spencer, Peirce, and others. Let's get a sense of this school now”:

News from the Network, Vol. 18, No. 40

 As usual, much of this week’s news items wouldn’t be news items if the Economic Democracy Act: had been adopted.  Keep that in mind as you read:

Why Economists Reject Binary Economics, VI: “Limited Academic Influence and Institutional Support”

 After a brief hiatus, we are returning to our series on “Why Economists Reject Binary Economics.”  Unfortunately, the reasons the so-called experts refuse to give Binary Economics consideration do not improve with age.  Binary Economics, however, continues to advance and refine its theories and applications and ages like wine, while so-called “mainstream economics” (i.e., Keynesian, Monetarist, and Austrian) continues to degenerate and ages like milk. 

JTW Podcast: Late Modern Philosophy Part 1: The Roots of Continental Philosophy

 Today, we present “Part 1” of Professor Dave’s talk on Late Modern Philosophy.  As Professor Dave says, “Modern philosophy began to approach its final stages in the early 19th century as two important groups began to form. These are the continental and analytic traditions, and these two groups will guide our investigation for the next significant portion of the series. Let's start out by examining the roots of continental philosophy, by focusing on figures like Schopenhauer, Kierkegaard, Emerson, and Nietzsche.”:

News from the Network, Vol. 18, No. 39

 Much of this week’s news items wouldn’t be news items if the Economic Democracy Act: had been adopted.  Keep that in mind as you read:

The Trumpet Must Sound

 Today we have a guest blog from Mr. G.C. Stevenson, a regular reader who was the “prime mover” behind the republication of Fulton Sheen’s “long lost” classic, Freedom Under God.

Fulton Sheen’s Warning for a Nation in Moral Freefall

By G.C. Stevenson

JTW Podcast: Political Philosophy Part 2: Wollstonecraft, Bentham, Mill, and Marx

 Today, we present “Part 2” of Professor Dave’s talk on Political Philosophy.  As Professor Dave says, “We just got an introduction to modern political philosophy, so let's continue by looking at some additional important figures approaching the contemporary era. These are Mary Wollstonecraft, Jeremy Bentham, John Stuart Mill, and Karl Marx. This was a time when humanist ideas began to shape society, as marginalized groups began to seek rights, and critiques of capitalism arose. How did these figures come up with the ideas that would underscore much of the changes to come in the 20th century?”:

News from the Network, Vol. 18, No. 38

As has become usual, this week’s news items reflect the chaos of both Keynesian economics and contemporary politics.  Naturally, we think the way to correct the situation is to adopt the Economic Democracy Act:

What’s So Great About Louis Kelso?

 Louis O. Kelso is today best known as the inventor of the Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP).  Despite the near-total global hegemony of Keynesian economics which assumes nothing can be done unless wealth is concentrated and government must be in charge of everything, the ESOP remains important to broaden the base of capital ownership.

JTW Podcast: Political Philosophy Part 1: Machiavelli, Rousseau, and Smith

Today, we present “Part 1” of Professor Dave’s talk on Political Philosophy.  As Professor Dave says, “With an understanding of the most important movements in modern philosophy, those being rationalism, empiricism, and idealism, we are ready to see how these modes of thought influenced politics, by examining the political philosophy of the era. Key early figures in this time were Niccoló Machiavelli, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and Adam Smith, among many others. What ideas were they working with at the time?:

News from the Network, Vol. 18, No. 37

 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:

The Rich are Different

 Ordinary people’s reactions regarding the possibility of getting the Economic Democracy Act adopted soon — or at all, for that matter — often take the form of asserting “they” won’t go for it or allow it.  And who are “they”?  The rich, the powerful, those who rely on the rich and powerful or want to, or who are afraid of them.

What Would Trajan Do? Part II

 As we saw last week, Ancient Rome had a problem with slaves convicted of crimes doing the work of honest municipal slaves, receiving pay and benefits, and generally causing scandal by taking jobs from other slaves and foreigners.  Still, rather than simply get rid of the illegal slaves (which would have exacerbated the chronic labor shortage), the Emperor Trajan came up with a solution.

JTW Podcast: Idealism Part 2: Fichte, Schiller, Hegel, and Schelling

Today, we present “Part 2” of Professor Dave’s talk on Idealism.  As Professor Dave says, “We introduced the movement of idealism and discussed its most important early proponents, such as George Berkeley and Immanuel Kant. Now let's examine the key figures that were to follow, including Johann Fichte, Friedrich Schiller, Georg Hegel, and Friedrich Schelling. Where did they take these ideas? Let's find out!”:

News from the Network, Vol. 18, No. 36

 The global economic and political situation remains such that we could pretty much just run the News from the Network from the previous week, and some people wouldn’t even notice.  If you want to see something different, then, get Congress to adopt the Economic Democracy Act:

Who Will Own America?

Back at the dawn of the 20^th century, Judge Peter Stengar Grosscup (one of Theodore Roosevelt’s “Trust Busters”) published a series of articles on the importance of ordinary Americans becoming owners of the commercial, industrial, and agricultural productive wealth.  One of these articles was titled “Who Shall Own America?”, published in the December 1905 issue of The American Magazine.

