This is part of a series that reflects on the implications of what societies choose to equate with wealth.
You might think that productivity is a big deal in this country, what with the attention given to Gross Domestic Productivity, or GDP. A closer look of what our GDP truly represents refutes this notion. First, consider [...]
This is part of a series that reflects on the implications of what societies choose to equate with wealth.
You do not have to go far away or back in time to find evidence of people treating consumption as wealth. Indeed, the American “trader” does not come to mind so much as the American “consumer,” and [...]
This series reflects on the implications of what societies choose to equate with wealth.
Evolution involves trial and error. Given a cold climate, and the ability of species to mutate, over time they will develop an insulation covering like fur and become more rounded. Other mutations might occur, such as becoming more elongated, but the organisms [...]
I began my economic research early in 2005 by acquiring an economics course on CD, taught by Dr. Timothy Taylor, economist at Macalester College. Two economic doctrines jumped out at me right at the start. There are allegedly three basic questions for the economics of resource distribution: how are resources distributed; who gets them; and [...]
In Systems out of Balance I often point out the similarities between economics and ecology. Both disciplines look at resource distribution; ecology focuses on natural systems of resource distribution, economics on cultural systems. In particular I draw parallels between the survival strategies of organisms and the survival strategies of economic systems.
Our own economic system is [...]
In the last entry I commented on a clever comment. Someone called me to task for claiming there is a Powell Cabal. No such cabal exists in the literal sense, but I explained the meaning of the Powell Cabal in the metaphoric sense and thanked whoever the commenter was for prodding me to be explicit [...]
This is the enticement to one financial rescue plan I’ve heard floated around. Instead of government bailing out corporations (which, for the record, I’m against), give everyone 55 years of age or older a million bucks for their retirement. This increases consumer spending objective, reduces dependence on social security and meets a few other objectives. [...]
This is the second entry of a quick series for empirically comparing administrations. The first entry claimed it was too soon to compare Obama and Bush II, and that it would be useful to establish empirical criteria for comparing them rather than cherry pick data to reinforce an opinion as time goes on. I also [...]
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This is part of a series responding to President Obama’s call to stimulate consumer spending. The case is being made that consumers can spend on various things, some of which are not helpful. What we specifically need to target is closing the gap between productivity and capital that has been created from nothing.
Earlier this millennium [...]
Continue reading about Stimulating Productivity through Diversity
The title of this post sounds like I’m crazy, particularly if you read much on laissez faire economics. Such economists point to taxes as a disincentive for whatever is being taxed. That’s precisely what I’m counting on.
I recently posted data that showed how producers of capital have far outpaced overall economic production. Not surprisingly, throughout [...]
Continue reading about Stimulating Productivity through Taxes
