On top of the health crisis it has created, the coronavirus emergency is providing authoritarian governments with a new tool to consolidate control.
One of the most striking examples so far has been in Hungary, where the parliament has voted to allow the government of prime minister Viktor Orbán the power to rule by decree – effectively indefinitely.
This means that the government can do anything that it considers important to fight against the coronavirus.
Parliament can, technically vote to end this extra power, but Orbán’s party Fidesz has a two-thirds majority.
The Constitutional Court can investigate the legality of any governmental decrees Orbán produces, but again, he has made sure it is packed full of judges chosen by his party.
Fidesz has also introduced a clause that prevents any by-elections or referendums from being held during the crisis.
The when is November, 2020.
If you think this is unlikely, did you read what Chicago’s “Trumpie” columnist John Kass said in today’s column?
Kass makes negative awards he calls “Mouzas” (a hand thrust into someone’s face) to any who displease him:
Speaking of ballots, I wonder if the Illinois Department of Public Health will be asking those who test positive these questions:
“Did you vote at an Illinois polling place on March 17 or have you been in contact with anyone who did, or anyone who served as an election judge?
“And even though you have coronavirus and could die, are you still really glad Gov. J.B. Pritzker closed all the restaurants and bars for your safety while refusing to postpone the election?”
I don’t think Pritzker’s teams of coronavirus trackers will put it that way.
“Pritzker stood up there, in front of TV viewers stating it was ALL about democracy and in the same breath said COVID-19 was deadly,” said Tom McClaughry.
“Oh boy, so much for caring about the people. He has my vote and my ONLY vote for the Moutza. Naaah!!”
“He stands up there complaining about the White House, but keeps the (bleeping) primary open? NAH!”
So there is Trump toady Kass, complaining that Illinois Governor Pritzker didn’t stop the primary election.
Think of the kind of crooks Trump and his pals are. Then think of Trump’s herd of toadies in Congress and on the Supreme Court, and it isn’t much of a stretch — in fact it’s a probability — that Trump and his gang of bootlickers will try the “Hungary” scam this November.
Kass, FOX News, Brietbart et al will justify whatever happens.
Gap Psychology describes the common desire to distance oneself from those “below” in any socio-economic ranking, and to come nearer those “above.” The socio-economic distance is referred to as “The Gap.”
Wide Gaps negatively affect poverty, health and longevity, education, housing, law and crime, war, leadership, ownership, bigotry, supply and demand, taxation, GDP, international relations, scientific advancement, the environment, human motivation and well-being, and virtually every other issue in economics.
Implementation of Monetary Sovereignty and The Ten Steps To Prosperity can grow the economy and narrow the Gaps:
Here are excerpts from an article in today’s Chicago Tribune.
Early divisions as Congress mulls more aid Dems brainstorm ideas; GOP wants to assess situation
By Alan Fram, Associated Press
WASHINGTON — The bipartisan partnership that propelled a $2.2 trillion economic rescue package through Congress just days ago is already showing signs of strain, raising questions about how quickly calls for massive follow-up legislation may bear fruit.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and fellow Democrats are collecting ideas for the next stab at stabilizing an economy knocked into free fall by the coronavirus outbreak.
Their proposals include money for extended unemployment benefits, state and local governments, hospitals and a job-creating infrastructure program, plus expanded job protections and benefits for workers.
“It’s a wonderful opportunity,” Pelosi told reporters this week, “because I think our country is united in wanting to not only address the immediate needs of the emergency and mitigation for the assault on our lives and livelihood, but also how we recover in a very positive way.”
Congress’ top Republicans say not so fast. They want lawmakers to gauge how well the huge, newly minted bailout programs are working and how the economy is behaving.
Visualize the fire department is pouring water on the fire, but the fire still is getting worse and worse. The fire chief says, “No more water until we gauge and assess the situation.”
What is there to “gauge” and “assess”? Congress and the President already have wasted too much time with inaction. Their foot-dragging has doomed too many Americans to death.
But now they want to “gauge” and “assess.” What will they learn other than that $2 trillion worth of “water” was not enough to control the “fire”?
What is wrong with these people?
Here is what is wrong:
And they’re accusing Pelosi of planning to use the next bill to win Democratic priorities like environmental requirementsand moving the country toward ballot by mail elections.
Oh, how awful: Help save the environment. In the GOP world, it is better to let both the environment and the economy be destroyed, than to allow any “Democratic priorities.”