JTW Podcast: Idealism Part 1: Berkeley and Kant

 Today, we present “Part 1” of Professor Dave’s talk on Idealism.  This starts to get into the area of what Catholic social teaching evolved directly to counter; in a sense, Emmanuel Kant did to Protestant Christianity what Félicité de Lamennais did to Catholic Christianity: remove individual intellect and make everything faith-based (to grossly oversimplify).

News from the Network, Vol. 18, No. 35

 Heavy sigh.  One of the problems with reporting on what is going on economically and how it affects the Just Third Way of Economic Personalism is that the basic situation doesn’t seem to be changing because too many people keep making the wrong assumptions about the way the world really works economically — and only adopting the Economic Democracy Act will resolve the issue:

What Would Trajan Do? Part I

 Once upon a time, in the glory days of the Roman Empire, Pliny the Younger had a problem.  It seems certain slaves of the lesser sort — those who had been condemned to slavery for criminal activities — had managed to insinuate themselves into the ranks of municipal slaves.

JTW Podcast: Empiricism Part 2: Locke, Hume, and Voltaire

Today, we present “Part 2” of Professor Dave’s talk on Empiricism.  As Prof. D. says, “We’ve learned about the early figures in the empiricist movement, so let’s continue along the timeline to examine John Locke, David Hume, and Voltaire, among other key figures in the late 17th century. Empiricism helped set the tone for contemporary philosophy, so let's see what these philosophers had to say!”:

News from the Network, Vol. 18, No. 34

 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:

Own or Be . . . What?

 AI — Artificial Intelligence — has been in the news a lot recently.  Possibly this is because the powers-that-be and so-called world leaders seem to exhibit so little of the natural kind.  That purportedly being the case, a regular reader of this blog began asking questions of AI (who better to ask?) about what people who have always worked for a living or who expected to have to work for a living are going to do when AI has taken all the jobs, the Universal Basic Income bites the dust, and the government can no longer fund welfare or even Social Security.

JTW Podcast: Empiricism Part 1: Da Vinci, Bacon, and Hobbes

Today, for our 400^th podcast, we return to Professor Dave who “knows a lot of stuff.”  We don’t always agree with him, but at least we can figure out what those disagreements are!  This podcast is about empiricism.  As Professor Dave says,

News from the Network, Vol. 18, No. 33

 It appears that the somewhat delayed effect of the Terrible Trump Tariffs will soon be kicking in, and “the average American” — despite all the promises made — will soon be kicked in the teeth by rising prices and disappearing jobs, neither of which will be fixed by trying to change reality.  The only real solution is to adopt the Economic Democracy Act as soon as possible:

Why Economists Reject Binary Economics, V: “Perceived Policy Risks and Inflation Concerns”

The four previous postings on this subject — why so-called mainstream economists reject Binary Economics — we have looked at 1) Lack of Empirical and Econometric Support, 2) Heterodox and Non-Conventional Framework, 3) Criticism of Core Concepts, Particularly “Productiveness”, and 4) Negative Reception by Prominent Economists.  This last, the “negative reception” by prominent economists, is possibly the weakest reason given.

JTW Podcast: The Social Program of Pope Leo XIV

Many people are intrigued by the first U.S.-born pope’s choice of regnal name and his declaration that he would take Pope Leo XIII’s 1891 encyclical, Rerum Novarum as his guide.  What does this mean not merely for Catholics, but for everyone?  Dawn Brohawn and Michael D. Greaney give their thoughts on the matter:

News from the Network, Vol. 18, No. 32

 It continues to be difficult to report on news items relating to the Just Third Way when the media are filled with the economic chaos being spread without regard of anything connected to reality.  As always, however, we believe the solution to the chaos and quite a few other things is to adopt the Economic Democracy Act:

Why Economists Reject Binary Economics, IV: “Negative Reception”

 In the three previous postings on this subject, we have been examining (as the title of this posting suggests) why mainstream economists reject Binary Economics.  So far, we have looked at 1) Lack of Empirical and Econometric Support, 2) Heterodox and Non-Conventional Framework, and 3) Criticism of Core Concepts, Particularly “Productiveness”.  Today we look at perhaps the weakest reason, even though some in the modern world give it the greatest weight: Negative Reception by Prominent Economists: the “Non amo te, Sabidi” (“I do not like thee, Doctor Fell”) syndrome:

JTW Podcast: Louis Kelso on 60 Minutes

Mike Wallace interviews the inventor of the ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership Plan), Louis O. Kelso. They discuss ESOP Pros and Cons, ESOP detractors, and Kelso answers the question: “What is an ESOP?”

News from the Network, Vol. 18, No. 31

 With an appalling sameness, this week’s news items strongly resemble those of last week . . . and the week before . . . and the week before that, and so on.  Some of the reasons are given below in the items listed, but frankly, this situation is going to continue until the Economic Democracy Act is adopted: