Category Archives: Economy
President Who Speaks with Forked Tongue
“Man who speaks with forked tongue” has been attributed to how the Native American Indians described the White man throughout history. It describes a person who says one thing but means the very opposite. It is an apt description of … Continue reading
My Thoughts about President Trump
For some time now I have been trying to think of good things to say about President Trump. But the longer he has been President the fewer things I can think of. I feel that he is out of place for this century… Continue reading
Posted in Domestic Issues, Economy, Foriegn Policy and War, Government, Political
Tagged accomplishments, Trump
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Climate Change: Is it Too Late?
There seems to be an increasing consensus among climate scientist that even if we were to cease all production of man made greenhouse gases it would take as much as a hundred thousand years to return to a more normal state…We have triggered nature to quickly release its own huge stores of greenhouse gases from the oceans, ice, and tundras which have been accumulating and lying dormant for millions of years. We can still make a difference if we act soon. Our influence on Climate Change is still significant. Continue reading
Global Warming No Longer a Science Issue
In the last decade the consensus of scientific peer-reviewed papers on anthropogenic (man caused) Global Warming has rapidly gained favor. A recent report indicates 97.2% of recent scientific peer-reviewed papers favor anthropogenic Global Warming. Major behavioral and economic changes to correct for Global Warming must happen. Greenhouse gases directly or indirectly produced engage every aspect of life. This change will have huge economic, political, and moral ripple effects that will change our lives more than any other issue facing us today. The reason it is so controversial is its urgency and potential threat to our existence. It requires immediate and disruptive changes to our ways of life. Continue reading
Posted in Climate Change, Economy, Environment, Global Warming, Government, Morality Values, Religion, Science & Technology, Social Issues, Society
Tagged anthropogenic, behavioral change, conservative, disruptive, economic change, Global Warming, lobby congress, moralised, peer reviewed papers, politicized, Pope Frances, science is imperfect
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100 Years from Now: The Complete Series
In the past year I have given some thought to what the future would look like a hundred years from now given the state of science today and the effects of global warming, diminishing natural resources, and a populations of over twice what it is today (population control will be in effect). One thing is clear, the word Sustainable will be far more than a buzzword. It will be a way of life. Continue reading
Posted in Crime & Justice, Economy, Education, Environment, Global Warming, Government, Life's Lessons, Personal Perspective, Science & Technology, Social Issues, Society
Tagged culural changes, future city design, future technology, Global Warming, holodeck, infrastructure, over population, shortage of resources
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100 Years from Now: Part 8 – Jobs and Economics
It is questionable in my mind whether jobs for people will even exist 100 years from now. Most certainly there will be far fewer of them. We see many signs of automation reducing the number of jobs in just about every profession today. In the not too distant future technology will largely make most if not all jobs obsolete. Continue reading
Posted in 100 Years, Economy, Environment, Global Warming, Government, Life's Lessons, Personal Perspective, Science & Technology, Social Issues, Society
Tagged cultural changes, future city design, future technology, Global Warming, holodeck, infrastructure, over population, shortage of resources
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Upward Flowing Economic Prosperity
The Trickle Down Economic theory proposed by the rich has it all backwards. It theorizes that tax relief of the rich will spur them to move their equity around which will stimulate economic growth. Perhaps it will stimulate further economic wealth for the wealthy but it will have little effect upon improving the standard of living for the average wage earner. The greatest factor for economic growth is consumer spending, not individual prosperity or investments. The more people spend on goods and services the greater demand there is for consumables and products. More demand means expanding businesses. Expanding businesses means more demand for jobs. Continue reading
More Consumer Power to Realize Our Dreams
The U.S. seems to have strayed from Dr. Martian Luther King’s “I have a dream…” in the 1960’s to only the very rich can afford to dream in 2010 after the Supreme Court rulings on Citizens United and in the 2013 ruling on McCutcheon. It is bad enough that the almost powerless middle class and the powerless poor have progressively less purchasing power and almost no political power but the extremely rich are now able to lend their enormous wealth towards further influencing votes and our legislators to rule over the nation in their interests. Continue reading
The Price we Pay for Gas in the US
Since the price of oils is a commodity it is fixed everywhere around the world, so the difference people worldwide pay at the pump is based primarily upon the taxes imposed by each state or nation. In general the more wealthy the people are of a nation have the higher the taxes imposed upon fuel. The single most blatant exception is the United States where we have by far the lowest tax rate on gasoline of all the developed nations and most developing nations. Fuel is considered a luxury everywhere else except the United States. Currently the United States federal tax for gasoline is $.0184 per gallon vs. for example Germany where the tax is around $3.50 per gallon or about 20 time higher than the U.S. Continue reading
Posted in Economy, Government, Social Issues, Society
Tagged air pollution, better public transportation, developed nations, gasoline tax, gass guzzling cars, high speed rail, inconvenience of car ownership, oils is a commodity, standard of living, US has lowest gas tax, walking and biking
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“Gettysburg Address” – a Wake-Up Call
