Why the Economy's Crap

Even if you only glance at the business news headlines, you know that there have been numerous warnings of a forthcoming economic crisis of huge proportions.

One theory is that Central Banks, having lowered interest rates to almost nothing, or even less than nothing, are "running out of options."

It's as if central banks are somehow the engines of economic activity and growth, whereas in fact they are nothing more than largely ineffectual regulators of private banks and, with the private banks, a source of monetary emission.

Another theory pushed by at least one Nobel-prize winning economist is that anti-diluvian know-nothings like Donald Trump resist international trade agreements urgently need to stimulate exports.

The truth, however, is different and quite simple. The economy slows or shrinks when spending slows or shrinks. That is self-evident, since no service is provided or good produced without a buyer (at least in prospect). Therefore, if the economy is in decline, there must be a lack of demand. So the only real issue is this:

Why are Western economies experiencing a lack of demand? Why won't people spend? Do they need some kind of spending Viagra?

No way.

The problem is not that people have lost their appetite for stuff. Who wouldn't eat steak instead of hamburger, or drive a 2016 M-series BMW rather than a 2006 PT Cruiser?

So what's up?

Folks are just maxed out on all lines of credit and too many have no hope of doing better than working at WalMart, part-time for crap wages, or they're still buying food and clothes for their 20- or 30-something kid whose still living at home at parental expense, or they just got laid off by Ford in Michigan, or Nabisco in Chicago, or Carrier Air Conditioning in Indiana — all of whom are relocating plants from the US to Mexico, or they just had to train their cheap immigrant replacement workers at Disney.

So what's the solution?

Technically, there are lots of possible solutions and this is not some boring economics paper that goes into tedious details to confirm my econo-cred. Suffice it to say that a solution will entail getting more money into the hands of people who are short of cash, i.e., the 99% (most of 'em, anyhow).

How to do that?

Again, there are many possible solutions, and I have no intention of going into the tedious technical details about the regulation of international trade, of capital flows and all the other stuff that make your eyes glaze over and convince you that economists are serious technicians, rather than the con-men most of them really are.

But I will give, as an example, one possible solution:

Hand out cash. For the US, for example, give everyone $250.00 a month, free money.

How the Heck?

 Easy. Just print it as the Fed does already to cover the cost of all those futile government jobs, you know, Common Core and the rest of the Department of Education, almost free loans to the likes of Tesla-man and anti-Trumpeteer, Elon Musk, and all the stupid war spending that has screwed up the Middle-East and made Americans deservedly hated throughout the World.

But it would make inflation, you say.

Well actually no, or not that much, anyhow. The problem now is deflation. There are underused or abandoned resources throughout the West, most notable, tens of millions of unemployed youth, tens of millions more of older workers booted from the workforce as the result of global wage arbitrage and left on the scrap-heap.

But the sight of the US Government giving money to the plebs rather than smooth-talking alt. energy execs., the state of Israel, Lockheed Martin, etc., etc. would spook the Chinese and other hoarders of the US dollar, resulting in a dollar devaluation.

The consequence of devaluation would be (a) to raise the price of all those cheap shoes and shirts, car-parts and computers that Americans love to buy from the sweat-shops of Asia, and (b) to stimulate American production of those formerly out-source products.

The scoundrels fronting for the globalist Money Power, the Cruzes and Rubios, plus all the other member of the US Congress will howl about the resulting rise in prices: Shit, we don't give a damn about Americans finding work if that means rising prices. No, no, no. We want our T-shirts and shoes and all the rest from collapsible factories in Bangladesh and wherever Asians are sweated for pennies an hour. Screw American workers.

What the Money Power propaganda operatives will not tell you is that unrestricted free trade maximizes the profits of global corporations, i.e., the corporate giants that own the US Government.

That's the real reason that Western workers must suffer. But don't hold your breath waiting for any Nobel-Prize winning economist to say so, unless you think they give Nobel Prizes to people who attack the interests of the Money Power.

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