Tag: Ten Steps to Prosperity

Bexit: The EU PR lie machine grinds away.

In June, we published, What will Brexit mean?

Later in June, we published, Brexit: How Obama “bailed then failed”

Then, this month, we published, How not to run a Brexit

The theme running through all three articles can be summarized as:

  1. The EU is a device invented by rich bankers, to control entire nations.
  2. The euro nations were foolish to surrender the single most valuable asset any nation can have: Their Monetary Sovereignty (as well as their territorial sovereignty), to bankers.
  3. Brexit is a great idea — it will allow the UK to control its own borders and finances — and easily will be accomplished, unless the leaders of the UK have been bought by the European bankers.
  4. Those rich bankers will try every trick they know, to preserve the goose laying those golden eggs, i.e to punish the UK, and dissuade any other nations from following suit.

And now, here comes the EU sycophants and the anti-exit Public Relations:

THE BREXIT HANGOVER JUST GOT WORSE, by Henry Porter
Those who supported a departure from Europe are only now coming to terms with the crippling economic realities—including the fact that many didn’t quite understand the rules and the whims of their neighbors.

Denmark’s former foreign minister Uffe Ellemann-Jensen,told Bloomberg, “Basically, the British need to take time to understand what an enormous task they took upon themselves. . . . Asking for a Brexit and expecting it to be clear-cut simply can’t happen.”

After all, the government minister in charge of Brexit only realized in the last few months that it would not be possible for the U.K. to forge individual trade deals with different E.U. member states.

British Conservative politicians hope that Britain can, like Norway, become a member of the European Free Trade Association, which allows a country to enjoy the benefits of the single market while not being a member of the European Union.

Not unreasonably, Norway is raising objections. “It’s not certain that it would be a good idea to let a big country into this organization,” said the country’s European-affairs minister, Elizabeth Vik Aspaker.“It would shift the balance, which is not necessarily in Norway’s interests.”

If Britain were to lose access to the single market, or British-based banks were stopped from trading freely in Europe through the “passporting” arrangements with the E.U., it would take very little to end the City of London’s reign as the de facto financial capital of Europe.

In fact, Britain could pretty soon be broke on account the enormous tax revenue the City produces.

Once new tariffs are brought in, as they surely will be to protect what little remains of British manufacturing industry, it will make things that much harder for British exporters of every kind to trade with our neighbors.

This is to say nothing of the effect on the cost of living in the U.K., as the pound sinks, or on the country’s finances.

In summary, The UK will be broke, and Brexit will make trade more difficult and cause inflation in the UK., all of which might be true for a monetarily NON-sovereign nation, but not for a Monetarily Sovereign nation that has 100% control over its money supply and its money value. 

First, the UK cannot “be broke.” It never can be unable to pay any bill denominated in pounds or in any other currency exchangeable for pounds.  NEVER. 

A large, Monetarily Sovereign government simply cannot run short of its own sovereign currency, and the author of the article should know it.

Now, let’s talk trade:

In fundamental effect, exports of goods and services really are imports of money. Because the UK is Monetarily Sovereign, it does not need to import pounds. It creates pounds at will, by paying bills. It never can run short of pounds.

If any of the UK manufacturing industries were to begin to suffer from lack of sales or exports (i.e. imports of pounds), the UK government simply could  support these industries in any number of ways (Reduced taxes; purchases of product; fund payrolls, etc)

In fundamental effect, imports really are exports of money together with acquisition of goods and services.

Because the UK has unlimited supplies of UK pounds, it can pay any amount to EU nations for their goods and services. Try to imagine EU nations refusing to accept British pounds, in exchange for goods and services.

Will the impoverished French refuse pounds in exchange for wine; will the impoverished Italians refuse pounds in exchange for pasta; will the impoverished Spanish refuse pounds in exchange for olive oil? (All impoverished by the euro.)

Oh, you think so? Then you don’t understand commerce.

But let’s say a miracle happens, and those struggling euro nations along with the bankers, and starve themselves of British money, just to make a point.

Will they also refuse U.S. dollars, which the UK easily can obtain in exchange for pounds? Will they refuse to sell to a U.S importer, who pays in dollars and immediately exports to the UK?

Not a chance.

The UK can import all the goods and services it wants, and doesn’t need to import money.

But what about inflation — the so-called “rising cost of living as the pound sinks.”

Being Monetarily Sovereign, the UK has total control over the value of the pound by its control over interest rates.  The formula is: Value = Demand/Supply

If the Demand for pounds rises faster than the supply, inflation is defeated. How is Demand increased? The formula is: Demand = Reward/Risk.

The Reward for owning any form of money is Interest. All the UK would need do is increase the rate of interest it is willing to pay on government bonds, and there would be a mad dash for the pounds necessary to buy those bonds.

The pounds would become more valuable and inflation would be defeated.

The U.S. Fed does this all the time, to control inflation.

Bottom line: There is absolutely nothing the EU can do to punish the UK, if the leaders of the UK don’t want to be punished (big “IF.”)

