A bunch of links to research papers on the topic.



  1. Lucian says:

    Gosh…One can dream

  2. bobbo, in point of fact says:

    30 minutes huh? Well….I already “know” and its come home to me the last few days what with the riot/protest in Baltimore: all brought on by how the economic machine works.

    Ahem: its all a race to the bottom as Karl Marx wrote down in a book years ago: capital is fluid, labor is stuck.

    Add a dolop of human greed and you’ve got the picture.

    Now……….let’s go have a look. I’ll stop if it says the stock market is anything other than what it is: expressly organized skimming operation for the already too rich.

    …………………………you know………………. there are lots of real good reasons NOT to allow people to make too much money. It leads to decisions not made for any other reason than to “make” money. Not for the consumer, not for the company, not for society. You know===just for yourself.

    Just ……………….. look.

    • bobbo, in point of fact says:

      OK….too general with the devil in the details basically obviating the generality of the “supposed to.” Supposed to……….acknowledging right in the title that it is NOT presenting how the economy actually works. So…why watch?

      I stopped at 6:47 where people are SUPPOSED TO benefit from productivity gains made by hard work. The risk of the presentation collapsing into blaming the poor or the welfare state (although, it looks like it could avoid that) is just too probable.

      The MAJOR issue facing working America today is that for the last 20-30 years, productivity gains have been captured by the already too rich. No motivation to screw society and the 99.99 percent of us in it if you get taxed 100% over one million per year.

      See the benefit?

      • ± says:

        Stop with your fatuousness.

        I watched the whole thing and it is almost totally about theory. Politics, which you inject so readily only show up in the last minute and that too is not stated as dogma or even remotely the point.

        I wish that I was sorry that your one life didn’t turn out the way you thought it would. It’s nice when people are happy and not bitter.

        It’s too late for you, but this is food for thought for many. Thanx, to the moderator for posting.

        • bobbo, in point of fact says:

          “Theory” used to distract from reality.

          ………… a harsh politics.

  3. ECA says:

    mICRO ECONOMICS..

    Its a strange thing, that everything has value..
    But if money is inserted into the market, the Value must stay the same(weird wording) which means the price goes up..
    If a product is worth xx amount, like 0.01% of the market..then inserting money into the market means the price goes up xx, to make it the SAME value.

    If everything goes up, to an equal value…Generally its fine, as Balance stays about the same, with minor adjustments..

    But what happens at the bottom? Did the wages go up, for the change in Value?

    If it does not..then the Bottom of the market has a problem..FOOD. it cant go up much unless they can find a short cut to make it work. to Keep the profits.
    In the Old days(LOL) there were area markets…you could/would have 100 stores around a metro area and Most people could walk to a store. How do you save money with low income people..
    Cut employee? that only goes so far..
    Cut hours…same problems..
    Cut stores…?
    As I said, 100 stores in a metro area…and NOW we have 1 BIG store 10-20 miles away. Cut 100 stores, employees from those stores, and all the Leases/rents/ bills… and make 1 BIG store.

    They have done all the cuts they can..but food is still going up. Bills keep going up..

    Is there a cheap solution…
    WELL, thats a problem also..Corps have found they can CUT allot of corners and Still make MORE profits.
    Top wages have gone up 10-100 times in the last 15-20 years(since around 2000)..lower wages? 2 times.. In 1990 the min wage was around $3 an hour.. think about that.
    1990-2015 the change in lower wages…$3-7.50….
    =====================================

    There is an interesting thing about the USA economy..
    They keep saying to spend money..

    Short story:
    A rich person pointed out to me that he pays more in taxes then any poor persons..
    I suggested that it meant nothing, as the economy isnt based on Taxes.
    He insisted that he spent more then most poor people..
    So I suggested that a rich person that makes Millions per day can not OUT BUY 100,000 people buying food for his family(at 3 per family 300,000 people) and have enough influence to affect an economy. For all the bills, insurance, TV, internet, and taxes from all those people..

    • bobbo, in point of fact says:

      Yep, nice bit of rhetoric there.

      Rich pays more in taxes than the poor but “has” many times more than the poor.

      More importantly, the rich keep the poor poor so they can maintain their riches.

      It truly is a “fairness” issue that is baked into our current system. Let the rich lie, cheat, steal, rig the game, and then when they fail, bail them out.

      Would never be an issue if the rich got capped.

  4. FedUp says:

    Every time some so called expert starts talking about the economy I can’t help forget about another powerful force that’s also bent on growth. It’s called CANCER!

  5. MikeN says:

    Fix money to gold, and the inflation problem goes away. Then governments would be stuck having to actually run their finances properly, and could not print their way out of a problem.

    • McCullough says:

      And as soon as a President attempts to do that, some “lone gunman” mysteriously appears.