“Let’s see how things are going and respond accordingly,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Tuesday on Hugh Hewitt’s talk radio show.
He said that could take weeks and added, “I would think any kind of bill coming out of the House I would look at like (President Ronald) Reagan suggested we look at the Russians — trust, but verify.”
“I’m not sure we need a fourth package,” House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures.”
“Hey, what’s the rush”? says Moscow Mitch and McCarthy, both of whom have well-paying jobs. “Let’s take our time and ponder this, while people are dying.”
But then, comes a voice of reason from a very unlikely source:
Throwing another wild card into the mix, President Donald Trump on Tuesday blindsided congressional Republicans and embraced using the next round for a massive infrastructure package.
Many in both parties have supported such a program before, but some Republicans have opposed it as too costly and there have long been crippling disagreements over how to pay for it.
“It should be VERY BIG & BOLD, Two Trillion Dollars, and be focused solely on jobs and rebuilding the once great infrastructure of our Country! Phase 4,” Trump tweeted.
Who would have expected Donald Trump, of all people, to make a sensible proposal?
McConnell and McCarthy are proven fools of no value to America. And so is Trump. But while “Mc and Mc” continue to play the fool, suddenly Trump speaks truth and wisdom.
I should mention, that at one time Trump also suggested getting rid of FICA, which was another excellent idea, that he didn’t pursue. Is this the “stopped clock” syndrome, where a stopped clock is right twice a day?
There seems little doubt that if the economy remains near its current morbid state, the major question facing lawmakers will be whatthe next bill should look like, not whetherto have one.
Growing numbers of business close by the day, consumer spending is plummeting and millions are losing jobs as much of the country shelters at home, a devil’s brew that could be lethal for politicians to ignore before November’s presidential and congressional elections.
” . . . if the economy remains near its current morbid state . . . ” IF?? Does he mean IF the giant fire continues to burn, and IF people continue to die, the pols might have to do something about it?
Meanwhile, useless “Mc and Mc” fiddle, “gauge,” and “assess” while the whole world burns.
“I think there’s a deal to be had this time” on infrastructure, said Rep. Greg Walden of Oregon, top Republican on the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
Still, he said reaching agreement on another expensive package could be harder after last week’s $2.2 trillion bill.
“We’ve already broken apart our grandkids’ piggy bank, we’re now getting into the great-grandkids’ piggy banks, so let’s be thoughtful on this,” he said.
And there, once again, is the Big Lie that taxes pay for federal spending. How long, oh lord, how long will these politicians be allowed to use the Big Lie as an excuse for doing nothing, while they sit back and collect salaries?
He said while the economy will likely need another large cash infusion to recover, Democrats pushing more spending will clash with Republicans eager to use tax cuts instead, such as suspending employers’ payroll tax like Trump has proposed.
All are good: Cash infusion, tax cuts, suspending FICA. All are good. All pump money into the economy, and that is the key.
The economy’s single biggest problem today is lack of money; the only solution is to add money to the economy.
And the federal government is the one agency that has the unlimited power to add money.
Clearly the size, contents and timing of the next bill are in play. And the Trump administration, lawmakers, lobbying and ideological groups are all pushing ideas.
Trump has publicly suggested he’d support extra money for state and local governments and for some type of hazard pay for front-line medical workers.
Former Vice President Joe Biden, Trump’s likely Democratic presidential opponent, has said he wants additional direct payments to people beyond the one-time $1,200 amounts many adults will get.
He also wants increased Social Security benefits and some student loan forgiveness.
Pelosi’s proposals include easing limits on federal deductions for state and local taxes, a curb the GOP-controlled Congress enacted in 2017 that’s hit high-income, Democratic-leaning states the hardest.
Her suggestion has run into opposition from both parties.
All of the above are good ideas. All pour water on this out-of-control fire.
Just do it, do it, do it. Do them all. Do them now. The federal government can afford anything, but someone has to push the button.
Stop the political infighting and act like leaders.
Gap Psychology describes the common desire to distance oneself from those “below” in any socio-economic ranking, and to come nearer those “above.” The socio-economic distance is referred to as “The Gap.”
Wide Gaps negatively affect poverty, health and longevity, education, housing, law and crime, war, leadership, ownership, bigotry, supply and demand, taxation, GDP, international relations, scientific advancement, the environment, human motivation and well-being, and virtually every other issue in economics.