Britain is too big, too strong and too Monetarily Sovereign to be punished by the EU’s bankers.

The ONLY way Brexit can run into problems is if the UK’s leaders have been bribed by the EU’s bankers.

No need for the UK to struggle through trade negotiations. The euro nations need the British pounds that the UK creates by the touch of a computer key.

And the UK easily can obtain euro nations’ goods and services directly or indirectly, also by creating pounds.

And finally, the UK has total control over domestic inflation.

Watch, as the rich EU banksters and their bribed UK politicians make Brexit seem “oh-so-difficult,” which will require punishing the British people (via totally unnecessary increased taxes and shortages of goods and services).

The game has begun. If the referees are bribed, the British people have lost.

You’ll know who has been bribed simply by the statements they make

Rodger Malcolm Mitchell
Monetary Sovereignty

===================================================================================
Ten Steps to Prosperity:
1. ELIMINATE FICA (Ten Reasons to Eliminate FICA )
Although the article lists 10 reasons to eliminate FICA, there are two fundamental reasons:
*FICA is the most regressive tax in American history, widening the Gap by punishing the low and middle-income groups, while leaving the rich untouched, and
*The federal government, being Monetarily Sovereign, neither needs nor uses FICA to support Social Security and Medicare.
2. FEDERALLY FUNDED MEDICARE — PARTS A, B & D, PLUS LONG TERM CARE — FOR EVERYONE (H.R. 676, Medicare for All )
This article addresses the questions:
*Does the economy benefit when the rich afford better health care than the rest of Americans?
*Aside from improved health care, what are the other economic effects of “Medicare for everyone?”
*How much would it cost taxpayers?
*Who opposes it?”
3. PROVIDE AN ECONOMIC BONUS TO EVERY MAN, WOMAN AND CHILD IN AMERICA, AND/OR EVERY STATE, A PER CAPITA ECONOMIC BONUS (The JG (Jobs Guarantee) vs the GI (Guaranteed Income) vs the EB) Or institute a reverse income tax.
This article is the fifth in a series about direct financial assistance to Americans:

Why Modern Monetary Theory’s Employer of Last Resort is a bad idea. Sunday, Jan 1 2012
MMT’s Job Guarantee (JG) — “Another crazy, rightwing, Austrian nutjob?” Thursday, Jan 12 2012
Why Modern Monetary Theory’s Jobs Guarantee is like the EU’s euro: A beloved solution to the wrong problem. Tuesday, May 29 2012
“You can’t fire me. I’m on JG” Saturday, Jun 2 2012

Economic growth should include the “bottom” 99.9%, not just the .1%, the only question being, how best to accomplish that. Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) favors giving everyone a job. Monetary Sovereignty (MS) favors giving everyone money. The five articles describe the pros and cons of each approach.
4. FREE EDUCATION (INCLUDING POST-GRAD) FOR EVERYONEFive reasons why we should eliminate school loans
Monetarily non-sovereign State and local governments, despite their limited finances, support grades K-12. That level of education may have been sufficient for a largely agrarian economy, but not for our currently more technical economy that demands greater numbers of highly educated workers.
Because state and local funding is so limited, grades K-12 receive short shrift, especially those schools whose populations come from the lowest economic groups. And college is too costly for most families.
An educated populace benefits a nation, and benefiting the nation is the purpose of the federal government, which has the unlimited ability to pay for K-16 and beyond.
5. SALARY FOR ATTENDING SCHOOL
Even were schooling to be completely free, many young people cannot attend, because they and their families cannot afford to support non-workers. In a foundering boat, everyone needs to bail, and no one can take time off for study.
If a young person’s “job” is to learn and be productive, he/she should be paid to do that job, especially since that job is one of America’s most important.
6. ELIMINATE CORPORATE TAXES
Corporations themselves exist only as legalities. They don’t pay taxes or pay for anything else. They are dollar-tranferring machines. They transfer dollars from customers to employees, suppliers, shareholders and the government (the later having no use for those dollars).
Any tax on corporations reduces the amount going to employees, suppliers and shareholders, which diminishes the economy. Ultimately, all corporate taxes come around and reappear as deductions from your personal income.
7. INCREASE THE STANDARD INCOME TAX DEDUCTION, ANNUALLY. (Refer to this.) Federal taxes punish taxpayers and harm the economy. The federal government has no need for those punishing and harmful tax dollars. There are several ways to reduce taxes, and we should evaluate and choose the most progressive approaches.
Cutting FICA and corporate taxes would be an good early step, as both dramatically affect the 99%. Annual increases in the standard income tax deduction, and a reverse income tax also would provide benefits from the bottom up. Both would narrow the Gap.
8. TAX THE VERY RICH (THE “.1%) MORE, WITH HIGHER PROGRESSIVE TAX RATES ON ALL FORMS OF INCOME. (TROPHIC CASCADE)
There was a time when I argued against increasing anyone’s federal taxes. After all, the federal government has no need for tax dollars, and all taxes reduce Gross Domestic Product, thereby negatively affecting the entire economy, including the 99.9%.
But I have come to realize that narrowing the Gap requires trimming the top. It simply would not be possible to provide the 99.9% with enough benefits to narrow the Gap in any meaningful way. Bill Gates reportedly owns $70 billion. To get to that level, he must have been earning $10 billion a year. Pick any acceptable Gap (1000 to 1?), and the lowest paid American would have to receive $10 million a year. Unreasonable.
9. FEDERAL OWNERSHIP OF ALL BANKS (Click The end of private banking and How should America decide “who-gets-money”?)
Banks have created all the dollars that exist. Even dollars created at the direction of the federal government, actually come into being when banks increase the numbers in checking accounts. This gives the banks enormous financial power, and as we all know, power corrupts — especially when multiplied by a profit motive.
Although the federal government also is powerful and corrupted, it does not suffer from a profit motive, the world’s most corrupting influence.
10. INCREASE FEDERAL SPENDING ON THE MYRIAD INITIATIVES THAT BENEFIT AMERICA’S 99.9% (Federal agencies)Browse the agencies. See how many agencies benefit the lower- and middle-income/wealth/ power groups, by adding dollars to the economy and/or by actions more beneficial to the 99.9% than to the .1%.
Save this reference as your primer to current economics. Sadly, much of the material is not being taught in American schools, which is all the more reason for you to use it.

