–The psychological basis for all economics.

Twitter: @rodgermitchell; Search #monetarysovereignty
Facebook: Rodger Malcolm Mitchell

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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“Everything in economics devolves to motive.”

Economics is a science based partly on human psychology, which is why effect does not rise smoothly from cause, and prediction is elusive. Any theory in economics, that ignores human psychology, is lacking.

We humans, being social animals, form societies. Most societies have Leaders and Followers. In human societies, Leaders have special powers.

Evolution has taught Followers they benefit when their Leaders are strong and effective and care about the well-being of Followers. So Followers are motivated to believe their Leaders have those traits.

Caring most often is a function of proximity or shared experiences. Typically, we care most about our parents, spouses and children. They are closest to us.

Sliding down the list, we may care for other close relatives, friends, close neighbors, far neighbors, people sharing similar life experiences and very distant relatives.

Well down the list, might be strangers sharing our religion and nationality, followed by strangers, not of our religion or nationality.

Followers are motivated to close the Gap between them and their Leaders, which can include physically being close or communicating with, or sharing some life experience with, Leaders. Followers feel more comfortable when they can “touch” their leaders, literally or figuratively.

By contrast, evolution has taught Leaders to strive to widen the Gap between them and their Followers, lest the Followers not respect the Leaders’ superiority, or even challenge the Leaders for power.

PROTOCOLS
Leaders create protocols to widen the Gap. In Japan, the Follower bows lowest, while the Leader may barely nod. Popes and kings wear crowns and special robes. They live in castles, and they demand special forms of address, all to separate themselves from their Followers.

Leaders address Followers by first names, while Followers respond with “Mr.” or “Sir” or “Dr.” or “Senator” or “Excellency.” That is how the Gap is maintained.

American leaders may be rich, famous and/or have a powerful position in society. Your boss is a Leader and you are a Follower, except when you are a Leader and your assistant is a Follower.

You may not think about it consciously, but there are protocols that separate you from your boss and separate your assistant from you. Followers follow protocols to strengthen and to gain favor with (i.e. come closer to) their Leaders. Followers obey commands and demonstrate appreciation for their Leaders. (No one ever was fired for giving the boss a gift or laughing at the boss’s jokes.)

Leaders follow protocols to strengthen the fealty of their Followers (i.e. small gifts called “social spending”), while widening the Gap between them and their Followers.

So, there is the conflict of Leaders widening the Gap with Followers, while maintaining them as servants, and Followers trying to close the Gap, while pleasing Leaders. It is a conflict marked by Followers’ envy and needs vs. Leaders’ contempt and needs.

YOUR FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS
Typically, the vast majority of your friends and neighbors are in financial circumstances similar to yours.

You probably live in a neighborhood matching your wealth. Poor people are geographically restricted by finances. But even rich people, who can live anywhere, prefer to live among other rich people and associate with other rich people.

This is no accident. It is a matter of comfort. The rich feel uncomfortable when a poor person comes close, except in the role of servant. Even then, protocols are followed to maintain or widen the Gap.

THE RICH AND THE POLITICIANS
America’s primary Leaders are first the rich and then the politicians, who are controlled by the rich (via campaign contributions and promises of lucrative employment.)

Both have similar desires: The rich want an underclass, tame enough to accept hard work for moderate-to-minimal reward, and not to demand more power or proximity.

The politicians, servants of the rich, want an underclass, tame enough to accept lies about the need for minimal reward, and not to demand more power or proximity.

Over time, the rich developed worldwide, the BIG LIE – the ridiculous-on-the-face-of-it lie that a sovereign nation can run short of its own sovereign currency. This is the lie that keeps the underclasses in chains.

MONETARY SOVEREIGNTY
Even a few seconds of thought should be sufficient to make one realize, a Monetarily Sovereign nation, which invented the laws that created its currency, always has the power to create more of that currency. The federal government does it, daily.

Why then do Americans believe President Obama when he lies that “America must live within its means”? Why do Americans believe Congressman Boehner when he lies that, “America is broke”?

We are genetically disposed to rely on our Leaders and part of that reliance is the tendency to accept what they tell us.

Only a few more seconds of thought should be sufficient to show how a sovereign nation can prevent or create inflation by giving its sovereign currency any exchange value it chooses. Many nations arbitrarily have changed the exchange value of their sovereign currency.

Why then do Americans believe Fed Chairman Bernanke when he pretends inflation is something that could happen beyond America’s control, and that he heroically is working to control it?

The reason is simple: Our Leaders have brainwashed us into believing only their strong hands separate us from chaos, despite the clear facts that it is our Leaders who, consciously or not, create chaos, as a Gap-widening measure.

