At 07:31 PM 7/27/01 -0700 Kristin A. Ruhle wrote:
>You are saying that there is no such thing as a liberal economist, that
>nobody who understands science can be anything but conservative, t
Actually, *you* said that. I just agreed with you. :)
>Some are
>called to religious asceticism. Should THEY be Republicans?
A great many of them are. Of course, for many, that is because they
believe that human life begins at conception, which makes voting Democratic
unthinkable in almost all cases. Additionally, however, there are a great
many who recognize that after spending *trillions* on the "War on Poverty",
without much effect, that other approaches may be necessary.
[snip]
>If economics is for conservatives only I want nothing to do with it. Much
>of what you're taught is just about justifying the rich at the expense of
>the poor anyway. How about a science dealing with wealth that takes
>ECOLOGY into the equation? Kim Stanley Robinson started working on
>that....
Its called "Environmental Economics" Kristin, and its been around for years
and years. A great book by an environmental economist is Thomas Michael
Powers' "Lost Landscapes and Failed Economies." And unlike Kim Stanley
Robinson, his book is science, not science fiction.
>Science does many wonderful things but I don't think it truly addresses
>social injustice.
Now Kristin, this is just plain silly. If you'd take a moment to consider
what I actually *believe*, I think that you'd see that I'm not the monster
that you make me out to be.
Here is a sampling of what I believe, thanks to my training in Economics:
1) Governments should implement a system of vouchers to ensure that the
parents of every poor child has the right to choose from an array of
educational choices that best suit their child. Moreover, these vouchers
should be implemented at at least the State level, so as to prevent the
basic inequalities that arise from the current system of funding education
through local property taxes. The rich should not be the only ones with
the right to educational choice.
2) Poor people spend a disproportionatley large share of their income on
food and clothing.
The United States should immediately cease the many agricultural policies
that have the effect of artificially raising the prices of food and
clothing, and thus, disproportionately make our poorest citizens worse off.
3) The poor people of other countries are predominantly engaged in
agriculture.
The United States should immediately drop all tariffs on imports from the
poorest countries of the world, thus allowing the poor of the world to
freely attempt to earn a living by selling the fruits of their labors to
the rest of the world. Additionally, by permitting the importation of
cheap agricultural products from poor nations, we will make the poor in our
own country better off.
4) Many of the largest pro sports industries in the United States are
predominantly engaged in the business of selling "civic pride" in the
cities that they represent. The United States should nationalize the
largest pro sports industries, and thus highly regulate them. The bulk of
revenues derived from these industries should be used to reduce the tax
rates in large cities from their current high levels, thus making cities a
more attractive place for both successful workers and jobs for our urban poor.
5) The government is the keeper of public resources.
The government should impose a system of tradeable credits on the country
to limit the pollution of our airspace by any number of products,
particularly greenhouse gases. Likewise, governments should impose a
credit trading system or place a tax on emissions to all of our waterways.
Additionally, urban sprawl is imposing a cost on our civlization by
creating congestion. Governments should impose a "congestion" tax in our
worst-afflicted metropolitan areas to discourage people from moving too far
away from their place of emlpoyment, and to provide funds for improved
methods of public transport.
6) Social justice and economic freedom primarily comes from the freedom of
the individual laborer to market the fruits of his or her labors to the
highest bidder. In the absence of enough bidders, economic freedom comes
from the right to entrepreneurship. Thus, governments should ensure that
there is an adequate system of microfinancing available to the citizenry,
such that any motivated laborer can pursue self-employment, should the
laborer feel that the fruits of his or her labors are being undervalued by
the market.
7) The failure of people to plan adequately for their retirment imposes a
cost on the civilization which is then obligated to care for these people
in their old age. Thus, the government should implement a series of
requirements and incentive to ensure that everyone takes adequate
responsibility for his or her retirement through appropriate savings and
investment. Also, the United States should immediately be honest about
the nature of the Social Security system as a set of transfer payments from
the workers to the non-workers. The poor must no longer be permitted to
believe that their FICA taxes go to a special account in Washington, which
they can then draw upon once they retire. Thus, the United States should
immediately means-test Social Security, and cease proving Social Security
benefits to the rich. Social Security should be reformed into a program
to provide benefits only to those who for whatever reason failed to
adequately prepare for their retirement.
8) Free-markets work best when there is perfect information. Obtaining
information has costs. When those costs are high enough that many choose
not to obtain information, free markets may work imperfectly. It is the
just and proper role of government to promote transparency, ensure the
availability of information, and to make information as cheap as possible.
9) The United States should immediately stop subsidizing corporations with
corporate welfare.
10) Immigrant workers are predominantly poor workers, how fill a critical
role in taking the jobs many others do not want. Every immigrant that can
find a job should be permitted into the country on a work visa. Every
immigrant that can keep a job for a minimum period (1-3 years, for example)
should be given the opportunity to gain citizenship. The current system
of limiting legal immigration far below the economic demand of immigrant
workers serves only to oppress and exploit immigrants while tacitly denying
them the just protections of our government.
If after reading all that, you still don't think that the science of
Economics provides for social justice.... then..... well...... I just don't
know what else I have to do to convince you.
JDG
__________________________________________________________
John D. Giorgis - [EMAIL PROTECTED] - ICQ #3527685
We are products of the same history, reaching from Jerusalem and
Athens to Warsaw and Washington. We share more than an alliance.
We share a civilization. - George W. Bush, Warsaw, 06/15/01