The Ten Steps will grow the economy, and narrow the income/wealth/power Gap between the rich and you.

MONETARY SOVEREIGNTY

A shameful graph

Education is important to America.

Of the many investments the federal government could make, few would have a greater positive impact on the American economy than education.

When you visualize the things that make America special compared to other large nations, like China and India, advanced education is one of the first things that comes to mind.

So it is sad that Americans believe making advanced education difficult to afford, somehow is normal or acceptable.

Steps #4 and #5 of the Ten Steps to Prosperity (below) tell why the federal government can and should fund college educations for all those who want them.

Instead, we have the following shameful graph.

STUDENT DEBT

In case you wonder why we intentionally put our students into debt, the answer is quite simple: Student loans widen the Gap between the rich and the rest.

Gap widening, rather than mere income, is the primary motivation of the rich. It is the Gap, not just their own incomes, that makes them rich (Without the Gap, no one would be rich; we all would be the same). The wider the Gap, the richer they are.

Thus, keeping the non-wealthy down is just as important to the rich as lifting their own incomes up. Either way, the Gap is widened.

Every wealth stratum wants the Gap between them and those lower, to be widened. That is why so many lower-to-middle-income people resent aid to the poor. Such aid narrows the Gap, bringing the poor uncomfortably closer to those in the middle.

When the federal government lends to students, interest payments remove stimulus dollars from the economy,  and all loan repayments punish borrowers, who primarily are middle-income (The rich don’t use student loans).

The federal government, being Monetarily Sovereign, neither needs nor uses any form of income. To pay its bills, the government creates dollars ad hoc. There is no economic purpose for student loan payments to a government that has no use for the money.

When the lender is a private bank, the bank is enriched by a loan that is difficult to discharge in bankruptcy.  It is a “forever” loan, passed down through the generations — perfect for Gap widening:

Business Insider: America’s crushing surge of student debt, now at $1.2 trillion, has bred a disturbing new phenomenon: School loans that span multiple generations within families.

Weighed down by their own loans, many parents lack the means to fund their children’s educations without sinking even deeper into debt.

  • School loans increasingly belong to Americans over 40. This group accounts for 35 percent of education debt, up from 25 percent in 2004
  • Student loan balances average $20,000 for Generation X adults — those from 35 to 50 years old.
  • Gen-X parents who carry student debt and have teenage children have struggled to save for their children’s educations. Many of their children will need to borrow heavily for college, thereby perpetuating a cycle of family debt.
  • Student debt is surpassing groceries as a primary expense, with the gap widening most for younger families.

And if the above weren’t shameful enough, consider this graph, also supplied by Business Insider:

w704

Student loans are listed on the government’s books as its largest financial asset. Millions of American families are in debt to the federal government for educating children.

In reality, this is all just record-keeping. The federal government has no need for financial assets, because as mentioned earlier, it creates all the dollars it needs, ad hoc, when it pays its bills.

Thus, the government has discovered yet another, powerful Gap-widening device, designed to keep millions of families in financial bondage for many years, even for generations.

(Among such Gap-widening devices are federal sales taxes, FICA, and high-end income taxes on 401k mandatory distributions.) 

State and local governments are monetarily non-sovereign. They need income in order to pay for K-12 education.

The federal government is Monetarily Sovereign. It needs no taxes or loan repayments to fund a college education for every American who wanted one.

All those additional educated minds would greatly benefit America. No one knows how many potential Nobel winners America has lost lack for of the finances to attend college.

Even the time away from work is too expensive for many people. The federal government should pay for that, too.(Step #5)

But the rich don’t want federal funding for college; it would narrow the Gap. Despite what Presidential and Congressional campaigning may indicate, the rich, not the politicians, run America.

College debt is another destgructive result of The Big Lie, the lie that federal taxes fund federal spending.

