Alternative
Insight
How to
Create an Economic Downfall
Weeks
of Congressional budget debate misplaced the objective of resolving the
No
best minds gathered pertinent data, sifted through analytical expressions, or
spoke decisive words. Rhetoric replaced knowledge. Spurious words displaced truths. Demagoguery
ruled.
The
debate did not resolve any problem. Instead, the stock market response and
S&P rating system indicated the debate had engineered an economic downfall.
Nobody seemed to realize that the current account deficit and sidetracking of
excessive domestic funds have forced government deficits to compensate for the
loss of liquidity and purchasing power. The economy does not want a balanced
budget. Cut the deficit and the economy stalls. Allow increased deficits and
steer the nation towards bankruptcy. The principal solution to the fiscal
liability demands decreasing the domestic and foreign balances. This equates to
the domestic account acquiring more investment and shifting government
borrowing, which is backed by a falling full faith and credit of the
The
most discussed topic, budget balancing by tax reform, only shifts purchasing
power between the government and private sectors. Neither raising nor cutting
the income tax increases total purchasing power in the system, which is the
purpose of government deficits. Tax reform contains separate issues of fairness, how government burdens are shared, distribution of income, and optimizing
spending.
Progressive
representatives railed against anticipated cuts in social programs and budget
failure to reduce defense spending. These representatives spoke valid issues,
but not the vital issue. Better to speak of how to induce manufacturers to
produce and invest more in the
The
New York Times gauged the deal accurately.
From
Spending to Cuts, While the Economy Stalls
By
BINYAMIN
APPELBAUM and CATHERINE
RAMPELL,
. ,
Last
week brought the disconcerting news that the economy grew no faster than the
population during the first six months of the year, in part because of spending
cuts by state and local governments. Now the federal government is cutting,
too. "Unemployment will be higher than it would have been otherwise," Mohamed El-Erian,
chief executive of the bond investment firm Pimco, said Sunday on ABC. "Growth will be lower
than it would be otherwise. And inequality will be worse than it would be
otherwise."
He
added, "We have a very weak economy, so withdrawing more spending at this stage
will make it even weaker."
By
quoting Carmen Reinhart, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for
International Economics and co-author of "This Time Is Different," a history of
debt crises, the NYT demonstrated how accepted economists miss the significant
and escape scrutiny by a simple recognition of their mishaps.
"We
sure missed a big window of opportunity to reduce our debt in those strong
years when asset prices were booming. Instead, we're stuck trying to do it now,
when the economy is so weak."
The
article's statement by Torsten Slok,
chief international economist at Deutsche Bank, clarified the lack of depth in
economic textbooks and indicated that economists read the wrong texts.
"It's
difficult to find a textbook to tell you what should you do now."
The
Republican authors of the debt ceiling deal say that cutting the size of
government will increase economic growth down the road because federal
borrowing soaks up money otherwise available to private businesses and federal
spending distributes that money inefficiently.
Some
conservative economists argue that even the immediate impact of a deal could be
positive. Classic economic theory holds that people respond to the growth of
government by spending less of their own money, because they assume that taxes
will increase. A reduction in the federal debt therefore should encourage
people to spend more of their money.
"From
an accounting point of view, it seems obvious that you would reduce G.D.P. if you cut government spending,"
said Randall Kroszner, an economics professor at the
All
of these statements lack proofs, analysis, theory, or positive agreements from
reliable economists; just a bunch of subjective assertions gathered from dubious
statistics and accompanied by a reference to Classic Economic theory. What
classic economic theory?
The
seriousness of the lack of knowledge and void of necessary attention to reasons
for a rapidly falling economy focuses on growing segments of the
Beyond
Exports: A Better Case for Free Trade
by
Daniel J. Ikenson and Scott Lincicome,
Cato Free Trade Bulletin no. 43
The case for free trade is much broader than the one that trumpets only export
potential. And it is more elegant. The most principled case is a moral one:
voluntary economic exchange is inherently fair, benefits both parties, and
allocates scarce resources more efficiently than a system under which government
dictates or limits choices. Moreover, government intervention in voluntary
economic exchange on behalf of some citizens necessarily comes at the expense
of others and is inherently unfair, inefficient, and subverts the rule of law.
Is
it moral to move production around the world to locate the lowest labor content
in order to achieve the largest profits? "Voluntary economic exchange of some
citizens," or "seeking an additional few cents of profit, regardless of the
detrimental effects on all citizens?" Which rule of law does the government
intervention (what intervention?) subvert?
If
imports detract from growth and reduce the number of jobs in the economy, then
why does import value tend to rise when the economy is expanding and adding
jobs and fall when the economy is contracting and shedding jobs?
Insinuating
that imports enable growth is equivalent to saying that light enables the sun
to come up. This backward look does not consider the simple; when people work,
they have money to spend. Unfortunately, domestic production cannot fulfill
their needs and they are forced to purchase imports. This prevents purchasing
power for domestic goods, causing an economic lapse and government deficits as
a rescue plan.
Imports
are vital to economic growth.
Are
imports vital or without recourse? Isn't that the problem? The imports are
either unique or less expensive than domestically produced goods, both of which
are satisfactory reasons, and worthwhile benefits from imports. Nevertheless,
they do not merit a sweeping assertion of being "vital to economic growth."
Wouldn't it be preferable if all value-added were domestic?
The
Cato economists don't mention that foreign borrowing compensates the deficits
in trade balance. The foreign debt is now $4.5 trillion and cannot be repaid
without purchasing power leaving the country or by a positive balance of trade.
They seem to suggest this is not a problem, and the
The
U.S. Congress, conventional economics, and conventional media have
misinterpreted the deficit crisis. It's not a crisis due to government mismanagement.
It's a crisis due to private mismanagement and a failure to recognize that the
economic system runs on debt and needs a much-needed overhaul. Will the
government and private sector heed the call to action based on thought and do
what has to be done? Probably not. The wealthy will
maintain their S&P subscriptions and have the first read of the
additional downgrades following the great fall.
alternativeinsight
august 7, 2011
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