One is reminded of young girls who stay enslaved by their pimps, because in their innocence, they believe their pimps protect them from a cruel world. It’s what their pimps tell them. It’s what our pimps tell us.

ANTI-ABORTION
Consider contraception and anti-abortion laws, which never seem quite strict enough for some politicians. These actually are economic laws, but with a moral veneer.

The rich pay no attention to such laws. They buy abortions at will. But the poor are trapped by these laws.

Of what value to humankind is forcing poor women to deliver unwanted and unaffordable children into this world? One can debate about when a zygote becomes a sentient human being, but that debate is a digression from the underlying motive for all contraception laws: To create a larger, more compliant underclass.

Pro-”life” is the cover story into which a great many innocent, well-meaning people have bought. The unfortunate poor, chained to unwanted children, will work hard and cheaply (empowering the rich). And they will need government support for survival (empowering the politicians).

What better way to enslave the poor than to force unaffordable burdens on them, then to be their only means of survival, so they must beg the rich and the politicians for help.

It’s perfect.

BUYING THE STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN
Humans have been taught to bribe those in power. The ultimate power is God, so “He” universally is bribed via prayer and contributions to a church.

The motive for the rich is adoration from contemporaries and envy from the poor. But, when poor people give to a wealthy church, the Leaders gain power, while the poor are told they must continue to ingratiate themselves with the all-powerful God, a God whose needs apparently are infinite. The poor never must stop giving.

The Leaders tell the poor that support of the religion is the sole path to heaven. The poor are impoverished further, and the Leaders, being the intermediaries between God and the poor, gain power.

In many religions, the Leaders wear costumes and create customs, to widen the Gap between themselves and their Followers. The Leaders write and lead the prayers the Followers are compelled to read and recite, repeatedly.

Repetition implants the rules. It is a classic brainwashing technique.

As always, the underclass follows power, while power distances itself from the underclass. To Leaders, the Gap is of foremost importance.

THE QUESTION
When anyone in power – any rich person, any business superior, any politician, and cleric – speaks about money or economics in general, the first question you should ask is, “Why? What is the motivation? How will this widen the Gap between him and those with less power?”

Power corrupts, and the corrupted tell lies to extend their corruption. When any President, any Congressperson, any cleric, any person more powerful than you tells lies, they all lie for the same reason: To maintain or widen the Gap between them and you.

THE BASIS FOR ECONOMICS
Money is not the real goal of the rich, nor even of the middle class. The real goal is to widen the Gap.

No matter where in the wealth rankings people find themselves, their natural desire is to widen the Gap from those having less, and to narrow the Gap with those having more. The rich, however, have far more power to widen the Gap, which is why the GINI ratio continues to rise.

If you have a million dollars, and everyone else also has a million dollars, there is no Gap and you are not rich. But if you have a thousand dollars and everyone else has but one dollar, the Gap is huge and you are rich. It is the Gap, not wealth itself, that makes you rich.

President Obama tells lies to create and widen the Gap. He wants the best Presidential Library. He wants the best legacy. He wants history to separate him from other Presidents. He wants to hobnob in the homes of the rich and famous. He wants his family to have the same.

President Obama will not come to visit your house, but he may go to Bill Gates’s or Warren Buffett’s estate. What is his motivation?

Why would he prefer to spend time with Bill and Warren than with you? Because he doesn’t want to be near you. He wants to be near them. He wants to increase the Gap below him and narrow any Gap that may exist above him.

Meanwhile, you too, would like to visit Bill and Warren as a Gap narrowing measure, but you don’t want poor people coming to your house. You too want to widen the Gap below you and narrow the Gap above you.

This is the psychological basis for all economics: Motivation and the Gap.

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
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.

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

-How to fail by succeeding — anti-abortion version

Twitter: @rodgermitchell; Search #monetarysovereignty
Facebook: Rodger Malcolm Mitchell

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.

=====================================================================

This post could have been titled, “Be careful what you wish for.”

The “religious” right has worked hard to undo Roe vs. Wade, bit by bit. If you are sympathetic to that movement, here are a few things you should know:

First, you’ll be hit hard in the pocketbook.

GOP Tries To Slow Anti-Abortion Push In Key States
By Thomas Beaumont, 08/02/13

Anti-abortion Republicans passed a wave of new restrictions that would sharply limit when a woman could terminate a pregnancy and where she could go to do so.

What the right has begun to realize is that almost every law has two sides, one side that seems beneficial and one side that has negative implications:

GOP leaders believe pressing further is a mistake for a party trying to soften its harder edges after election losses last year.

Sen. Dale Schultz in Wisconsin, who is trying to fend off more abortion legislation in the state’s GOP-controlled legislature, even though he says he personally supports it. “And we were pushing people too fast. All we’re going to do is panic people and this is going to blow up if we don’t begin to moderate on some of this stuff.”

GOP leaders say they are worried about alienating women and young people, who disproportionately favor abortion rights.

Anti-abortionists are right to fear alienating those huge demographics — women and young people — especially since the current, much-needed goal of the GOP is to be seen as a kinder, gentler, more compassionate party.

But there is even more to be concerned about: Money.

What will happen when many thousands (millions?) of unwanted children are born to mothers ill equipped, financially, emotionally or physically, to care for them?

On whom will the burden fall, to raise these children, some of whom may have serious physical problems (one reason for abortion)?

And what will too many of these children become, given the circumstances of their often poor upbringing?

Yes, a minority of such will succeed. But being realistic, unwanted children, children born into poverty or children with serious mental and physical problems, have a far greater than average chance of becoming wards of the state, in jail or in hospitals.

These children are more likely to need your government contributions for food, housing, schooling and medical care. Who will pay for all that? You, the state taxpayer in your anti-abortion state.

And since these unwanted, unaffordable children will have a far greater chance of becoming criminals, who will be the victims of their crimes? You, the resident of your anti-abortion state.

A glance at the finances of my own state (Illinois) shows a few of the things I help pay for:

Department of Children and Family Services 1,212,382
Department of Healthcare and Family Services 16,021,226
Department of Human Services 4,990,621
Department of Corrections 1,235,838
Total Illinois Spending: 55,194,602

This is a quick sampling of expenses. There are many more. I would guess that more than half of my Illinois tax payments go to supporting the poor, and that doesn’t include taxation by my town (Wilmette) and my county (Cook) — even a greater percentage of which also goes toward helping the poor.

Now I am very much for helping the poor, as readers of this blog know — but I am against forcing poor people to create more poor people for me to support.

While the wealthy always will be able to find and pay for abortions, the anti-abortion laws will force poor people to bring into this world, more unwanted, poor people.

Bottom line: The more restrictive your abortion laws, the more restricted will be your own quality of life. The unwanted, unaffordable children not only will be a burden on their parents, they will be a burden on you, for you will pay to raise them and pay to support their parents.

Now the extra money you’ll pay to raise these children and their parents may not matter to you. You may be wealthy, charitable and/or not care what you pay in state, county and city taxes.

Or, you may be morally committed to the need to protect a microscopic embryo or a fetus. You may feel your financial sacrifices are worthwhile. And I respect your morality.

But does your morality also extend to financial, emotional and physical misery your laws will visit on the parents of unwanted children and the children themselves? Or does your morality apply only to the unborn, and end at the moment of birth?

Finally, if the additional taxes, the additional poverty, the additional crime and the additional hardship do not give you pause, consider this:

While most Americans do not favor unlimited abortions, most voting Americans (especially those having teeth, indoor plumbing and a knowledge of evolution) do favor Roe vs. Wade, and strongly resent the chipping away at that ruling, piece by piece.

As the GOP has begun to fear, political parties that support strong, anti-abortion positions will dwindle into lesser and lesser minorities, having less and less influence. They will lose the power to accomplish their anti-abortion goals — or any other goals.

So be careful what you wish for.

Rodger Malcolm Mitchell
Monetary Sovereignty

====================================================================================================================================================

Nine Steps to Prosperity:
1. Eliminate FICA (Click here)
2. Medicare — parts A, B & D — for everyone (Click here)
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 (Click here)
8. Increase the standard income tax deduction annually
9. Increase federal spending on the myriad initiatives that benefit America’s 99% (Click here)

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

–How the International Monetary Fund saved Spain

Twitter: @rodgermitchell; Search #monetarysovereignty
Facebook: Rodger Malcolm Mitchell

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.

=====================================================================

If you would like to understand why the IMF told Spain to raise taxes and to cut spending, the purpose is to accomplish the following wonderful results.

Quoting from this IMF press release: IMF Executive Board Concludes 2013 Article IV Consultation with Spain, Press Release No. 13/292, August 2, 2013:

Key imbalances are correcting rapidly. Sovereign yields fell sharply since the European Central Bank’s announcements about Outright Monetary Transactions (OMT), the current account swung into surplus, the fiscal deficit fell sharply in 2012 despite the recession, private sector debt declined, and the banking system is stronger.

Wow! Sounds great. It looks like that IMF austerity thing really works.

Er, uh, what?

