Hm. Now do I reply cnfirming I only sent it once, and risk eight copies of it going out, or do I not reply at all and risk people thinking I sent out eight copies of it? tr On 30-Mar-09, at 6:23 PM, M.Blackmore wrote:
> You may not post much to the list but I got 8 copies of it... did > anyone > else get multiple copies or is it my mail service playing silly b's? > > > On Sat, 2009-03-28 at 12:37 -0400, tim rourke wrote: >> Hello all; >> >> I do not post much to this list, but it is time to say some things. >> >> >> >> 1. There is no such thing as a free market. All markets are >> regulated, all economies must be administered. >> >> 2. Depressions happen when economies are so misadministered that >> people lose confidence in them. >> >> 3. The basic problem with any capitalist economy is that it requires >> constant growth or it collapses. Since the world is finite, >> inevitably the money system collapses. >> >> 4. There are people who might want to work 25 hours a day to satisfy >> some sort of drives, but there is nothing to be done to keep them >> busy 25 hours a day. >> >> 5. To repeat again, the world is finite. There is only so much of >> anything to go around. Any economic theorizing that does not start >> from there is bogus. >> >> 6. The deeper cause of the present economic malaise is that the >> economic systems of the world have overshot the carrying capacity >> of the world by a factor of about 1.4 or 1.5 . Total throughput >> must be rationalized globally according to the sustainable capacity >> of the land base, and realistic human needs. >> >> 7. Some way must be found of running an economy on a steady state >> basis, without interest charges. >> >> tr >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> On 27-Mar-09, at 3:28 PM, Harry Pollard wrote: >> >>> Ed, >>> >>> Well put together article, but it suffers from the usual >>> problems. It >>> is written as if land does not exist. Yet, there can be no >>> production >>> without access to land. And if land prices become too high, >>> production >>> stops. >>> >>> Sen wrote: >>> >>> “Certainly, the cumulative downturn we are observing right now, >>> which is edging us closer to a depression, has clear Keynesian >>> features; the reduced incomes of one group of persons has led to >>> reduced purchases by them, in turn causing a further reduction in >>> the >>> income of others.” >>> >>> Georgists would immediately ask "Why are there 'reduced incomes >>> of one >>> group'?" >>> >>> George argued that depressions are not caused by overproduction, nor >>> are they caused by under consumption (everyone's favorite). Rather, >>> said George, they are caused by under production. People cannot find >>> jobs, which means they can't buy -- underconsumption. This means the >>> shelves aren't cleared -- obvious evidence of overproduction >>> >>> So, why can't they find jobs? >>> >>> You may recall the first assumption of Classical Political Economy >>> period. It is: "Man's desires are unlimited." >>> >>> If we worked 25 hours a day, we could never satisfy unlimited >>> desires. >>> >>> So, why it's so hard to find a job? >>> >>> In a free market economy, businesses succeed and fail all the time. >>> People fall out of work and get new jobs continually. But what >>> happens >>> if new jobs dry up because increasing land costs dampen the >>> supply of >>> new businesses? "Underproduction" is with us -- a condition, which >>> leads to apparent underconsumption and overproduction. >>> >>> The free market requires fresh supplies to come to market in >>> response >>> to price increases. These return prices to equilibrium. New land >>> cannot come to market in response to increasing price. Under >>> pressure >>> of increasing demand, prices keep rising, as they try to draw more >>> land to market. >>> >>> As Will Rogers said: "They ain't making no more dirt." Further, you >>> can't move land to market to bring prices. So, in a normal economy, >>> land prices are always pushing the envelope. As I've said, at that >>> point, any "trigger" can set off a depression. >>> >>> This should be separated from the land bubble (for heaven's sake, >>> not >>> a housing bubble). It is probable that 'bubbles' don't do much >>> economic harm. When the 'exuberance' has abated, some will have won, >>> others will have lost. >>> >>> While the producer of a Beanie Babies walks away with $1 billion, >>> others may have garages packed tight with unsellable Babies. >>> >>> Of course, in the present case it didn't help much that the Bush >>> administration was deliberately forcing lower interest rates, >>> even as >>> the Democratic Congress was encouraging Fanny and Freddie to lend >>> billions to people who were poor risks. Nor did it help that Wall >>> Street was effectively hiding this suspect paper in packages that >>> they >>> sold around the world. >>> >>> Needless to say, all this nonsense is supposed to be evidence >>> that the >>> free market has failed. >>> >>> Bah! >>> >>> Harry >>> >>> ****************************** >>> Henry George School of Los Angeles >>> Box 655 Tujunga CA 91043 >>> Tel: 818 352-4141 >>> ****************************** >>> >>> From: [email protected] >>> [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of one >>> Weick >>> Sent: Sunday, March 08, 2009 6:00 AM >>> To: [email protected]; futurework >>> Subject: [Futurework] Sen on Keynes and Pigou >>> >>> Good discussion of the current implications of Keynesian and >>> Pigovian >>> economics by Amartya Sen in the current New York Review of Books. >>> Took me way back to when the world was green (or purple or >>> whatever). >>> >>> It's at http://www.nybooks.com/articles/22490 . >>> >>> Ed >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> Futurework mailing list >>> [email protected] >>> https://lists.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Futurework mailing list >> [email protected] >> https://lists.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework >> > > > _______________________________________________ > Futurework mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework _______________________________________________ Futurework mailing list [email protected] https://lists.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework
