Why the economy grows when the stimulus shrinks

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Mitchell’s laws:
●The more federal budgets are cut and taxes increased, the weaker an economy becomes.
●Austerity is the government’s method for widening the gap between rich and poor, which ultimately leads to civil disorder.
●Until the 99% understand the need for federal deficits, the upper 1% will rule.
●To survive long term, a monetarily non-sovereign government must have a positive balance of payments.
●Those, who do not understand the differences between Monetary Sovereignty and monetary non-sovereignty, do not understand economics.
●The penalty for ignorance is slavery.
●Everything in economics devolves to motive.
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At one point, I was a partner in an advertising agency. Our biggest client was the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company, the producers of Wrigley’s Spearmint, Doublemint and Juicy Fruit gums (among myriad other brands).

The story is told about Philip K. Wrigley, son of the company’s founder who, along with a friend, was a passenger on a plane. The plane was in takeoff mode, and had just lifted off the ground.

The friend turned to Mr. Wrigley and said, “Phil, I’ve been thinking about your business. Almost everyone in America, if not the world, knows about Wrigley’s gum. Why do you keep spending so many millions on advertising? Why not just keep that money as profits.”

Mr. Wrigley’s response was, “This plane is going about 300 miles per hour and accelerating. If they shut off the engines, our momentum would keep us climbing for a while. But if the engines didn’t come back on soon, eventually we would crash.”

Economy hums along, proves taxing and spending prognosticators wrong
By Patrice Hill-The Washington Times Sunday, July 28, 2013

The U.S. economy has fared better than expected this year after widespread fears that $85 billion of automatic spending cuts and sharp increases in taxes imposed at the beginning of the year would snuff out growth.

Despite the unprecedented withdrawal of massive federal stimulus from the economy, the abrupt withdrawal of $600 billion of tax cuts Jan. 1, and state and local spending cuts of historic proportions in the past five years, the U.S. economic growth has trudged along at a 2 percent average rate since the recovery began in mid-2009.

I fully expect the debt hawks to claim current growth proves the need of more austerity. Hey, we’re cutting budgets and the economy is growing. What could be clearer?

Well, perhaps the following could be clearer:

It’s a graph of federal debt held by the public, one measure of net federal spending — the same graph you saw at: This graph predicts the future. What does it tell you? Wednesday, Jun 12 2013

The graph teaches that:

1. Every recession since 1959 has begun when net federal spending growth has fallen, relative to the previous year (aka austerity).

2. Every recession has ended during a time when net federal spending growth has risen.

3. The momentum generated by increases in net spending growth always carries the economy for several years after the economic engine slows down. About 10 years of reduced spending growth caused the recession of 2001. Only four years of reduces spending growth preceded the recession of 2008.

Why the difference? Other factors, in addition to net federal spending growth, lead to recessions. Wars, inflations, natural disasters, energy costs, interest rates, technological discoveries and implementation and unemployment, just to name a few.

Yet, reduced net federal spending growth precedes every recession. It is the one factor common to all 8 recessions.

The U.S. economy’s surprisingly good performance “breathes new life into the debate” over whether spending cuts and tax increases inevitably pose threats to growth that political leaders and economists have assumed, said Christopher Papagianis, who was a domestic policy adviser to President George W. Bush.

Look at the sharp increase in net federal spending growth that cured the most recent recession, and the sharp decrease since.

Our leaders consider a 2% – 3% growth from the abyss “good performance” — something to be thrilled about. Well, perhaps, but really, is the trend all that impressive?

Look how current GDP growth compares with previous post-recession growth rates. Not much to brag about.

Despite our leaders’ smug self-assurance that the economy can grow while net federal spending is cut, they are leading us into yet another recession. Exactly, when will it come? No one can say, because no one can predict and weigh the other factors.

But come it will, and the cause will not be a “natural” cycle. There is nothing natural about a recession. The cause will be reduced federal stimulus.

(Remember how the debt hawks made “stimulus” a bad word, and the public bought into it — as though growing the economy was something to be avoided.)

Now, slowly and surely, as our economic world once again unnecessarily collapses, our bought-and-paid-for politicians continue to fight against “big government,” and for tax “simplification” with a “broader tax base,” and against federal stimulus, and for Social Security “reform” — and the gap between the rich and the rest continues to grow.

But facts? Who needs ’em? Right?

The Congressional Budget Office continues to forecast that the automatic spending cuts will reduce growth by about a half-percentage point and cost the economy about 700,000 jobs.

To quote the brilliant Texas Governor Perry: “OOPS!”

Rodger Malcolm Mitchell
Monetary Sovereignty

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Nine Steps to Prosperity:
1. Eliminate FICA (Click here)
2. Medicare — parts A, B & D — for everyone
3. Send every American citizen an annual check for $5,000 or give every state $5,000 per capita (Click here)
4. Long-term nursing care for everyone
5. Free education (including post-grad) for everyone. Click here
6. Salary for attending school (Click here)
7. Eliminate corporate taxes
8. Increase the standard income tax deduction annually
9. Increase federal spending on the myriad initiatives that benefit America’s 99%

10 Steps to Economic Misery: (Click here:)
1. Maintain or increase the FICA tax..
2. Spread the myth Social Security, Medicare and the U.S. government are insolvent.
3. Cut federal employment in the military, post office, other federal agencies.
4. Broaden the income tax base so more lower income people will pay.
5. Cut financial assistance to the states.
6. Spread the myth federal taxes pay for federal spending.
7. Allow banks to trade for their own accounts; save them when their investments go sour.
8. Never prosecute any banker for criminal activity.
9. Nominate arch conservatives to the Supreme Court.
10. Reduce the federal deficit and debt

No nation can tax itself into prosperity, nor grow without money growth. Monetary Sovereignty: Cutting federal deficits to grow the economy is like applying leeches to cure anemia.
Two key equations in economics:
1. Federal Deficits – Net Imports = Net Private Savings
2. Gross Domestic Product = Federal Spending + Private Investment and Consumption – Net Imports

#MONETARY SOVEREIGNTY