Rodger Malcolm Mitchell
===================================================================================
Ten Steps to Prosperity:
1. ELIMINATE FICA (Ten Reasons to Eliminate FICA )
Although the article lists 10 reasons to eliminate FICA, there are two fundamental reasons:
*FICA is the most regressive tax in American history, widening the Gap by punishing the low and middle-income groups, while leaving the rich untouched, and
*The federal government, being Monetarily Sovereign, neither needs nor uses FICA to support Social Security and Medicare.
2. FEDERALLY FUNDED MEDICARE — PARTS A, B & D, PLUS LONG TERM CARE — FOR EVERYONE (H.R. 676, Medicare for All )
This article addresses the questions:
*Does the economy benefit when the rich afford better health care than the rest of Americans?
*Aside from improved health care, what are the other economic effects of “Medicare for everyone?”
*How much would it cost taxpayers?
*Who opposes it?”
3. PROVIDE AN ECONOMIC BONUS TO EVERY MAN, WOMAN AND CHILD IN AMERICA, AND/OR EVERY STATE, A PER CAPITA ECONOMIC BONUS (The JG (Jobs Guarantee) vs the GI (Guaranteed Income) vs the EB) Or institute a reverse income tax.
This article is the fifth in a series about direct financial assistance to Americans:

Why Modern Monetary Theory’s Employer of Last Resort is a bad idea. Sunday, Jan 1 2012
MMT’s Job Guarantee (JG) — “Another crazy, rightwing, Austrian nutjob?” Thursday, Jan 12 2012
Why Modern Monetary Theory’s Jobs Guarantee is like the EU’s euro: A beloved solution to the wrong problem. Tuesday, May 29 2012
“You can’t fire me. I’m on JG” Saturday, Jun 2 2012

Economic growth should include the “bottom” 99.9%, not just the .1%, the only question being, how best to accomplish that. Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) favors giving everyone a job. Monetary Sovereignty (MS) favors giving everyone money. The five articles describe the pros and cons of each approach.
4. FREE EDUCATION (INCLUDING POST-GRAD) FOR EVERYONEFive reasons why we should eliminate school loans
Monetarily non-sovereign State and local governments, despite their limited finances, support grades K-12. That level of education may have been sufficient for a largely agrarian economy, but not for our currently more technical economy that demands greater numbers of highly educated workers.
Because state and local funding is so limited, grades K-12 receive short shrift, especially those schools whose populations come from the lowest economic groups. And college is too costly for most families.
An educated populace benefits a nation, and benefiting the nation is the purpose of the federal government, which has the unlimited ability to pay for K-16 and beyond.
5. SALARY FOR ATTENDING SCHOOL
Even were schooling to be completely free, many young people cannot attend, because they and their families cannot afford to support non-workers. In a foundering boat, everyone needs to bail, and no one can take time off for study.
If a young person’s “job” is to learn and be productive, he/she should be paid to do that job, especially since that job is one of America’s most important.
6. ELIMINATE CORPORATE TAXES
Corporations themselves exist only as legalities. They don’t pay taxes or pay for anything else. They are dollar-tranferring machines. They transfer dollars from customers to employees, suppliers, shareholders and the government (the later having no use for those dollars).
Any tax on corporations reduces the amount going to employees, suppliers and shareholders, which diminishes the economy. Ultimately, all corporate taxes come around and reappear as deductions from your personal income.
7. INCREASE THE STANDARD INCOME TAX DEDUCTION, ANNUALLY. (Refer to this.) Federal taxes punish taxpayers and harm the economy. The federal government has no need for those punishing and harmful tax dollars. There are several ways to reduce taxes, and we should evaluate and choose the most progressive approaches.
Cutting FICA and corporate taxes would be an good early step, as both dramatically affect the 99%. Annual increases in the standard income tax deduction, and a reverse income tax also would provide benefits from the bottom up. Both would narrow the Gap.
8. TAX THE VERY RICH (THE “.1%) MORE, WITH HIGHER PROGRESSIVE TAX RATES ON ALL FORMS OF INCOME. (TROPHIC CASCADE)
There was a time when I argued against increasing anyone’s federal taxes. After all, the federal government has no need for tax dollars, and all taxes reduce Gross Domestic Product, thereby negatively affecting the entire economy, including the 99.9%.
But I have come to realize that narrowing the Gap requires trimming the top. It simply would not be possible to provide the 99.9% with enough benefits to narrow the Gap in any meaningful way. Bill Gates reportedly owns $70 billion. To get to that level, he must have been earning $10 billion a year. Pick any acceptable Gap (1000 to 1?), and the lowest paid American would have to receive $10 million a year. Unreasonable.
9. FEDERAL OWNERSHIP OF ALL BANKS (Click The end of private banking and How should America decide “who-gets-money”?)
Banks have created all the dollars that exist. Even dollars created at the direction of the federal government, actually come into being when banks increase the numbers in checking accounts. This gives the banks enormous financial power, and as we all know, power corrupts — especially when multiplied by a profit motive.
Although the federal government also is powerful and corrupted, it does not suffer from a profit motive, the world’s most corrupting influence.
10. INCREASE FEDERAL SPENDING ON THE MYRIAD INITIATIVES THAT BENEFIT AMERICA’S 99.9% (Federal agencies)Browse the agencies. See how many agencies benefit the lower- and middle-income/wealth/ power groups, by adding dollars to the economy and/or by actions more beneficial to the 99.9% than to the .1%.
Save this reference as your primer to current economics. Sadly, much of the material is not being taught in American schools, which is all the more reason for you to use it.