      Funny that.

      • jpfitz says:

        “billionaires, power brokers, and bankers … working in tandem with the CIA and other sympathetic agents of the government.”

        TPTB killed Kennedy for trying to step on the Central Bank born on Jekyll Island.

        Um…maybe not. I wasn’t on the grassy knoll.

    • Fed Up says:

      Funny how you still think the “central bank” is somehow part of the government — IT’S NOT! In fact, ANY “central bank” for the United States is, or at least was prohibited by LAW! Try reading the U.S. Constitution Article 1, Sections 8, 9 & 10 and you do see it. Though any mention of a central bank is not mentioned, it only says that Congress shall do these things via the “Treasury” — NOT the Federal Reserve (which is as “federal” and Federal Express is). Though the way politicians shred laws these days, who cares? RIGHT?!

      In America, the acting “central bank” is really a vendor to the Treasury calling themselves the Federal Reserve (of New York). The Federal Reserve was implemented (began) in 1913, the same year the IRS was also formed. So instead of assuming this terrible business (a.k.a. “the Fed”) who’s only customer is the U.S. Treasury (we’re calling “the government’), you might ask yourself why the “fed” has STOCK or even a board of directors and if these facts might not be a means by which the rich might not be able to defraud people of any true wealth.

      I mean, if the U.S.A. is NOT supposed to have a nobility class nor any other non-governmental authority with such absolute power then what the fuck?! Just try surviving in this country without a “Federal Reserve Note” or two! (Yes, some people claim they can do it. But I guarantee even these hearty souls at least use a few Federal Reserve pennies for fuel, ammo or food!)

      Watch this video and it’s hard to ignore the fact that an ILLEGAL “central bank” has so much to do with our economy. It’s also hard to ignore another fact that has happened since that fateful year – 1913. The government has transformed from being a relative spectator in the economy (though not completely) to THE BIGGEST participant. And that one line he keeps calling “productivity growth”? I call it CANCER since cancer is also focused on nothing but “growing.”

      • GreenZone says:

        That’s like science fiction, it’s not really science and not really fiction. Truth in advertising would make them call it the Federal S&L.

    • jpfitz says:

      http://zerohedge.com/news/2015-04-24/rehypothecation-gold-and-why-it-matters

      “When introducing a new concept, it is best to start with the definition of the words to be used. In this case, the discussion of rehypothecation and how it places the world at risk with the fun and games played in the stock market.

      Rehypothecation:

      Rehypothecation occurs when your broker, to whom you have hypothecated — or pledged — securities as collateral for a margin loan, pledges those same securities to a bank or other lender to secure a loan to cover the firm’s exposure to potential margin account losses.

      When you open a margin account, you typically sign a general account agreement with your broker, in which you authorize your broker to rehypothecate.

      Now, let’s put this into easy to understand language. Let’s say that you have ten dollars. You take it to the bank to let them “borrow” it, while paying you interest. What you have done, in reality, is given them your money to use as they see fit, while giving you a small percentage of the gains that they will earn. A bank would loan the money to a home buyer or perhaps a small business. At the very least, they can lend all the money in excess of their requirement to hold some cash as reserves–say 10% for ease of math.

      They now have nine dollars to invest. Their last resort is to offer it to another bank for that bank to “hold”, because that bank doesn’t have enough money to meet its required reserves. Seems simple enough, right?

      Welcome to the games bankers play to make money. Now that this simple format is in place, let’s move to where the serious dangers lie.

      Precious Metals:

      During World War II, many foreign countries feared that their gold reserves, which at the time backed their paper money, might be taken by an enemy and in 1939, the good old USA was a very neutral country, like Switzerland, only there was a much better deterrent than the Alps– the Atlantic Ocean. So, many countries–England, France, and others–sent us their gold bars to be stored alongside ours in Fort Knox. Later, after the war was over, we convinced them that it was fine to leave it there and in fact, with the Cold War starting other countries joined in, including Germany.”

      Read the rest and you’ll realize the gold has been rehypothesized.

  6. GreenZone says:

    “Money doesn’t mind if we say it’s evil, it goes from strength to strength. It’s a fiction, an addiction, and a tacit conspiracy.”
    https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Martin_Amis

  7. ECA says:

    I will suggest something to you folks..

    The Value of a nation is based on GNP…
    GNP is a fixed value, that does not move much.

    $1 is $1..This is economy..
    When you add more money to the economy..
    The Value of that $1 stays $1…but you now have segments in it..

    1 penny, divided many times, over and over.
    Insted of having 100 penny in your $1…you have 1000 parts in $1.
    NOW with GNP, and other nations, to keep things the SAME, they adjust their OWN economies to adjust to what we have done. When the USA Added money to the economy, CHINA did the same..so that the LOANS we took from them would be the same value.

