An economics, investment, trading and policy blog with a focus on Modern Monetary Theory (MMT). We seek the truth, avoid the mainstream and are virulently anti-neoliberalism.
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Tuesday, January 1, 2013
Rodger Mitchell — Republicans double down on middle class destruction. Dems not far behind.
Rodger pulls out all stops and comes out with guns blazing. Good for him. Tell it like it is.
Kabuki to dupe the rubes. Elites have regularly engineered economic contracts so they can pick up distressed assets on the cheap and suppress wages.
To paraphrase Spengler, democractic republicanism is actually plutocracy, and eventually it transforms into Caesarism, as the republic accedes to empire, the final stage of the civilization.
Is the Bush doctrine of the unitary executive, ratified by Obama, together with the suspension of civil liberties for the duration of endless war the beginning of the end of the republic?
The Dems have succeeded in leading the destruction of the middle class. The GOP is not far behind.
The GOP caved like the spineless jellyfish they constantly show themselves to be. There is going to be just $15 billion in government annual spending cuts, and $820 billion in additional annual taxes which is going to come from (almost) everybody, not just the wealthy.
For those making $150k or less, the 2% payroll tax cut is going to expire, which is another way of saying those people's taxes are going to go up.
Thank you GOP for valiantly fighting against the Dems and giving them pretty much exactly what they want!
Nearly all economic activity is a direct function of government spending.
We need to hear a logical description of how your worldview will move people to produce things...because right now the only money in existence in the economy was spent there by the government.
Check the money in your wallet...where do you think it came from?
I think that in Pete Petepete's ideal world there would be no government. Or at the very least the government would be very small, would spend very little and would not issue money (at least not 'paper money').
y, yes that's what i figured…and then we would have no economy worth talking about. We would be back to the 19th century except in a much more crowded world.
Think Thunderdome.
And I think Pete^3 might be Major_Freedom, or at least a clone.
I think that in Pete Petepete's ideal world there would be no government. Or at the very least the government would be very small, would spend very little and would not issue money (at least not 'paper money').
Yes, and I were writing a utopian novel set in the future that is probably the way I would structure it. But as I have said many times, that is not a realistic view of the world we live in and there is no indication of getting there anytime soon, chiefly because the level of collective consciousness is not up to it other than in small socially experimental groups. Bring it into current debate is a waste of time.
I'm not sure a "high level of collective consciousness" would be a strong enough organizing principle. Even in the most utopian-minded communities you need more that to get things done and to stop everything from falling apart.
Organization is institutional. The institutions of a society reflect the level of collective consciousness, along with cultural rituals. Also the ratio of positive behavioral indicators to negative behavioral.
Collective consciousness is not an observable. It is inferred from observable effects, like measurement of intelligence in terms of IQ..
Never been more frustrated...
ReplyDeleteKabuki to dupe the rubes. Elites have regularly engineered economic contracts so they can pick up distressed assets on the cheap and suppress wages.
ReplyDeleteTo paraphrase Spengler, democractic republicanism is actually plutocracy, and eventually it transforms into Caesarism, as the republic accedes to empire, the final stage of the civilization.
Is the Bush doctrine of the unitary executive, ratified by Obama, together with the suspension of civil liberties for the duration of endless war the beginning of the end of the republic?
The Dems have succeeded in leading the destruction of the middle class. The GOP is not far behind.
ReplyDeleteThe GOP caved like the spineless jellyfish they constantly show themselves to be. There is going to be just $15 billion in government annual spending cuts, and $820 billion in additional annual taxes which is going to come from (almost) everybody, not just the wealthy.
For those making $150k or less, the 2% payroll tax cut is going to expire, which is another way of saying those people's taxes are going to go up.
Thank you GOP for valiantly fighting against the Dems and giving them pretty much exactly what they want!
Note: When I say "spending", I mean on the fiscal side, not the monetary policy side.
ReplyDeleteHere's the problem three-Pete...
ReplyDeleteNearly all economic activity is a direct function of government spending.
We need to hear a logical description of how your worldview will move people to produce things...because right now the only money in existence in the economy was spent there by the government.
Check the money in your wallet...where do you think it came from?
Pete Petepete
ReplyDeleteAre you Major_Freedom?
W. Mosler proposes suspending FICA for the time being.
ReplyDeletePaul,
ReplyDeleteI think that in Pete Petepete's ideal world there would be no government. Or at the very least the government would be very small, would spend very little and would not issue money (at least not 'paper money').
y, yes that's what i figured…and then we would have no economy worth talking about. We would be back to the 19th century except in a much more crowded world.
ReplyDeleteThink Thunderdome.
And I think Pete^3 might be Major_Freedom, or at least a clone.
I think that in Pete Petepete's ideal world there would be no government. Or at the very least the government would be very small, would spend very little and would not issue money (at least not 'paper money').
ReplyDeleteYes, and I were writing a utopian novel set in the future that is probably the way I would structure it. But as I have said many times, that is not a realistic view of the world we live in and there is no indication of getting there anytime soon, chiefly because the level of collective consciousness is not up to it other than in small socially experimental groups. Bring it into current debate is a waste of time.
I'm not sure a "high level of collective consciousness" would be a strong enough organizing principle. Even in the most utopian-minded communities you need more that to get things done and to stop everything from falling apart.
ReplyDeleteOrganization is institutional. The institutions of a society reflect the level of collective consciousness, along with cultural rituals. Also the ratio of positive behavioral indicators to negative behavioral.
ReplyDeleteCollective consciousness is not an observable. It is inferred from observable effects, like measurement of intelligence in terms of IQ..