The Ten Steps will grow the economy, and narrow the income/wealth/power Gap between the rich and you.

MONETARY SOVEREIGNTY

An easy solution to violent crime

There is a way to prevent and cure violent crime.

O.K., there is no way entirely to prevent violent crime, but it can dramatically be reduced.

First, let me remind you about what doesn’t work.

  1. Mass incarceration doesn’t work. We’ve tried that.

    Wikipedia: “In October 2013, the incarceration rate of the United States of America was the highest in the world, at 716 per 100,000 of the national population.

    “While the United States represents about 4.4 percent of the world’s population, it houses around 22 percent of the world’s prisoners.”

    Mass incarceration has minimal (if any) effect on crime, but it creates a huge subset of the population that is stigmatized.

    Stigmatization encourages future crime, as many legitimate jobs are closed to convicted felons.

  2. Guns in the hands of “good guys” doesn’t work. We’ve tried that.

    No one knows who the “good guys” are today, and who they might be tomorrow. The mild-mannered librarian can turn into a raving lunatic on the road.

    A “good guy” who loses his job, his house or his wife, can become a “bad guy” instantly.

    And an untrained “good guy” can be an unintentional menace to other good guys.

  3. The “war on drugs” doesn’t work. We’ve tried that.

    By now, America’s disastrous experiment with Prohibition should have taught us that prohibiting something people want, only encourages consumption — and crime.

    Gun owners surely understand the concept. Every time there is a concern guns might be banned, gun sales go up.

To prevent violent crime, we first must identify the people who most commit those crimes, the places where they commit them, and their motivation.

And that is fairly obvious, isn’t it?

Criminals live and operate in high-crime areas (a tautology), and high-crime areas are relatively poorer areas.

People commit crimes to satisfy their wants, and it is human nature to want at least as much as your neighbor has.

If no one had a TV set (as was the case in the 1800’s) those lacking TV sets would not feel the desire to steal one. But if some people have TV sets, those lacking sets are motivated to steal them.

Generally, criminals steal the way they know best. People whose educational and social background helps them to understand accounting, salesmanship, psychology and other paths to scamming, prefer “white collar” crime.

It usually is not violent. Upscale suburbs, for instance, seldom see violent crime.

Violent crimes in upscale city neighborhoods generally are committed by lower-income non-residents.

The crime low-income people know best is more confrontational and violent. They have seen it and been victims of it. They understand it, well.

If relatively low income is a common precursor to violent crime, the prevention of violent crime requires the elimination of relatively low income.

Why should we deny social benefits to those poorer than us, only to spend time and money protecting ourselves from violent crime? Wouldn’t we be wiser, and much safer, to lift the poor out of poverty, so to give them less motivation to attack us?

Yes, some may resent so-called “lazy” welfare recipients, receiving money and other “free stuff” without working.

But does it make any sense to encourage people into violent crimes that will hurt us? Rather than advocating mere punishment, wouldn’t we be smarter to add a nice, juicy carrot to that stick?

Implementing Steps #2 – 5 of the Ten Steps to Prosperity immediately would reduce America’s poverty rate and reduce America’s violent crime rate.

It would grow America’s economy, enrich you and your loved ones, and make you and your family safer.

Just because it’s obvious and easy, doesn’t make it wrong.

​Reduce violent crime by reducing poverty. Reduce poverty by implementing the Ten Steps to Prosperity.

Rodger Malcolm Mitchell
Monetary Sovereignty

===================================================================================
Ten Steps to Prosperity:
1. ELIMINATE FICA (Ten Reasons to Eliminate FICA )
Although the article lists 10 reasons to eliminate FICA, there are two fundamental reasons:
*FICA is the most regressive tax in American history, widening the Gap by punishing the low and middle-income groups, while leaving the rich untouched, and
*The federal government, being Monetarily Sovereign, neither needs nor uses FICA to support Social Security and Medicare.
2. FEDERALLY FUNDED MEDICARE — PARTS A, B & D, PLUS LONG TERM CARE — FOR EVERYONE (H.R. 676, Medicare for All )
This article addresses the questions:
*Does the economy benefit when the rich afford better health care than the rest of Americans?
*Aside from improved health care, what are the other economic effects of “Medicare for everyone?”
*How much would it cost taxpayers?
*Who opposes it?”
3. PROVIDE AN ECONOMIC BONUS TO EVERY MAN, WOMAN AND CHILD IN AMERICA, AND/OR EVERY STATE, A PER CAPITA ECONOMIC BONUS (The JG (Jobs Guarantee) vs the GI (Guaranteed Income) vs the EB) Or institute a reverse income tax.
This article is the fifth in a series about direct financial assistance to Americans:

Why Modern Monetary Theory’s Employer of Last Resort is a bad idea. Sunday, Jan 1 2012
MMT’s Job Guarantee (JG) — “Another crazy, rightwing, Austrian nutjob?” Thursday, Jan 12 2012
Why Modern Monetary Theory’s Jobs Guarantee is like the EU’s euro: A beloved solution to the wrong problem. Tuesday, May 29 2012
“You can’t fire me. I’m on JG” Saturday, Jun 2 2012

Economic growth should include the “bottom” 99.9%, not just the .1%, the only question being, how best to accomplish that. Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) favors giving everyone a job. Monetary Sovereignty (MS) favors giving everyone money. The five articles describe the pros and cons of each approach.
4. FREE EDUCATION (INCLUDING POST-GRAD) FOR EVERYONEFive reasons why we should eliminate school loans
Monetarily non-sovereign State and local governments, despite their limited finances, support grades K-12. That level of education may have been sufficient for a largely agrarian economy, but not for our currently more technical economy that demands greater numbers of highly educated workers.
Because state and local funding is so limited, grades K-12 receive short shrift, especially those schools whose populations come from the lowest economic groups. And college is too costly for most families.
An educated populace benefits a nation, and benefiting the nation is the purpose of the federal government, which has the unlimited ability to pay for K-16 and beyond.
5. SALARY FOR ATTENDING SCHOOL
Even were schooling to be completely free, many young people cannot attend, because they and their families cannot afford to support non-workers. In a foundering boat, everyone needs to bail, and no one can take time off for study.
If a young person’s “job” is to learn and be productive, he/she should be paid to do that job, especially since that job is one of America’s most important.
6. ELIMINATE CORPORATE TAXES
Corporations themselves exist only as legalities. They don’t pay taxes or pay for anything else. They are dollar-tranferring machines. They transfer dollars from customers to employees, suppliers, shareholders and the government (the later having no use for those dollars).
Any tax on corporations reduces the amount going to employees, suppliers and shareholders, which diminishes the economy. Ultimately, all corporate taxes come around and reappear as deductions from your personal income.
7. INCREASE THE STANDARD INCOME TAX DEDUCTION, ANNUALLY. (Refer to this.) Federal taxes punish taxpayers and harm the economy. The federal government has no need for those punishing and harmful tax dollars. There are several ways to reduce taxes, and we should evaluate and choose the most progressive approaches.
Cutting FICA and corporate taxes would be an good early step, as both dramatically affect the 99%. Annual increases in the standard income tax deduction, and a reverse income tax also would provide benefits from the bottom up. Both would narrow the Gap.
8. TAX THE VERY RICH (THE “.1%) MORE, WITH HIGHER PROGRESSIVE TAX RATES ON ALL FORMS OF INCOME. (TROPHIC CASCADE)
There was a time when I argued against increasing anyone’s federal taxes. After all, the federal government has no need for tax dollars, and all taxes reduce Gross Domestic Product, thereby negatively affecting the entire economy, including the 99.9%.
But I have come to realize that narrowing the Gap requires trimming the top. It simply would not be possible to provide the 99.9% with enough benefits to narrow the Gap in any meaningful way. Bill Gates reportedly owns $70 billion. To get to that level, he must have been earning $10 billion a year. Pick any acceptable Gap (1000 to 1?), and the lowest paid American would have to receive $10 million a year. Unreasonable.
9. FEDERAL OWNERSHIP OF ALL BANKS (Click The end of private banking and How should America decide “who-gets-money”?)
Banks have created all the dollars that exist. Even dollars created at the direction of the federal government, actually come into being when banks increase the numbers in checking accounts. This gives the banks enormous financial power, and as we all know, power corrupts — especially when multiplied by a profit motive.
Although the federal government also is powerful and corrupted, it does not suffer from a profit motive, the world’s most corrupting influence.
10. INCREASE FEDERAL SPENDING ON THE MYRIAD INITIATIVES THAT BENEFIT AMERICA’S 99.9% (Federal agencies)Browse the agencies. See how many agencies benefit the lower- and middle-income/wealth/ power groups, by adding dollars to the economy and/or by actions more beneficial to the 99.9% than to the .1%.
Save this reference as your primer to current economics. Sadly, much of the material is not being taught in American schools, which is all the more reason for you to use it.

The Ten Steps will grow the economy, and narrow the income/wealth/power Gap between the rich and you.

MONETARY SOVEREIGNTY

Trump smarter than mainstream economists? Maybe.

Donald Trump may have, as he claims, “a very good brain,” but way too many of his comments originate in his gut.

He is all over the place, a former Democrat, now a Republican, but at odds with the Republican Party.  He is so unfocused he needs a Vice Presidential candidate to “explain what Trump really meant.”

That said, like the proverbial stopped clock, which is right twice a day, he may have some good ideas that mainstream economists would be well to examine.

