Money, debt, real products, real jobs

Dear Subscribers,

 

Although we are frequently concerned with the nuts and bolts of finance, beneath that concern is our desire for political and economic security and full employment for people — those fortunate enough to live in democracies — and those whom we hope will live as well or better under systems of whatever name that they prefer over ours.

(In our culture we use shorthand to say "your are what you do" — to emphasize that earnings are not enough: most people need work or a calling to nourish their self-respect. Even if some do not, all have a right to a job (as we know it) — if they want it. And, in addition, all have a right to more income — if earnings on the job pragmatically require a national subsidy.)

All of the above being taken as fundamental, (admittedly many of our subscribers will have none of it — they are into these discussions as realists pursuing real interests with scant faith in the possibility of radical reform), my point in making it explicit is to press the idea that we owe it to ourselves to look beyond the nominal or indexed value of money and debt toward the products and services needed for political and economic security.

We should imagine such material economic output being produced under a powerful information system that could establish price as it would be, if everything were perfect — that is imagine a system equivalent to perfect barter.

 

If we would only do this, all negative talk about future pain would have to be predicated on future shortages of people, skills, materials, productive capacity, obedience to green imperatives, etc., and not on financial measures of money deposits or outstanding debt that are desperately in need of re-calibrating.

 

If enough of us could get our heads around this principle — that it is future production versus unmet need that counts — we might ask ourselves to take into account robotics.

 

What remains — if we have moved from finance to production — and from production (by poor people) to robotics — our final hurdle is simplification.

 

OK. We have reached the end of this message and nothing in the real world has changed !  Does that imply I'm wrong — that our time should be spent discussing how to game the system for individual advantage allowing the devil to take the hindmost and the earth to dry up of all hope ? 

Does it imply that government and markets work best when people read Adam Smith and Margaret Thatcher and assume there is no alternative ?

Hell no. The alternative is strategic production for need — calling for some market based production for profit — and some cost-plus pricing to protect wages and income and the quality of life within reach. We must get away from literalism in the law and dogmatism in economics.

 

With America and Great Britain and allies fighting the war against fascism, the time is right for addressing significant international issues — as we did in 1942 when  freedom from want  was first added to our unwritten constitutions and fascism of that era was defeated.

 

John Gelles