But the adjustment process is proving slow and difficult. Growth has been negative in the last seven quarters, unemployment has reached unacceptably high levels, and financing conditions remain tight for small firms.

Translation: Don’t worry about negative growth, high unemployment and small firms starved for money, when “key imbalances are correcting rapidly” and the “banking system is stronger.” Sure, the little folk are getting killed, but the rich folk are doing O.K., and they are the ones who pay us at the IMF.

The reform process has accelerated and deepened.

Translation: “Reform” is a euphemism for: “Cut benefits to the middle- and lower-classes.” We’ve convinced Spain to “accelerate and deepen” those cuts.

An independent council is being introduced and a commission of experts has issued a proposal to ensure pension system sustainability.

Translation: “Pension system sustainability” is another euphemism for: “Screw the people out of their pensions.” A pension that pays $0 is sustainable, forever. Right?

On labor market policy, a major reform was instituted in July 2012 to improve firms’ ability to adjust working conditions (including wages).

Translation: “Adjust working conditions and wages” is yet another euphemism for: Worsen working conditions and lower wages.

Don’t you just love people speaking euphemisms? These folks say “bullsh*t” and you hear “natural plant growth enhancer.”

Unemployment insurance was reduced by 17 percent after 6 months of benefits, and hiring subsidies were reformed.

Translation: We like the fact that Spain stopped giving financial help to companies hiring employees, making it harder for people to find jobs, and at the same time, cut unemployment insurance. A brilliant one-two punch workers’ guts.

Executive Directors commended the authorities for strong progress on critical reforms amid challenging conditions, which is helping to stabilize the economy.

However the economy remains in recession, with unacceptably high unemployment, and the outlook remains difficult.

Spain Unemployment Projections:
Year: 2009 . 2010 . 2011 . 2012 . 2013 . 2014 . 2015 . 2016 . 2017 . 2018
Rate: 18.0 .. 20.1 . 21.7 .. 25.0 . 27.2 .. 27.0 . 26.9 .. 26.6 . 26.0 .. 25.3

Translation: “Stabilize the economy” means: Unemployment has gone from awful to catastrophic, but in a “stable” way.

The economy remains in recession, with unacceptably high unemployment, and the outlook remains difficult. Directors stressed the need for decisive further action to generate growth and jobs.

Translation: Following our recommendations has put your economy in the toilet, so do more of the same.

Directors underscored that labor market dynamics need to improve further in order to reduce unemployment sufficiently, including by enhancing internal flexibility, reducing duality, and improving active labor market policies.

Translation: Employment needs to increase in order to reduce unemployment. Right? The rest of what we said is additional garbage.

Many Directors generally saw merit in exploring a social agreement between unions and employers to bring forward the employment gains from structural reforms, while they noted that it would be difficult to achieve.

Translation: Unions have to agree to even lower wages, even worse working conditions and non-union businesses. For some reason, they resist this “social agreement.”

Directors agreed that the new medium-term structural targets strike a reasonable balance between reducing the deficit and supporting growth in the short term.

Translation: Oops, did we just admit that reducing the deficit is the opposite of supporting growth? We hope nobody read this far.

Directors stressed that actions at the European level, including initiatives aimed at improving monetary transmission, reversing financial fragmentation, and making progress toward a banking union are essential to support Spain’s adjustment effort.

Translation:Whoa! did we also just admit that the euro itself is a truly stupid idea? By “banking union” are we finally talking about a “financial union”? Are we on the cusp of recommending a form of United States of Europe, and is this the first hint?

[For many years I’ve said there are only two solutions for the euro nations. Either:
1. Drop the euro and re-adopt your own sovereign currency to become Monetarily Sovereign or
2. Create a financial union in which the EU gives (not lends) euros to nations as needed.]

O.K. folks, here’s the plan. We, the IMF directors, will criticize everything and recommend everything. Then, no matter what happens, we’ll be able to point to an article that warned about what happened and recommended what solved it. We never can be wrong!

And that’s why we get paid the big euros

Rodger Malcolm Mitchell
Monetary Sovereignty

====================================================================================================================================================

Nine Steps to Prosperity:
1. Eliminate FICA (Click here)
2. Medicare — parts A, B & D — for everyone (Click here)
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 (Click here)
8. Increase the standard income tax deduction annually
9. Increase federal spending on the myriad initiatives that benefit America’s 99% (Click here)

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

–Australia, you cannot beat America for the title

Twitter: @rodgermitchell; Search #monetarysovereignty
Facebook: Rodger Malcolm Mitchell

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.