Implementation of Monetary Sovereignty and The Ten Steps To Prosperity can grow the economy and narrow the Gaps:
Answer: The COVID-19 crisis. There’s nothing like a crisis to force people to re-think the myths that helped exacerbate the crisis.
For about 25 years, I’ve been telling anyone who would listen that, contrary topopular myths:
The U.S. government’s finances are unlike state and local governments’, and unlike euro governments’, and unlike businesses’, and unlike yours and mine. The federal government uniquely is Monetarily Sovereign. Two hundred forty years ago, it created from thin air an arbitrary number of the first U.S. dollars. It did this by creating laws from thin air. The U.S. dollar is a product of U.S. laws.
The U.S. government still retains the ability to create laws and its own sovereign currency, the U.S. dollar from thin air. Using its laws, the government can give its dollars any value it chooses (which it arbitrarily has changed multiple times).
Even if all federal tax collections fell to $0, the U.S. government could continue spending forever. It never can run short of U.S. dollars.
The government creates dollars by spending. To pay a creditor, the government sends instructions (via check or wire), to the creditor’s bank, telling the bank to increase the balance in the creditor’s bank account. The instant the bank obeys those instructions, new dollars are createdand added to the M1 money supply.
The federal government destroys all its income, including all your tax payments, upon receipt.When the government receives your tax dollars, your checking account is reduced, which reduces the nation’s M1 money supply. Meanwhile, the received tax dollars cease to be part of any money supply measure, so they effectively are destroyed.
The federal government does not borrow.It accepts deposits into T-security accounts. When you buy a T-security (T-bill, T-note, T-bond), you actually deposit your dollars into your T-security account at the Federal Reserve bank. There, the dollars remain, gathering interest, until maturity, at which time the government returns the dollars to you. No tax dollars are involved at any point in the process.
Neither you, nor anyone else, owes or pays for the federal “debt.” Federal debt is not typical debt. It is the total of dollars deposited into T-securities accounts. The federal government, having no need for these dollars, does not touch them. They remain in your account until the T-securities mature.
The purpose of T-securities is not to provide the government with dollars, which it creates at the touch of a computer key. The purposes are: To provide a safe storage place unused dollars (which stabilizes the dollar) and to make Americans believe dollars are scarce to the government (so the people will not ask for benefits).
Neither the federal debt or federal deficit are a burden on anyone.The federal deficit is the net amount of money the federal government has added to the economy. Thus the federal deficit is the economy’s surplus.
A growing economy, by definition, needs a growing supply of money. Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the prime measure of an economy = Federal Spending + Non-federal Spending + Net Exports.
Mathematically it impossible for an economy to grow unless its money supply grows. That is why federal deficits grow the economy (GDP.)
Federal surpluses cause recessions and depressions by shrinking the supply of dollars in the private sector. Every depression in U.S. history has come on the heels of federal surpluses. Most recessions have resulted from reduced deficit growth.
The GDP/Debt ratio, so often cited, is a meaningless fraction. The amount of national (public and private) spending vs. the total of all T-security accounts has no relevance in economics. The federal government could accept deposits in T-securities’ accounts without running a deficit, and it could run a deficit without accepting deposits into T-securities accounts. The two are not related.
Federal deficit spending does not “crowd out” private spending. The opposite is true. Because federal deficit spending adds dollars to the economy, it facilitates private spending. A more complete discussion can be found here.
The U.S. government should not try to increase the balance of trade. Imports are more beneficial than exports. With imports, the federal government exchanges easily created dollars for difficult-to-create goods and services.
Inflations and hyperinflations are not caused by government “excessive” spending. They are caused by shortages of key goods, usually food and/or energy. Ironically, inflations and hyperinflations can be cured by increased government spending to obtain the scarce goods and tribute them to the public.
The rich, who run America, wish to widen the Gap, because it is the Gap that makes them rich. Without the Gap, we all would be the same, and the wider the Gap, the richer they are.
The sole purpose of government is to improve and protect the lives of the people.Wide Gaps negatively affect poverty, health and longevity, education, housing, law and crime, war, leadership, ownership, bigotry, supply and demand, taxation, GDP, international relations, scientific advancement, the environment, human motivation and well-being, and virtually every other issue in economics.
The Ten Steps to Prosperity should be implemented to grow the economy and to narrow the Gap between the rich and the rest.
