Why is it that economics has banned the F-word (fraud)? And the P-word as well? You know, the overwhelming effect of "policy?"
"You're building a domestic army here!" (hat tip Selva Tinnan)
Isn't this another sign of the USA's inability to adjust?
It's an interesting tape, that is generating lots of buzz. Yet does such rhetoric help?
Is there really any concerted,organized task behind domestic militarization?
Or, is it just a mindless result of a MICC-support policy run amok, seeking to sustain sales? Oh my gosh, I've used that dreaded P word again, and in a blog that's supposed to be about abstract, academic economics! Will no academics take me seriously again, after such a faux pas ... repeated?
Fraud! Policy! Fraud! Policy! Fraud! Policy! Fraud! Policy! Fraud! Policy!
(Must be a realism tic. I didn't know reality had any interest in compounding - at least in this country.)
Are there other aspects to consider? Well, here's another, random, anecdotal example in another area.
30 years back, we decided to grow more corn than ever in history. Policy! (Sorry, it's my new tic. It comes & goes.)
AFTERWARDS, people looked for what to do with it all. Slow adjustment?
Results included high-fructose corn syrup in comical places. FRAUD!
Then ethanol in most gasoline - FRAUD PLUS POLICY!! (Is there such a thing as a compounding tic? It may be contagious. Not sure if I caught this from society, or they caught if from my ancestors. It certainly seems to be a social, not just virtual syndrome. Had no idea these things could jump between individuals & whole societies. Scary.)
A corn tail wagging the national dog ... = a policy? Or a fraud. That is one question. The other is, which came first? The fraud or the policy? Either? Is any combination possible? Can they appear simultaneously? Apparently anywhere except in accepted economic literature & conversation!
Is the MICC just one variant of a deeper malaise? The FPSC? Fraud-policy-social-complex? This may be getting too taboo to ignore. Intense social self-therapy may be required.
If we can't discuss those social variants within economics, where can we? Reality? I know, that seems SO distasteful. Next thing you know, abstract economists might stoop to discussing banking and currency operations! Is nothing sacred?
Yes, we may have to adjust, and start using the F&P words more often. At least intermittantly. Luckily, it doesn't seem to require full time attention. Maybe the only adjustment needed is creation of another Automatic Stabilizer. One that keeps economists far away from operational policy? Maybe ban it's use by frauds too, so they can't hide behind it while looting S&Ls, farming, TBTF banks ... and even Congress, Fed & Treasury, etc, etc. The list of components we as a whole have used the F&P combo to self-loot ... is amazingly long, and it's growing. We may have to fight one social tic with another social tic.* Like using cowpox to immunize against smallpox.
Anyway, back to comparing corn/ethanol and MICC/domestic-weaponry. Are we doing the same thing in both situations? Corn/booze/MICC/guns ... sounds both intoxicating and incendiary. We're actually lucky that diabetes is an unanticipated side effect of high fructose corn syrup, and a natural brake on US activity rates? It does get complicated.
But what can we do? If fighting & obesity both dwindled ... who on earth would we & others sell all this stuff to? And those 2 topics are just the tip of the F&P_berg.
If we eventually had to, could we re-purpose both corn and the MICC? (Sorry, it's getting worse. I'll go wash my mouth out right after this.) How soon could we re-purpose them? Do we even know how to adjust any more? Look, how hard can it be? We might have to re-learn adjustment, but we could certainly figure it out, even if we had to start from scratch.
Anyway, back to comparing corn/ethanol and MICC/domestic-weaponry. Are we doing the same thing in both situations? Corn/booze/MICC/guns ... sounds both intoxicating and incendiary. We're actually lucky that diabetes is an unanticipated side effect of high fructose corn syrup, and a natural brake on US activity rates? It does get complicated.
But what can we do? If fighting & obesity both dwindled ... who on earth would we & others sell all this stuff to? And those 2 topics are just the tip of the F&P_berg.
If we eventually had to, could we re-purpose both corn and the MICC? (Sorry, it's getting worse. I'll go wash my mouth out right after this.) How soon could we re-purpose them? Do we even know how to adjust any more? Look, how hard can it be? We might have to re-learn adjustment, but we could certainly figure it out, even if we had to start from scratch.
Fraud! Policy! Bullshit! Fraud! Policy! Bullshit! - Off to my next therapy session. Ciao.
* Practice at logic may be a cure for the f-p social tic. And immunization with yet another tic-causing habit has been reported to work wonders. When viewing any combination of fraud and/or policy, if you practice mouthing "Bullshit!" - it seems to damp & control the F&P affinity. "Bullshit!" tic as immunization against the F&P social virus & resultant social tic? Citizens, socially immunize thyself, and thy country.
* Practice at logic may be a cure for the f-p social tic. And immunization with yet another tic-causing habit has been reported to work wonders. When viewing any combination of fraud and/or policy, if you practice mouthing "Bullshit!" - it seems to damp & control the F&P affinity. "Bullshit!" tic as immunization against the F&P social virus & resultant social tic? Citizens, socially immunize thyself, and thy country.
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