Somehow chills always run up and down my spine every time I hear the Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln recited. This speech did not receive great attention when given to commemorate all the soldiers who had given there lives during one of the bloodiest battles of the bloodiest war this nation has ever engaged, the American Civil War. But a newspaper man had written the speech down and published it. It was one of the shortest speeches ever given by an American President, consisting of only 3 relatively short paragraphs spoken in less than 5 minutes. However its significance sunk in after its publication and is now considered one of, if not the greatest speeches ever given in this nation. Continue reading
Inequality for All
The other day I viewed the documentary “Inequality for All” by Robert Reich for the first time on NetFlix. I was struck by its similarities to articles I have written in past posts such as The Economic Power of the Middle Class March 19, 2013 and Prosperity is with the Masses September 16, 2013 in terms of the disparity in income between the very rich and the typical middle class as well as the parallel conclusion we both drew that the well being of our economy depends largely upon the ability of a large middle class to spend on goods and services. As a matter of fact our mutual conclusion seems quite self evident so I fail to see why so many people don’t realize this. Continue reading
Posted in Economy, Government, Inequality, Social Issues
Tagged American workers, conomic growth, goods and services, higher upper class taxes, inequaties between the rich and middle class, lower middle class taxes, Middle class, middle class spends, more money for the middle class, rich invest, upper class
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The Job Terminator
We are already experiencing the subtle impact of job terminating technology today. Our tech savvy technologist are turning out new technological innovations at an ever-increasing rate. New generations of cell phone come out ever six months to a year that are each smarter and cheaper than the previous. Other gadgets are being created constantly to satisfy our insatiable appetite for gadgetry and convenience. Ask yourself what can people do that computers are unlikely to do other than screw thing up. Through artificial intelligence computer can learn to get increasingly smart and they never forget anything and some can constantly think billions of times faster than us without rest. So unemployment is no longer as a result of the 2008 crash. It is as a result of outsourcing and automation. Continue reading
Are Jobs Gone for Good?
Job recovery since the 2008 economic meltdown has been sluggish and lagging other economic indicators. Yet industries are making record profits and the stock market has significantly exceeded its highs prior to the economic collapse. Executives are making record salaries … Continue reading
Unintended Consequences of Sudden Economic Change
My wife was driving on the freeway and decided to switch to the fast lane to get around traffic. As she did so she thought she saw something on the road and suddenly swerved to avoid it. Her car swerved … Continue reading
Posted in Economy, Government
Tagged budget, controled budget, economy, national debt, recession, sudden change, sustainable, unintended consequences
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Which Economic ‘…ism’ I Think is Best?
I have frequently been mistaken for a socialist because of my preferences for socialized healthcare, Medicare, Social Security, social justice, and the government helping our poor and underserved citizens. This perception of me is uniquely American (U.S.). For those living … Continue reading
Posted in Economy, Government, Social Issues, Society
Tagged capitalism, comunism, creative, creative development, economic systems, money and wealth, regulation, socialism
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Prosperity is with the Masses
Henry Ford really had the right idea when he came up with the brilliant idea of paying his employees enough of a living wage that they could afford to buy one of his cars. He clearly understood the concept that you needed the masses of people to become affluent enough to buy more than just the essentials in life in order to have a thriving mass production industry. Customers have always been the lifeblood of businesses. The more customers the better. What better customer base can you have than the vast majority of the population. Continue reading
Posted in Economy, Government
Tagged affluent, customer, economic engine, economy, goods and services, living wage, masses, Middle class, prosperity, ritch, spend, taxes, Wealth
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A Nation in Denial of its Immigrant Heritage
In spite of the US attempts to limit and exclude the immigration of Chinese and people of color throughout history, Chinese and other immigrants have made significant contributions to America’s development. In recent decades Asian immigrants continue to make major contributions in science and technology that improve our standard of living. Continue reading
What if We Didn’t Engage In Any Wars?
A scenario is presented of what the country would be like if we had not engaged in all wars since WWII. The cost of war in both dollars and lives and the disruptions and consequences to veterans and society have been huge. Have the costs of wars been justified? Or would life had been better for us had we stayed out of these wars? Continue reading
Posted in Do No Harm, Domestic Issues, Economy, Foriegn Policy and War, Government
Tagged peace, prosperity, war, what if
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The Economic Power of the Middle Class
The top 1-2% would like the public to think that they are responsible for stimulating the economy and thus deserve tax relief so that they will have more to stimulate economic growth. It truth it is those who spend not those who are wealthy that stimulate the economy. The very rich spend only a small percentage of their wealth on goods and services. The middle class spends the majority of their income on goods and services thus creating the demand that contribute the greatest share towards economic growth. Continue reading
Posted in Economy
Tagged benefit, Business, capitalism, Economic growth, economy, goods, Henry Ford, invest, investment, job, Middle class, Obama, profit, recovery, Republican, rich, salary, services, spend, tax, wealthy, worder
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ouR Social Conscience 