That’s a great number of popular myths, debunked. For lo these 25 years, I have enjoyed receiving epithets ranging from “commie” to “stupid,” to the carnal, to “lib,” and now suddenly, I’m a genius. And being a “lib” isn’t quite so outrageous.
With the government BV (before virus) already planning to run a $1 trillion deficit, and now DV (During Virus) planning to add about $2 trillion more to the deficit — and all without raising taxes — it has become clearer to my intelligent friends and enemies that the above 20 statements have validity.
Now, if only we could communicate the facts to the nation’s opinion leaders — the media, the politicians, and the economics professors — we might detach ourselves from the COVID-19 depression that hovers in our future.
Sadly, America needs more trillions than the government already has allocated, to stave off a massive depression. I calculate that at least $7 trillion is needed, depending on how it is allocated.
Though I now have become, in the eyes of some, an “instant” genius (after 25 years), the myths continue to dominate popular thought — just somewhat less.
But it doesn’t take a genius to see what is plain and simple right before your eyes. It doesn’t take a genius to understand the basics of Monetary Sovereignty and Gap Psychology.
You can do your part to disseminate the truth and to diminish the lies by repeatedly — daily, hourly — contacting your Senators and Representative, and telling them about Monetary Sovereignty. Do it, if not for you, then for your children and grandchildren.
You can help save the world. You have nothing better to do.
Gap Psychology describes the common desire to distance oneself from those “below” in any socio-economic ranking, and to come nearer those “above.” The socio-economic distance is referred to as “The Gap.”
Wide Gaps negatively affect poverty, health and longevity, education, housing, law and crime, war, leadership, ownership, bigotry, supply and demand, taxation, GDP, international relations, scientific advancement, the environment, human motivation and well-being, and virtually every other issue in economics.
Implementation of Monetary Sovereignty and The Ten Steps To Prosperity can grow the economy and narrow the Gaps:
There are important reasons why you should contact Steve Chapman. Let me explain.
Monetary Sovereignty is not a difficult concept. It simply says that the federal government, having created the first U.S. dollars from thin air, continues to have the power to keep creating U.S. dollars from thin air.
You are not Monetarily Sovereign, nor am I. Nor is your city, your county, your state, or your business.
We all can run short of dollars. Even Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates can run short of dollars. The U.S. government cannot run short. Unless it wants to.
Even if the U.S. government didn’t collect a single dollar in taxes, it could continue spending forever.
Some countries are not Monetarily Sovereign. The euro nations are not. They did not create the euro; they merely use it. But the European Union, which did create the euro, is Monetarily Sovereign.
You might think that anyone writing about or discussing economics would at the very least, understand that simple “1 + 1 + 2” concept. And yet . . .
I’ve spent more than 20 years trying to teach Monetary Sovereignty to anyone who will listen, and even now I am amazed at the brutal, stone-headed resistance.
But some of it is just . . . how can I say this kindly? . . . just plain mental blindness.
During my 20+ years mission, I’ve come across some truly wrong, misleading, and downright misguided articles, but today I found one that must be in the top 3.
It was written by a man who is not stupid; I’ve read other of his articles and found them to be enlightening. But this one is, as the kids like to say, awesome — in how wrong it is!
Steve Chapman is a columnist and editorial writer for the Chicago Tribune. His twice-weekly column on national and international affairs, distributed by Creators Syndicate, appears in some 50 papers across the country. Chapman has been a member of the Tribune editorial board since 1981. A native Texan, he has a bachelor’s degree from Harvard. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. Fiscal discipline was once a durable American practice. But in the 1940s, it went out the window. The federal government embarked on a sudden, unprecedented binge of borrowing that put the nation in hock up to its ears.
WRONG: The U.S. federal government does not borrow. Having the unlimited ability to create dollars, why would it?
What erroneously is termed “borrowing” actually is the acceptance of deposits into Treasury Security accounts (T-bill, T-note, T-bond). When you invest in a T-security, you deposit U.S. dollars into your T-security account.
There your dollars remain, gathering interest, until the account matures, at which time the government returns the dollars in your account. The government never uses those dollars or removes them from your account.
The purposes of issuing T-securities are:
To provide a safe place for unused cash, which stabilizes the U.S. dollar
To assist the Fed in controlling interest rates, which helps control inflation.
The government does not issue T-securities to obtain dollars.
From 1940 to 1945, federal spending rose tenfold. The national debt increased sixfold. The public would have to shoulder the burden of paying down that debt for decades to come.
WRONG: The public has not shouldered, and will not shoulder any burden from the so-called, misnamed “debt.”
First, it’s not “debt” in the usual sense. It’s deposits, and the deposits are NOT paid back with taxes. The “debt” (deposits) are paid off merely by returning the dollars that exist in the T-security accounts.
Second, federal taxes do not fund any federal spending. In fact, all federal taxes (unlike state and local government taxes) are destroyed upon receipt.
When the federal government pays a creditor, it creates new dollars, ad hoc. The process is this:
Upon approving an invoice for payment, the government sends instructions (checks or wires) to the creditor’s bank, instructing the bank to increase the balance in the creditor’s checking account.
At the instant the creditor’s bank does as instructed, new dollars are created and added to the nation’s money supply (M1). This is the federal government’s method for creating dollars. No taxes involved. No burden on anyone.
There was, however, a good excuse for this gross budgetary excess: World War II. For a government, as with a person, there is usually no difference between being frugal and being wise.
But when the nation’s survival is at stake, the risks of underspending are far greater than the risks of overspending.
With the phrase “as with a person,” Chapman reveals abject ignorance of economics, for he equates federal (Monetarily Sovereign) finances with personal (monetarily non-sovereign) finances.
Further, he alludes to “gross budgetary excess,” which may be appropriate to individuals, states, and businesses, but is completely irrelevant to the federal government, which has the unlimited ability to create its own sovereign currency.
Finally, Chapman refers to WWII as needing “overspending” but does not mention any adverse effect from the so-called “budget excess.”
The vertical gray bars show total GDP (right scale). The other lines show % of GDP (left scale). The black dotted line is government spending. The blue dotted line is personal consumption.
In fact, increased federal spending created a dramatic increase in GDP.
’39-’49
A similar imperative exists today, as the new coronavirus endangers lives and causes economic disruption on a scale not seen since — well, since World War II.
Last year, the federal budget deficit soared to nearly $1 trillion , at a time of sustained economic growth and prosperity. It was an atrocious figure, representing the latest fiscal failure by our political leaders.
Chapman does not understand that the “sustained economic growth and prosperity” was a direct result of the federal budget deficit growth.
Deficits pump dollars into the economy, and GDP (the usual measure of economic growth) is a dollar measure.
GDP = Federal Spending + Non-federal Spending + Net Exports
Thus, it makes absolutely no mathematical sense to decry federal deficits while also treasuring GDP growth.
And, in fact, the “economic disruption” demands deficit spending far in excess of the $2 trillion measure recently passed. A spending measure of at least $7 trillion would have prevented the coming recession.
But the spending package forged by Congress and the president to address the fallout of the pandemic will add up to more than double that amount, pushing overall spending to levels never imagined just weeks ago.
The rescue plan is probably only the first of a series of huge spending bills meant to reduce the devastation from a locked-down economy.
Here, Chapman really doesn’t get it. He correctly indicates that “huge spending bills” “reduce the devastation from a locked-down economy.”
Amazingly, he doesn’t understand why that is true.
Of course, the reason is that money grows the economy and federal spending pumps money into the economy. Chapman wants the economy to grow from a “locked-down” position, but he doesn’t seem to want it to grow from a “non-locked-down” situation.
Puzzling.
For more years than I care to remember, under presidents of both parties, I have been a consistent voice — OK, an insufferable scold — on the need for the government to be thrifty and responsible in its budget policy.
I have stressed the importance of living within our means,paying the full cost of what we demand of our government and not piling needless obligations on future generations.
There are many good moments for fiscal restraint. This is not one of them.
He has been insufferable because his scolding has been based on economic ignorance.
The Monetarily Sovereign government has no “means” to live within. It has the infinite ability to pay any billsof any size, instantly.
And with regard to “paying the full cost of what we demand,” Chapman is referring to a balanced budget, or as it alternatively is known, “austerity.”
Vertical gray bars are recessions which begin when federal deficit spending (red line) declines, and are cured by increases in federal deficit spending.
And, if Mr. Chapman prefers federal surpluses (economic deficits), he should look at this:
Every U.S. depression has come on the heels of federal surpluses
1804-1812: U. S. Federal Debt reduced 48%. Depression began 1807.
1817-1821: U. S. Federal Debt reduced 29%. Depression began 1819.
1823-1836: U. S. Federal Debt reduced 99%. Depression began 1837.
