–What is America’s goal? A “tri-focus” approach. Shrink, grow, maintain.

Facebook: Rodger Malcolm Mitchell

Mitchell’s laws:
●Those, who do not understand the differences between Monetary Sovereignty and monetary non-sovereignty, do not understand economics.
●The more federal budgets are cut and taxes increased, the weaker an economy becomes. .
●Liberals think the purpose of government is to protect the poor and powerless from the rich and powerful. Conservatives think the purpose of government is to protect the rich and powerful from the poor and powerless.
●Austerity is the government’s method for widening the gap between rich and poor.
●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.
●Everything in economics devolves to motive, and the motive is the Gap.
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Before retirement, I specialized in small business turnarounds. I entered troubled small businesses, and brought them back to life.

The first step: Analyze their problems – and really the word should be “problem” (singular), because inevitably they all had the same problem: Lack of focus.

Usually, they had a core business, and they had side businesses. They seemed to feel they could “do that at the same time they did this,” and get extra income.

Unfortunately, the side businesses took time, attention and money away from the core business. They diluted the core business functionality and identity in the eyes of existing and potential customers.

The first goal: Focus on a core business narrow enough that you could be the biggest among any competitors in that core business.

Example: An educational software company had created one excellent program – a business simulation program – that they sold to college students, who used it to experience running a simulated business.

Additionally, the company created ad hoc specialty programs for anyone who wanted one. The ad hoc programs usually were “one offs” – programs that were sold once. The business simulation was sold year after year to college students – an ongoing income stream.

I focused them on one goal: Making their business simulation for colleges the most popular in the world. We eliminated the ad hoc simulations. The result of that focus: The business simulation, in fact, became the world’s most popular for college students.

The income lost by eliminating ad hoc simulations was made up a hundred fold by the increase in core business sales. The reason: There are many important marketing advantages to being the #1 in any business.

Another example: A company used telemarketing to sell used lawbooks to attorneys, and also had a retail store that sold office nicknacks to attorneys (scales of justice, pen sets, etc).

We closed the store and focused all our efforts on selling used lawbooks. We became the world’s largest, and importantly, became well known among lawyers. Any lawyer who wanted books thought of us.

This is what these companies learned: You will succeed by focusing on the goal of being #1. There is a great temptation to reach in many directions, but by doing so, you will fail in all.

One benefit of focus is that you get every employee on the same page. All can visualize where you want to go. Their suggestions will tend to be on point. Their decisions will be appropriate. They will understand the question: “Will this help get us to where we want to go?”

That brings us to the title question: What is America’s goal? Where do we want to go? What is our focus?

Do we wish to:

–Increase national economic growth?
–Prevent global warming?
–Save our ecology?
–Improve fairness in the legal system?
–Increase the physical and psychological well-being of all Americans?
–Reduce abortions?
–Improve mass transportation?
–Reduce air and water pollution?
–Increase the prosperity of all Americans?
–Narrow the Gap between the rich and the rest?
–Reduce illegal drug use?
–Reduce bigotry?
–Reduce poverty?
–Reduce crime?
–Reduce unemployment?
–Foster democracy?
–Increase domestic freedom?
–Make voting fairer?
–Increase privacy?
–Reduce illegal immigration?
–Improve our education?
–Increase exports?
–Bring democracy to other nations?
–Foster domestic freedom?
–Win the Olympics?
–Bring freedom to other nations?
–Make us safer from foreign powers?
–All of the above?

There probably are many other goals you can imagine, and that is the point. Ask any ten people, “What is America’s goal,” and you may receive ten different answers.

What is your answer?

When I first asked small business owners what they felt were their most important goals, they had many different answers. But, there only was one correct answer: “Identify and focus on a core business that I can make the #1 in my world.

It was another way of asking, “How can I be the best?” It forces one to ask, “The best at what?” And that is the beginning of focus.

If we ask, “How can America be the best?” the next question is, “The best at what?”

Those are the two questions every Presidential candidate, every CEO, every leader should ask and answer: “How can we be the best? The best at what?” It’s what’s known as leadership.

Yet few Presidents or candidates do it.

Our national leaders seldom seem to articulate a national goal. Rather, each Presidential speech, and each economist’s paper, offers a partial solution to the problem du jour.

Too many unemployed? Try some form of “jobs guarantee.” (Which form? We have no idea.)
Taxes too high? Add a few more deductions. (Which deductions? We have no idea.)
Poverty? Food stamps. (Or public housing. Or Medicaid. Or school vouchers. Which? All? We have no idea.)

Now in truth, the federal government is not the same as a small business. Far from it. For a “company” as big as the U.S. government, focusing on one core goal might not be appropriate. Still, the nation needs focus.

Offering a focus allows the citizens to understand what our nation and our leaders wish to accomplish, and to evaluate ideas based on accomplishing that goal.

So, I suggest this “tri-focus”:

1. Shrink the Gap between the rich and the rest
2. Grow the real (inflation adjusted) per-capita economy
3. Maintain national security

And that’s it. Shrink, grow and maintain. Focus on those three goals and everything good will follow.

That focus also allows us not only to evaluate ideas and plans, but also allows us to evaluate our progress.

Has the Gap between the rich and the rest narrowed? Has the real per-capita economy grown? Have we maintained national security?

(Based on our progress toward those specific goals, how successful has the current Presidency and Congress been?)

Rodger Malcolm Mitchell
Monetary Sovereignty

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Ten Steps to Prosperity:
1. Eliminate FICA (Click here)
2. Federally funded Medicare — parts A, B & D plus long term nursing care — for everyone (Click here)
3. Provide an Economic Bonus to every man, woman and child in America, and/or every state a per capita Economic Bonus. (Click here) Or institute a reverse income tax.
4. Free education (including post-grad) for everyone. Click here
5. Salary for attending school (Click here)
6. Eliminate corporate taxes (Click here)
7. Increase the standard income tax deduction annually. (Refer to this.)
8. Tax the very rich (.1%) more, with higher, progressive tax rates on all forms of income. (Click here)
9. Federal ownership of all banks (Click here and here)
10. Increase federal spending on the myriad initiatives that benefit America’s 99% (Click here)

The Ten Steps will add dollars to the economy, stimulate the economy, and narrow the income/wealth/power Gap between the rich and the rest.
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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.
1. A growing economy requires a growing supply of dollars (GDP=Federal Spending + Non-federal Spending + Net Exports)
2. All deficit spending grows the supply of dollars
3. The limit to federal deficit spending is an inflation that cannot be cured with interest rate control.
4. The limit to non-federal deficit spending is the ability to borrow.

THE RECESSION CLOCK

Vertical gray bars mark recessions.

As the federal deficit growth lines drop, we approach recession, which will be cured only when the growth lines rise. Increasing federal deficit growth (aka “stimulus”) is necessary for long-term economic growth.

#MONETARYSOVEREIGNTY