Economists, of course

Moral: Wherein we look at an important class, as least, they are so in their own eyes. Kidding.

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This blog deals with things economic. And, those who study those same things offer us a science that is dismal, at best, and positively dire, at worst.

But, the discussions are always of interest. Take The Economist (please). Kidding, again, as I love the Brit humor. Buttonwood (Tied to the mast) covers some important issues, such as taxes.

Who pays for what is always a problem. What we've seen of late is a diminishing income for the majority of the people, while the giant sucking machines filled the pockets of the few. It's been said many times.

And, that mass movement of wealth was due to an economic ideology. Let us just say, that the best description is characterized by the old refrain: privatization of any gain, socialization of all loss. And we, the taxpayers, are put into the position of being the buyer of last resort, even with our minimal means (and beans). Too, one main property of the markets under this ideology is that any constraint related to 'moral hazard-ness' is relaxed.

Ah, that ideology, according to some, is now hiding in the corner. If only.

Methinks that it can be better. How to accomplish this will require that economists agree on a few things. What are those?

We can name a few with more promised at some future point.

• Labor is the core. How else will we get consumer spending? Thievery? Oh wait, that is essentially what the 'giant sucking' mentioned above consisted of.
• Knowledge, and capital, related to persons is key to stability. Adam Smith can (must) be updated; his times, of course, were enthralled with machinery.
• Markets are a means, not the end (see the above bullet for the end).
• Corporations are not persons, at least not totally. Nor does the Corporation over-extend the political will of the people. Oh, what is that?
• Money is another means. Our maturity can be best reflected in an economy using something beyond a gab standard.

This incomplete list is only a starting point.

Remarks:

03/15/2015 -- Finally, getting around to the pending business.

03/20/2010 -- The basic problem of capitalism is that the Made-offs are its chief representative.

01/07/2010 -- We need to look at capitalism, closely.

01/06/2010 -- Poor Ben, getting grief and criticism.

12/29/2009 -- Time calls Ben an uber-Nerd.

12/28/2009 -- Ben was named the Time Person of the Year. Nice. We can't call him 'King' as we saw with Alan's 'cult of personality' reign.

12/15/2009 -- Requiem for the dollar (WSJ) and responses.

12/10/2009 -- More roles include the consumer and the economy.

10/29/2009 -- Bankers, Lawyers, Corporatists, Economists, and more. Roles abound.

09/09/2009 -- To look at some issues addressed here, we'll need to consider Alan's reign.

09/09/09 -- We'll need to look at UUUN, as a framework.

09/04/2009 -- It has been decided about Ben, the saver sacker. We still need to discuss the overarching metaphor for the economy. Quants are it!!

Modified: 03/15/2015