Tag: MMT

–Punish BP or . . . ?

An alternative to popular faith

Those rotten scoundrels have ruined our oceans and our shores. They should pay not only for the cleanup, not only for the jobs lost because of the pollution, not only for the damage, but they even should pay for jobs lost because of President Obama’s decision to stop deep-water drilling. BP should pay, pay, pay until they bleed, then pay some more. These people must be held accountable.

Phew! Now I feel better.

But, wait. What is BP? It’s a legal description, nothing more than words on a piece of paper. It has no physical existence. You can’t punish BP any more than you can punish a law or a page of sheet music. BP, as a legal entity, neither caused, nor can cure, the oil spill. That disaster was caused by people, and it is people, not a piece of paper, who must be held accountable.

So the question becomes, which people should be punished? BP has a huge number of employees, the vast majority of whom had nothing to do with the oil spill. It has a huge number of innocent shareholders, a huge number of innocent suppliers, a huge number of innocent oil users. In some ways, you and I are part of BP, because as users of oil and oil-related products (i.e. all products) we are affected by what its employees do.

Which of those people should be “held accountable”? What if holding all of BP “accountable” means thousands of innocent people will be fired, or innocent suppliers will be put out of business, or all of us will have to pay more for our oil and gas, or all of us who hold BP stock, either directly or as part of a fund, will lose? What if punishing BP has an adverse effect on the whole economy. Is that wise?

Somewhere between vengeance and economic reality lies the answer. Punishing BP, as a company, punishes all of us who already are suffering from the gusher. And though widespread vengeance may feel good, there is a “cut-nose-spite-face” aspect to be considered. So, what can be done to help prevent a repeat?

First, let’s identify the people specifically responsible. Certain BP employees. Certain employees of BP suppliers. The guys who mixed and poured the rotten cement that didn’t hold.

And, with all the focus on BP, let’s not forget those government employees who failed equally. I’m talking about the people who, after having been bribed with nice gifts, so readily approved all of BP’s actions.

Yes, we should fine, fire, even jail all the responsible individuals. That would help prevent future problems. Of course, that doesn’t pay for all the efforts to cure the situation nor for all the losses. Who should pay the billions for that?

If you really care about the economy, and are not just flailing out in retribution, you would agree the economically wise approach would be for the federal government to pay. That way, the guilty would be punished, the innocent spared and the economy stimulated.

Government pays = people benefit. BP pays = people pay.

So what’s your choice: Vengeance or money in your pocket?

Rodger Malcolm Mitchell
http://www.rodgermitchell.com

No nation can tax itself into prosperity

— Let’s blame China

An alternative to popular faith

Here we go, again. The typical beggar-thy-neighbor approach to international trade.

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6/10/10: By David Lawder; WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Thursday that reform of China’s exchange rate is “critically important” to the U.S. and global economies and a more flexible yuan was in China’s interest.
[…]
In his testimony, Geithner said the Obama administration wanted China to change policies that disadvantage American companies and to provide a more level playing field for U.S. products and investments. He vowed the administration would “apply forcefully” all remedies available under U.S. law to curb China’s unfair trade practices, including anti-dumping and countervailing duty complaints.
[…]
“A stronger yuan would benefit China because it would boost the purchasing power of households and encourage firms to shift production for domestic demand, rather than for export,” he said. “[…]which is particularly important now, with China’s economy facing a risk of inflation in goods and in asset prices.”
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Think of it this way. When two nations each have the unlimited ability to create money, which nation benefits from a positive balance of trade? That is, which nation benefits when one sends more of its goods and services to the other?

In CHINA TRADE we saw that the nation exporting fewer resources (i.e. exporting more, easily created money), has the advantage. The Obama administration seems to believe international trade is a zero-sum game, where for every “winner” (net goods and services exporter) there is a “loser” (net goods and services importer). So in their minds, for the U.S. to be a winner, we must make sure there are enough nations that are losers – as I said, the beggar thy neighbor approach to international trade.

The technical truth is, the U.S. could we wealthy without exporting a single dollar’s worth of goods and services. Visualize that our exports were zero and the U.S. government were the sole “export” customer. Rather than exporting steel, sausage and services, the government would buy all this output. No, don’t get excited. I don’t suggest we stop exporting. I’m just trying to demonstrate a point.

Could the government afford it? Yes, the government has the unlimited ability to create the money to afford anything. Would our industries suffer? No, they would receive the same money as if they actually had exported. Would this increase the money supply to inflationary levels? No, the total money within the economy would be the same as if it had come in from other nations.

Yes, we’d have to solve the problem of what we do with all the goods and services we produce (Create new industries for this purpose??), but the U.S. literally could survive and prosper with no exports at all – as though it were the only nation on earth.

The Obama administration merely has set up China as a straw man, to take the blame for our economy’s failure to grow as fast as it should. But, the real blame should go to the debt hawk belief that federal deficit spending should be minimized. For years, our stimulus efforts have been too-little, too-late, and even today, while growth is painfully slow, and millions are out of work, there is more concern about so-called debt (i.e. money created) than about economic success.

Rodger Malcolm Mitchell
http://www.rodgermitchell.com

No nation can tax itself into prosperity

–How the debt hawks will destroy the U.K.

An alternative to popular faith

Cameron Warns Britons of ‘Decades’ of Austerity
By SARAH LYALL, Published: June 7, 2010

LONDON — Prime Minister David Cameron said Monday that Britain’s financial situation was “even worse than we thought” and that the country would have to make savage spending cuts to bring its swelling deficit under control.

