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Darren New wrote:
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/380923.stm?
The basic problems with the economy are multifold:
1. Most people let themselves be wowed by the credentials of our
"authorities" on economics, and set aside common sense. A lot of what
gets peddled in economics, even from the most prominent names in the
field, can only work in the short term.
2. Because most people work and live on a monetary basis (ie., they
work for money to buy what they need to live), the notion that money
represents actual wealth is pandemic.
3. Of all of the crank ideas in economics, few of them bring no
short-term benefit to anybody at all; most of them, while damaging the
economy in general, bring a definite short-term benefit to a small
number of people. These people can afford to devote time an energy to
seeing their ideas implemented, whereas the loss for an individual in
the majority is smaller than the cost of successfully fighting the idea.
The writer of the article shows an excellent example of these three
facts. There are a small number of people who profit enormously from
the high debt levels of Western democracies. Just about everyone else
is screwed. When one of the screwed among us voices his or her
objections to the idea of carrying a chronic debt, we are told that the
high debt levels enable a more prosperous economy (because the numbers
after the currency symbols are larger), and we are also told to yield to
the experts.
It's also turning out that Keynes was wrong; the Roosevelt
administration proved that deficit spending to cure an economic downturn
tends to deepen and extend the downturn, and it looks like the Obama
administration is supplying more evidence of this.
All in all, I think the silliest idea ever put out is that any
government, under any party, following any philosophy, can ever "fix" an
economy. That idea has no historical foundation. A well-ordered
government can ensure the best environment for sustainable economic
growth. But if we remember that wealth consists, not of cash, but in
consumer goods, capital goods, and infrastructure, it becomes painfully
obvious that government, as government, creates no wealth whatsoever,
and is very often an unnecessary obstacle to those who do.
If our economy is ever fixed, it will not be fixed by either a
Republican of a Democratic administration, but by the people themselves.
Whether the people will have the benefit of a government of laws, and
a minimum of government-imposed obstacles, is the only variable that the
government controls.
And if you don't agree, then you, sir, are worse than Hitler.
Regards,
John
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