Chicago Tribune:  Trump’s economic proposals were split between traditional GOP policies, like rolling back taxes and easing federal regulations, scrapping trade pacts and pouring new money into railways, highways and other infrastructure.

Trump’s plans left many economicst skeptical, as did the absence of detail on how he would pay for his proposals.

Rolling back federal taxes is a good idea if it is done from the bottom up, to narrow the Gap between the rich and the rest. Unfortunately, it’s unlikely to work that way, as his previous proposals aided the rich more than the non-rich.

Easing federal regulations is a terrible idea that caused the Great Recession of 2008. It allows the money barons to set the rules — the sharks in charge of the bathing beach.

Scrapping trade plans is a bad idea — and overly simple solution, made to appeal to simpletons. We can’t leave American trade rules in the hands of the big corporations, but trade plans are needed. They should be designed to ease trade while benefitting the lower income groups.

Deficit spending on infrastructure is more than a great idea; it is an absolute necessity. Those arguing against this spending are arguing for the rusting and destruction of America.

But the key problem comes with the phrase, “how he would pay for his proposals.” It is a version of the “Big Lie” (the lie that federal taxes are needed to fund federal spending.)

The federal government, being Monetarily Sovereign, can pay for anything, and do it without collecting taxes. That is what being Monetarily Sovereign means.

All decent economists are well aware that asking how the federal government would pay for spending, is almost like asking how the Pacific Ocean will supply salt water (except that our Monetarily Sovereign federal government has a greater ability to supply dollars than the Ocean’s ability to supply salt water).

Trump also promised a major buldup of the military at an unspecified price, and he has vowed to resist pressure by fellow Republicans to curb Social Security and Medicare, a pledge he did not mention Monday.

Building the military not only protects our interests but stimulates the economy. Complaining about terrorists, while cutting defense  spending, is like complaining about mosquitos while cutting holes in the screens.

The right-wing desire to “curb” Social Security and Medicare is a disgrace. It would impoverish millions of Americans for no reason at all. Neither Social Security nor Medicare could run short of dollars, unless Congress and the President wished it.

“It can’t add up is the bottom line,” said Roberton Williams, a senior fellow at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, and nonpartisan think tank.

Translation: “Nonpartisan” always means: Being neither Republican nor Democrat, but doing exactly what the rich want done, and saying exactly what the rich want said. 

And “add up” means: “We hope you’ll believe the Big Lie that federal spending is funded by federal taxing. In that way, we can give you phony excuses to prevent the government from helping close the Gap between you and the uber-rich.”

He initially proposed simplifying individual income tax rates with three brackets — 25 percent, 20 percent and 10 percent.  Trump increased those Monday to align with House Republican plan that calls for rates of 33 percent, 25 percent and 12 percent.

Prior to those changes, a Moody’s Analytics report concluded that Trump’s economic agenda would thrust Americans into a lengthy recesslion, create “very large deficits” and burden the country with “a much higher debt load.”

Trump is far more liberal than the Republican leaders, who want the 99% less wealthy / less powerful Americans to pay as much tax as possible.

The 33% tax rate on the rich is fake; no rich person pays the highest rate. That’s what tax shelters, tax havens, and tax dodges are for.

The biggest tax shelter for the “not-rich” is the 401K plan, which is taxed at the highest form of income rate, as soon as money is taken out. (Even if your 401K investments have long-term capital gains, which normally are taxed at a low rate [for the rich] you will be taxed at the higher rate when you take the money.)

And then we come to Moody’s, one of the three credit rating agencies that rated worthless securities AAA, which helped cause the Great Recession of 2008. Thank you Moody’s. Why anyone believes anything they say, is a mystery.

“Very large deficits” are the method by which the federal government grows the economy. “A much higher debt load” means much higher investments in T-security accounts at the world’s safest bank.

Neither federal deficits nor federal debt are a burden on the government, on taxpayers or on anyone else. The government cannot run short of its own sovereign currency.

In summary, Moody’s comments are as diametrically wrong as it is humanly possible;  Trump, as wrong as he is, is much closer to being correct.

Bottom line: Trump has no coherent economic plan, and what little plans he offers are riddled with inconsistencies and false assumptions.

Nevertheless, Trump’s inconsistent and false plans are closer to reality than the gigantic, humongous lies of the Republican Party, the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, and Moody’s.

When you’re farther from reality than Donald Trump, wow, that is saying something.

Rodger Malcolm Mitchell
Monetary Sovereignty

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Ten Steps to Prosperity:
1. ELIMINATE FICA (Ten Reasons to Eliminate FICA )
Although the article lists 10 reasons to eliminate FICA, there are two fundamental reasons:
*FICA is the most regressive tax in American history, widening the Gap by punishing the low and middle-income groups, while leaving the rich untouched, and
*The federal government, being Monetarily Sovereign, neither needs nor uses FICA to support Social Security and Medicare.
2. FEDERALLY FUNDED MEDICARE — PARTS A, B & D, PLUS LONG TERM CARE — FOR EVERYONE (H.R. 676, Medicare for All )
This article addresses the questions:
*Does the economy benefit when the rich afford better health care than the rest of Americans?
*Aside from improved health care, what are the other economic effects of “Medicare for everyone?”
*How much would it cost taxpayers?
*Who opposes it?”
3. PROVIDE AN ECONOMIC BONUS TO EVERY MAN, WOMAN AND CHILD IN AMERICA, AND/OR EVERY STATE, A PER CAPITA ECONOMIC BONUS (The JG (Jobs Guarantee) vs the GI (Guaranteed Income) vs the EB) Or institute a reverse income tax.
This article is the fifth in a series about direct financial assistance to Americans:

Why Modern Monetary Theory’s Employer of Last Resort is a bad idea. Sunday, Jan 1 2012
MMT’s Job Guarantee (JG) — “Another crazy, rightwing, Austrian nutjob?” Thursday, Jan 12 2012
Why Modern Monetary Theory’s Jobs Guarantee is like the EU’s euro: A beloved solution to the wrong problem. Tuesday, May 29 2012
“You can’t fire me. I’m on JG” Saturday, Jun 2 2012

Economic growth should include the “bottom” 99.9%, not just the .1%, the only question being, how best to accomplish that. Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) favors giving everyone a job. Monetary Sovereignty (MS) favors giving everyone money. The five articles describe the pros and cons of each approach.
4. FREE EDUCATION (INCLUDING POST-GRAD) FOR EVERYONEFive reasons why we should eliminate school loans
Monetarily non-sovereign State and local governments, despite their limited finances, support grades K-12. That level of education may have been sufficient for a largely agrarian economy, but not for our currently more technical economy that demands greater numbers of highly educated workers.
Because state and local funding is so limited, grades K-12 receive short shrift, especially those schools whose populations come from the lowest economic groups. And college is too costly for most families.
An educated populace benefits a nation, and benefiting the nation is the purpose of the federal government, which has the unlimited ability to pay for K-16 and beyond.
5. SALARY FOR ATTENDING SCHOOL
Even were schooling to be completely free, many young people cannot attend, because they and their families cannot afford to support non-workers. In a foundering boat, everyone needs to bail, and no one can take time off for study.
If a young person’s “job” is to learn and be productive, he/she should be paid to do that job, especially since that job is one of America’s most important.
6. ELIMINATE CORPORATE TAXES
Corporations themselves exist only as legalities. They don’t pay taxes or pay for anything else. They are dollar-tranferring machines. They transfer dollars from customers to employees, suppliers, shareholders and the government (the later having no use for those dollars).
Any tax on corporations reduces the amount going to employees, suppliers and shareholders, which diminishes the economy. Ultimately, all corporate taxes come around and reappear as deductions from your personal income.
7. INCREASE THE STANDARD INCOME TAX DEDUCTION, ANNUALLY. (Refer to this.) Federal taxes punish taxpayers and harm the economy. The federal government has no need for those punishing and harmful tax dollars. There are several ways to reduce taxes, and we should evaluate and choose the most progressive approaches.
Cutting FICA and corporate taxes would be an good early step, as both dramatically affect the 99%. Annual increases in the standard income tax deduction, and a reverse income tax also would provide benefits from the bottom up. Both would narrow the Gap.
8. TAX THE VERY RICH (THE “.1%) MORE, WITH HIGHER PROGRESSIVE TAX RATES ON ALL FORMS OF INCOME. (TROPHIC CASCADE)
There was a time when I argued against increasing anyone’s federal taxes. After all, the federal government has no need for tax dollars, and all taxes reduce Gross Domestic Product, thereby negatively affecting the entire economy, including the 99.9%.
But I have come to realize that narrowing the Gap requires trimming the top. It simply would not be possible to provide the 99.9% with enough benefits to narrow the Gap in any meaningful way. Bill Gates reportedly owns $70 billion. To get to that level, he must have been earning $10 billion a year. Pick any acceptable Gap (1000 to 1?), and the lowest paid American would have to receive $10 million a year. Unreasonable.
9. FEDERAL OWNERSHIP OF ALL BANKS (Click The end of private banking and How should America decide “who-gets-money”?)
Banks have created all the dollars that exist. Even dollars created at the direction of the federal government, actually come into being when banks increase the numbers in checking accounts. This gives the banks enormous financial power, and as we all know, power corrupts — especially when multiplied by a profit motive.
Although the federal government also is powerful and corrupted, it does not suffer from a profit motive, the world’s most corrupting influence.
10. INCREASE FEDERAL SPENDING ON THE MYRIAD INITIATIVES THAT BENEFIT AMERICA’S 99.9% (Federal agencies)Browse the agencies. See how many agencies benefit the lower- and middle-income/wealth/ power groups, by adding dollars to the economy and/or by actions more beneficial to the 99.9% than to the .1%.
Save this reference as your primer to current economics. Sadly, much of the material is not being taught in American schools, which is all the more reason for you to use it.

The Ten Steps will grow the economy, and narrow the income/wealth/power Gap between the rich and you.

MONETARY SOVEREIGNTY