Stern and grim-faced in a speech in Milton Keynes, just north of London, Mr. Cameron said, “How we deal with these things will affect our economy, our society — indeed our whole way of life. The decisions we make will affect every single person in our country,” he said. “And the effects of those decisions will stay with us for years, perhaps decades, to come.”
[…]
Dave Prentis, the general secretary of Unison, a union that represents many public service workers, nonetheless told the Press Association news agency that Mr. Cameron’s speech was “a chilling attack on the public sector, public sector workers, the poor, the sick and the vulnerable, and a warning that their way of life will change.”
[…]
“Nothing illustrates better the total irresponsibility of the last government’s approach than the fact that they kept ratcheting up unaffordable government spending even when the economy was shrinking,” Cameron said.
[…]
As a cautionary tale, he mentioned Greece, where profligate spending led to a huge budget deficit and eventually a downgrading on financial markets.

While Britain’s economic position is stronger than that of Greece, he said, “Greece stands as a warning of what happens to countries that lose their credibility, or whose governments pretend that difficult decisions can be avoided.”

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The U.K. was smart not to lose control over their money. They remain monetarily sovereign. Unlike the euro-using nations, the U.K. can create their money at will. But suddenly, they have forgotten why they didn’t switch to the euro.

Now, the debt hawks have the U.K. preparing for “decades of austerity” (aka, decades of poverty), as they falsely compare themselves to Greece. Wake up, U.K. You aren’t like Greece and you don’t need to choose poverty.

Mr. Cameron said, “. . . if you start with a large structural deficit, ramping up spending even further is likely to undermine confidence and investment, not encourage it.” This is as false a statement as it’s possible to make. I challenge Mr. Cameron to explain how government spending, which is the way government adds money to the economy, can reduce investment or economic growth. It simply is total nonsense.

It’s difficult to imagine why an otherwise intelligent people intentionally will subject themselves to decades of misery based on a foolish belief that not only is unproven, but factually has been proven wrong on many levels. While some of the same ignorance exists in the U.S., we only can pray it does not reach the extreme levels of utter stupidity it apparently has reached in the U.K.

Rodger Malcolm Mitchell
http://www.rodgermitchell.com

No nation can tax itself into prosperity

–What is the real Mideast war? A hypothesis.

An alternative to popular faith

We begin with a few relevant facts:
1. Most Jews support Israel
2. The Democratic Party generally is liberal. The Republican party generally is conservative.
3. Most American Jews vote Democratic and tend to support liberal causes.
4. The conservative Republican Party displays the stronger support of Israel

What’s going on? Why do Jews, who support Israel, tend to vote Democratic, and why do the liberal-leaning Democrats seem less supportive of Israel than do the conservative Republicans?

Here is a hypothesis for your comment. Warning: I make many generalizations, which may not apply to specific individuals:

Historically, Jews have been the underclass, the put-upon, the unfortunate objects of bigotry. Jews empathize with those who are treated unfairly. While some Jews have achieved fame and financial success, the notion of “mitzvah” (literally “commandment,” but generally thought of as the obligation to do a “good deed”) remains deeply embedded in the Jewish psyche.

Jewish charities lean more toward helping people and less toward supporting the synagogue. Jewish houses of worship on average are less expensive and ornate than those of other faiths. Even Christ, the Jew, preached compassion and love for the unfortunate. Thus, the Jewish natural instinct aligns with liberal causes and with the Democratic Party.

Conservatives tend to lean more toward Christian piety and the literal law, than do liberals. Love of God may exceed love of the unfortunate. Strict interpretations of the law may more likely to be found among Christian conservatives than among liberals.

Given all of the above, why do the conservative Wall Street Journal and Chicago Tribune write editorials supporting Israel following the “flotilla,” while the liberal New York Times supports the Palestinians? Why was “born-again” George Bush a much more vocal supporter of Israel than is Barack Obama. The reasons may have nothing to do with love or empathy.

The reasons may have to do with the war. No, not that war. Not Israel’s ongoing war with Hamas, Hezbollah, Fatah et al. Not the war we read about daily. I am talking about an older and much larger war: The war between Christianity and Islam.

This conflict, exemplified by the Crusades, has continued without abatement. Cyprus, Macedonia, Bosnia Herzegovina, East Timor, the Sudan, Kosovo, the Philippines all are sites of recent or ongoing violence between Christians and Muslims.

The vast majority of Muslim-dominated nations are dictatorships. While Turkey, which is Muslim, has struggled to remain secular, this secularism may be at risk as the current government leans ever closer to Islam. France which has seen its Muslim population rise markedly, now has begun to show signs of Christian resistance, with the UK not far behind. The world over, Islam is growing faster than Christianity.

The American Republican party sees as its base, the Christian right, the group most sensitive to the growth in population and power of worldwide Islam. Perhaps they see Israel as a bulwark against Muslim monopoly domination of the Mideast. Perhaps Israel is admired merely for its resistance to the overwhelming population odds, or for occupying the growth energy of Islam. In some cases, mere realpolitik (“The enemy of my enemy is my friend”) may account for right wing Christian attitudes.

Whatever the reason, I suspect Israel is a tiny bit player in the ongoing war between the two giant religions. Even economics itself may be a less important, long-term determinant of the world’s future, than the war between the two giant, Abrahamic religions. It will not be won in our lifetimes or in our grandchildren’s lifetimes. It never may be won, but the battle will continue to affect us all.

So, while Israel’s concern is its survival against the sea of Islam, the religious right’s focus may be on the survival and growth of Christianity. What do you think?

Rodger Malcolm Mitchell
http://www.rodgermitchell.com

No nation can tax itself into prosperity