News from the Network, Vol. 15, No. 42

by admin November 4, 2022

Another week has gone by filled with missed opportunities to implement the Economic Democracy Act, so what else is new? Well, as you can see, not much:

Yes, but the market is doing great!

• Stock Market Soars as Economy Worsens. In the real world of binary economics, a rising stock market would indicate that the companies whose ownership is represented by equity shares are becoming increasingly profitable and that the economic outlook is good. Shares would not be considered valuable in and of themselves, that is, something to be traded because of changes in the values per share, but because of the future dividends to be received on the shares. That is why, if companies paid out the full stream of income to their shareholders, the “P.E ratio” would be all-important, for it would give the length of time necessary for the shares to pay for themselves out of future earnings, and thereafter yield consumption income for the shareholder. A good P/E ratio under a binary economics system would be around 5 to 10, depending on the type of company the shareholder owned. Today, however, we typically see P/E ratios far in excess of 5 or 10, with some in the hundreds . . . meaning that the company is not expected to generate sufficient earnings to cover the price of the shares for centuries. So why buy the shares? Because you hope that someone else dumber than you will come along and pay you even more money for the shares. Making this scenario even worse is that as the economy is getting wore and the “experts” are expecting a “recession” (a continuation of the ongoing depression we’ve been experiencing since Keynesianism took over the global economy), the stock market is rising at a tremendous rate, albeit with drastic ups and downs along the way. The only real way to get things back on target is the Economic Democracy Act, but nobody seems to be considering that.

You will own nothing and you will be happy!

• Home Ownership a Thing of the Past? An unofficial slogan of the so-called “Great Reset” is that you will own nothing, and you will be happy. We’re not entirely sure how Klaus Schwab and his minions in the World Economic Forum define “happiness,” but if it’s in terms of non-ownership, most of the people in the world are already ecstatically happy. Few people own capital, and now home ownership is under siege. The so-called “American Dream of owning your own home — which is a degenerate version of the former American Dream of owning your own farm or business — is apparently on the skids, and we assume that the next version of the American Dream is that you own yourself and nothing else . . . and the politicians are already staking their claim on people; remember the stink a few years ago when a politician announced that parents don’t “own” their children (technically correct, but the implication was that the government does own your children and you as well)? What we need is a system in which people cannot only own themselves and a home, but a capital stake sufficient to generate an adequate income so that the government doesn’t control them. One means for doing that is the Economic Democracy Act.

"Go away. I'm saving."

• Supersize Your Savings!! An obscure tax provision will allow some older workers to save up to $265,000 in 2023 for retirement. Of course, that assumes that you actually have $265,000 to save, which going by the “xperts” above, does not appear all that likely. What people need to do is rethink the whole retirement savings shtick and start investing for current income, not saving for future retirement. The way to do that is the Economic Democracy Act.

It's not supposed to make sense.

• Inflation, Employment, and Human Cussedness. Keynesian dogma has it that if you want low unemployment, you must put up with high inflation, and if you want low inflation you must put up with high unemployment. The so-called science of political economy consists of trying to find the golden mean of unemployment and inflation that people will tolerate before lynching the politicians and economists. The problem of course, is that the Keynesian theory has never actually worked except by chance . . . lrgely because the Keynesian prescription of inducing inflation uses a different definition of inflation than reality imposes. In real life, “inflation” means a rise in the price level, with “cost-push” inflation caused by an increase in the cost of something (usually increased costs of production or increased scarcity of a resource), while “demand-pull” inflation is caused by creating money that is not backed by something of actual, present value. Admittedly, those are the definitions used by most economists and politicians today, but there’s a problem. Keynes’s dogma of the alleged tradeoff between inflation and employment used a different definition of inflation! According to Keynes, “true” inflation consists of a rise in the price level after reaching full employment. What if there is a rise in the price level before reaching full employment? That’s due to “other factors.” What other factors? Keynes didn’t tell us. You see the contradiction? Keynes said there is a necessary tradeoff between inflation and employment because he redefined inflation to fit his theory. If there is a rise in the price level before reaching full employment, don’t worry, because it’s not real inflation! The hyperinflation in Germany and Austria-Hungary when there was massive unemployment didn’t exist because — according to Keynes — the inflation wasn’t “true inflation”! That is why at a time when we are experiencing the highest inflation in two generations, and people are leaving the workforce in increasing numbers, the “experts” are absolute baffled. It can’t be happening . . . except that it is. The only real solution is not Keynesian word games, but the Economic Democracy Act, but nobody in power seems to want to do the obvious.

Not the best advice

• Why Did Inflation Surge? In a related paradox, the “experts” are still wondering where the latest inflation surge came from. Do you suppose it could be due to governments printing and spending money like drunken sailors on leave? Naaaaaw. Impossible. Keynes said it was okay, and Keynes was always right. Except when he wasn’t. Of course, if the “experts” really wanted to get a handle on inflation — and employment, interest, and money, and everything else Keynes thought he knew something about — they would look into the Economic Democracy Act, but that is obviously too easy.

They're not, like, relevant, Dude.

• Powell Up Against It. Laboring under the “Currency Principle” delusion that the amount of money in the system determines the level of economic activity, the “experts” are speculating endlessly about what Federal Reserve Chairman Powell is going to say or do next. We have some ad news and some good news for the “experts.” The bad news is that it doesn’t matter a hill of beans what Powell says or does, because the assumption of the Currency Principle that they think was handed down by God on Mount Sinai is utterly false and is the exact opposite of reality. Economic activity determines (or should determine) the quantity of money, not the other way around. And the good news? It doesn’t matter a hill of beans what Powell says or does because ditto. What will work? The Economic Democracy Act.