1852-1857: U. S. Federal Debt reduced 59%. Depression began 1857.
1867-1873: U. S. Federal Debt reduced 27%. Depression began 1873.
1880-1893: U. S. Federal Debt reduced 57%. Depression began 1893.
1920-1930: U. S. Federal Debt reduced 36%. Depression began 1929.
1997-2001: U. S. Federal Debt reduced 15%. Recession began 2001.
Today, we face enormous dangers. One is that millions of Americans thrown out of work or otherwise deprived of income will be unable to pay their bills, put food on the table or keep their homes.
Refusing to help them through this crisis, which came about for reasons beyond their control, would exact a horrific human toll.
It would also create general chaos that would stymie economicrecovery for months, if not years.
Likewise with businesses. In the absence of prompt federal aid, a wave of bankruptcies could wipe out companies that were healthy and profitable before — and have every prospect of being healthy and profitable afterward.
The businesses would be gone, and so would the jobs they provided. People and companies desperately need a bridge across this troubled water.
In Mr. Chapman’s world, apparently the government should wait until “millions of Americans are thrown out of work or otherwise deprived of income, will be unable to pay their bills, put food on the table or keep their homes” before adding dollars to the economy.
He opposes deficit spending to, for instance, institute the Ten Steps to Prosperity (below), grow the economy and/or narrow the Gap between the rich and the rest
Yes, the necessary measures will be shockingly expensive. Yes, they will have to be paid for with borrowed funds. Yes, they will enlarge a national debt that was already in the neighborhood of $24 trillion.
WRONG. They will not be paid for with borrowed funds. But yes, the so-called national debt — which since 1940 has increased 60,000% (from $40 billion to $24 trillion) while the economy has grown massively — will continue to grow.
And further growth in the “debt” will mathematically be necessary for future economic growth.
How could we afford all this new debt?
Through the robust revenue-generating economic activity that will resume if we successfully navigate the crisis. The larger debt burden will be easier to bear in the long run than a smaller debt would be if we let a brief, severe downturn become a prolonged depression.
Mr. Chapman continues to demonstrate ignorance of the differences between federal financing and personal financing.
The federal government can “afford” any debt, simply by creating dollars. That is the way it pays all its debts.
It neither needs, nor uses “revenue-generating economic activity.” Federal taxes do not fund federal spending.
Debts have to repaid with dollars, and dollars are something the Federal Reserve can create in any quantity needed.
The worst case is that we will have to endure an eventual spell of inflation, which would be far preferable to an immediate and total economic collapse.
And there it is, the inevitable, but wrong, “The government always can print money, BUT this would cause inflation.” Again and again, we hear this from the economically ignorant, but NEVER do we see the evidence to back it up.
It contains graphs showing that inflation is caused by shortages, especially shortages of food and/or energy:
Graph I Changes in the money supply M3 are NOT predictive of changes in prices (red).
Graph II Changes in the price of oil (which closely reflect supply changes) ARE predictive of inflation.
Graph III Food and energy inflation IS predictive of overall inflation.
After you look at those graphs, look at this one:
While federal deficit spending has risen dramatically (blue line) inflation (red line) has risen moderately, within the Fed’s target range.
Historically, the scarcity of food and/or oil has been the driver of inflation and hyperinflation. See: The Hyperinflation Myth Explained.
In most cases, our politicians deserve condemnation for spending money with wild abandon. In this moment, it’s the best thing they can do.
Steve Chapman, a member of the Tribune Editorial Board, blogs at http://www.chicagotribune.com/chapman . schapman@chicagotribune.com Twitter @SteveChapman13
Steve Chapman is widely read and influential. I urge you to contact him with the facts. Perhaps if he receives enough pokes, he may pay attention.
We desperately need more people of influence to spread the word, or we will have more recessions and wider Gaps between the rich and the rest.
Gap Psychology describes the common desire to distance oneself from those “below” in any socio-economic ranking, and to come nearer those “above.” The socio-economic distance is referred to as “The Gap.”
Wide Gaps negatively affect poverty, health and longevity, education, housing, law and crime, war, leadership, ownership, bigotry, supply and demand, taxation, GDP, international relations, scientific advancement, the environment, human motivation and well-being, and virtually every other issue in economics.
Implementation of Monetary Sovereignty and The Ten Steps To Prosperity can grow the economy and narrow the Gaps:
#Monetary Sovereignty - Mitchell 