=====================================================================

Most Americans believe our Monetarily Sovereign government – the world’s only government with the unlimited ability to create U.S. dollars – by some magic can run short of dollars, and therefore should take dollars from the private sector.

We also hold the irrational belief that taking dollars from the private sector strengthens the economy.

We had thought those strange beliefs would assure us of the proud title, “Most Ignorant About Economics.” But, no. As we struggle to pull ourselves from the tar pit of recession and austerity, the Australians try to wrest this bit of exclusivity from us.

Financial Review
Labor reels from $20bn budget hole
Phillip Coorey, Chief political correspondent

The federal government faces a forecast revenue shortfall of more than $20 billion over the next four years, prompting a robust internal debate about whether the budget razor gang should make cuts to offset all the losses or delay the surplus yet again.

Measures under consideration to help plug the revenue hole include increases in tobacco excise, abolishing loss carry-back tax provisions for business, and tightening family tax benefits and so-called middle-class welfare.

So there they go. Australian politicians (undoubtedly bribed by the rich, like American politicians) now wish to make their businesses less able to hire workers and also to take money from poor families.

Will these people stop at nothing in their relentless effort to wrest the “Most Ignorant” title from us and to widen the gap between the rich and the rest?

The Age
Income spread evens out a bit
Tim Colebatch, August 1, 2013

The Bureau of Statistics (says) the Gini coefficient of income inequality has declined by 5 per cent (i.e. less inequality) since the GFC. But between 1997 and 2008, inequality increased by 15 per cent. Two-thirds of that is still there.

The bureau highlights the huge impact of government in reducing inequality by pensions, benefits and free services.

Australia’s politicians, like America’s, are terrified that central government spending on benefits to the middle- and lower-income people will reduce income inequality – the very last thing the rich want.

So, the Australian pols do everything to convince the populace their Monetarily Sovereign government is running short of dollars and needs to take money from the private sector.

And like their American counterparts, the Australian people buy into the myth.

Here’s a bit more from “Labor reels from $20bn budget hole”:

Shadow treasurer Joe Hockey Hockey said Prime -Minister Kevin Rudd was softening the population for a ballooning in debt to be associated with the renewed revenue downgrades.

“The government can’t stop spending, spending like there’s no tomorrow. He is playing down the debt challenge because he wants to increase it. He wants to increase the debt.

Translation: Mr. Rudd is accused of wanting to increase the money supply in Australia’s private sector (That is what “increase the debt” means.) People would actually have more Australian dollars in their pockets. Oh, horrors!

Financial Review
Bank deposits ‘taxed’ for bailout fund
Phillip Coorey and Matthew Dunckley

The Australian Financial Review has learned that the government’s economic statement will contain a deposit insurance levy, which will raise funds to underwrite any Australian bank should it need assistance in the future.

The proposed levy would be between 0.05 per cent and 0.1 per cent. Presently, the government guarantees deposits up to $250,000 without charging the banks.

The revenue raised by the levy will also be added to the budget bottom line, helping the government offset a forecast plunge in revenues since the May budget and meet its target of returning to surplus in 2016-17.

Translation: The levy will help the government meet its target of returning the private sector to deficit in 2016-17 (A government surplus is a private sector deficit).

Treasurer Chris Brown said “we have no plans to tax banks.’’

Translation: We won’t call it a “tax.” We’ll call it a “service fee” Or perhaps a “sock-it-to-the-public stipend.” By not calling it a “tax,” we won’t hurt the economy.

One big bank has warned the levy would be passed on in the form of reduced interest payments on deposits.

Are they saying if we, the government, take dollars from the banks, the banks will spend fewer dollars? We didn’t know that!

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott said, “This is a government that cannot control its spending, (so) whenever it gets into trouble, it hits you the Australian people with more taxes.

Translation: “The government should not tax you, because taxes take dollars from the private sector, especially from the rich.

“However, the government should reduce its spending, which puts fewer dollars into the private sector, especially the poor. I know. It makes no sense, but it’s what the rich have paid me to say.”

Bottom line, Australia, you may try to take the title, “Most Ignorant About Economics,” but we are Americans. Nobody beats us. When it comes to economics, we can out-ignorant anyone (except maybe the euro nations).

And, we have a unique weapon that assures us of victory.

We have the Tea Party.

Rodger Malcolm Mitchell
Monetary Sovereignty

====================================================================================================================================================

Nine Steps to Prosperity:
1. Eliminate FICA (Click here)
2. Medicare — parts A, B & D — for everyone (Click here)
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 (Click here)
8. Increase the standard income tax deduction annually
9. Increase federal spending on the myriad initiatives that benefit America’s 99% (Click here)

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