Still a slave.

• Rich Wage Slaves Are Hurting. According to the “experts,” more than 25% of workers making more than $200 thousand per year are deep in debt and living paycheck to paycheck. Thing about it. These are people running through $1 million every five years (do the math). This is a level of affluence (at least in terms of income alone) undreamed of by most people, but they still can’t make it? It suggests that perhaps wage income is not the way to go, but that people should be thinking about capital income. The “Fight for Fifteen” people should take note: if you can’t make it on minimum wage, this suggests you won’t make it on maximum wage, either. What’s the answer? The Economic Democracy Act.

• Greater Reset “Book Trailers”. We have produced two ninety-second “Book Trailers” for distribution (by whoever wants to distribute them), essentially a minute and a half commercials for The Greater Reset. There are two versions of the videos, one for “general audiences”and the other for “Catholic audiences”. Take your pick.

• The Greater Reset. CESJ’s new book by members of CESJ’s core group, The Greater Reset: Reclaiming Personal Sovereignty Under Natural Lawis, of course, available from the publisher, TAN Books, an imprint of Saint Benedict Press, and has already gotten a top review on that website. It can also be obtained from Barnes and Noble, as well as Amazon, or by special order from your local “bricks and mortar” bookstore. The Greater Reset is the only book of which we’re aware on “the Great Reset” that presents an alternative instead of simply warning of the dangers inherent in a proposal that is contrary to natural law. It describes reality, rather than a Keynesian fantasy world. Please note that The Greater Reset is NOT a CESJ publication as such, and enquiries about quantity discounts and wholesale orders for resale must be sent to the publisher, Saint Benedict Press, NOTto CESJ.

• Hortense and Her Whos. In case you’ve been wondering how you might advance the Just Third Way by introducing it to legislators at any and all levels of government, we’ve made it easy for you, with the “Hortense Hears Three Whos“ initiative. Visit the explanatory website, and consider downloading the postcard to send to people in government. Don’t worry if you think they won’t be open to it, as the postcard is intended to get them to open their eyes.

• Economic Personalism Landing Page. A landing page for CESJ’s latest publication, Economic Personalism: Property, Power and Justice for Every Person, has been created and can be accessed by clicking on this link. Everyone is encouraged to visit the page and send the link out to their networks.

• Economic Personalism. When you purchase a copy of Economic Personalism: Property, Power and Justice for Every Person, be sure you post a review after you’ve read it. It is available on both Amazon and Barnes and Noble at the cover price of $10 per copy. You can also download the free copy in .pdf available from the CESJ website. If you’d like to order in bulk (i.e., ten or more copies) at the wholesale price, send an email to publications@cesj.org for details. CESJ members get a $2 rebate per copy on submission of proof of purchase. Wholesale case lots of 52 copies are available at $350, plus shipping (whole case lots ONLY). Prices are in U.S. dollars.

• Sensus Fidelium Videos, Update. CESJ’s series of videos for Sensus Fidelium are doing very well, with over 155,000 total views. The latest Sensus Fidelium video is “The Five Levers of Change.” The video is part of the series on the book, Economic Personalism. The latest completed series on “the Great Reset” can be found on the “Playlist” for the series. The previous series of sixteen videos on socialism is available by clicking on the link: “Socialism, Modernism, and the New Age,” along with some book reviews and other selected topics. For “interfaith” presentations to a Catholic audience they’ve proved to be popular, edging up to 150,000 views to date. They aren’t really “Just Third Way videos,” but they do incorporate a Just Third Way perspective. You can access the playlist for the entire series. The point of the videos is to explain how socialism and socialist assumptions got such a stranglehold on the understanding of the role of the State and thus the interpretation of Catholic social teaching, and even the way non-Catholics and even non-Christians understand the roles of Church, State, and Family, and the human persons place in society.

• Shop online and support CESJ’s work! Did you know that by making your purchases through the Amazon Smile program, Amazon will make a contribution to CESJ? Here’s how: First, go to https://smile.amazon.com/. Next, sign in to your Amazon account. (If you don’t have an account with Amazon, you can create one by clicking on the tiny little link below the “Sign in using our secure server” button.) Once you have signed into your account, you need to select CESJ as your charity — and you have to be careful to do it exactly this way: in the space provided for “Or select your own charitable organization” type “Center for Economic and Social Justice Arlington.” If you type anything else, you will either get no results or more than you want to sift through. Once you’ve typed (or copied and pasted) “Center for Economic and Social Justice Arlington” into the space provided, hit “Select” — and you will be taken to the Amazon shopping site, all ready to go.

• Blog Readership. We have had visitors from 26 different countries and 31 states, provinces, and territories in the United States and Canada to this blog over the past week. Most visitors are from the United States, the United Kingdom, India, Uganda, and Nigeria. The most popular postings this past week in descending order were “The Purpose of Production,” “News from the Network, Vol. 15, No. 41,” “Social Justice and Liberal Democracy, II,” “Activism vs. Leadership,” and “JTW Podcast: Why Not Biafran Independence?”

Those are the happenings for this week, at least those that we know about. If you have an accomplishment that you think should be listed, send us a note about it at mgreaney [at] cesj [dot] org, and well see that it gets into the next “issue.” Due to imprudent and intemperate language on the part of some commentators, we removed temptation and disabled comments.

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