    Its a money game..and for Some reason, the Gov is trying to play it. And the only ones that get hurt, tend to be the POOR..
    If Everything went up, Equally with the economy, including wages, things could balance out.. But the only thing learned is HOW to cut corners, at the bottom, to make more money on TOP.. to keep wages at the TOP equal to what the economy is doing..

    Everyone says that the Cost of making things in the USA is to High..The its salaries and wages..
    That isnt the Whole truth.
    Wages at the top, yes..
    but the material prices in the USA are the highest in the world.

    You could get 10,000 people at your Door if you advertised a job. and most would work for $10 per hour.

    There are a bunch of small problems that need fixing..which make up a Big problem.
    1 of which is the stock market and how it is being used to raise prices.
    Taxes to corps, needs to be Reconstructed..Simplified..

    • jpfitz says:

      Wages at the factory level in China is just about slave labor, workers are unable to rent a place to live and feed and clothe themselves. The companies house and feed the “workers” just enough to keep them alive.

      The Americans and other countries use China to undercut salaries and gain huge profits by not having products made in countries that have labor laws to protect workers.

      Then there is as you mentioned the tax problem.

      “So the real problem is that we have a huge infrastructure deficit that we haven’t been attending to for many years. Many in Congress want to help pay for the infrastructure by bringing back some of the profits that companies have stashed offshore. So for instance, there’s more than $2 trillion dollars that’s offshore that no U.S. taxes have been paid on. Several members of congress think this is a pool of money that we should tax and then use that money for infrastructure.”

      http://salon.com/2015/04/08/stop_this_egregious_injustice_why_a_bipartisan_tax_holiday_is_just_another_corporate_handout/

      • ECA says:

        Part of the problem is BALANCE..
        Money does not get spent, if those who need it, DONT have it.

        If you have money, and dont need it, what do you do with it?
        Corps pay for nothing..They TAKE our money(they do) and use it to SAVE money..which is strange. They TAKE our extra money, and use it to advert their own business, Give to charities, and get Tax breaks.. WE should be doing those things…WE USED to do those things.
        The State and Fed give money to companies TO GROW, and employ people..
        The balance of money is a stupid ploy..that does not work.
        It raise prices, and lowers wages on the bottom.
        There is a way out, but its going to HURT allot of people, and those on top.

        See, this is a game..Making a $1(100 pennies) seem to be MORE. You make it look like 1000 pennies, 10,000 pennies. And the other nations to MATCH this, do the same thing.
        The problem. is the FIX. MAKE $1 worth 100 pennies…and if the other countries DONT do the same thing, it makes it HARD on us. as we THEN owe more money…
        We have made LOANS based on the thought that $1 is 100,000 pennies..(lets say 5,000 pennies)
        If we reduce the inflation…we still owe 5000 pennies, but NOW its $50..
        THAT is the problem we are lead to. That is why Profits are so high at the top..they have inflated the Pennies so much..And corps KEEP wages with the inflation..where poor people dont get anything, if the Gov. does not UP min wage. the Corps wont up the wages. They KEEP the pennies.

        There are other things to do, but no matter what, its going to REALLY hurt.

        1. OPEN the gates to open markets..Lets these idiots compete..we can get better prices.. not 10-100 times middlemen prices..
        2. Make a standardized business PLAN for all companies.(hard to hide stuff that way)
        3. UPDATE and modernize the IRS, so they can track Stuff, and KNOW if a legal company is selling, and NOT a fake Fly by night, flash in the pan…
        4. let the Gov, make its OWN businesses, LIKE they used to…HIGHER PEOPLE to do jobs…get the parks clean, like we did in the 30-60’s…rebuild the roads and so forth…get the GOV to PUSH advancments LIKE they did in the past…PUSh this nation..

        There is another fact that is entertaining…Early 1900’s, there were mostly MEN in work places..War came and women came into the work force. Now insted of a few million workers, we DOUBLED our work force, and the Men coming home, may not find jobs.. If you look at retirement age, and child labor laws, they were MORE for getting more jobs for adult workers.. its not that we LOST jobs. We have LOTS of people.. we need to change the JOB MARKETS..to What, is a good question.

        We need to CAP top wages in the USA.. esp if the profits arent going where they are needed. When 1000 people earn basic wage and the owner makes wage equal to ALL those workers(and he isnt working) something seems abit wrong to me.

  8. jpfitz says:

    Schakowsky, Sanders Introduce the Stop Corporate Tax Dodging Act.

    http://schakowsky.house.gov/press-releases/schakowsky-sanders-introduce-the-stop-corporate-tax-dodging-act-to-close-the-notorious-tax-shelter-loophole/

    The Federal Reserve prints money like it grows on trees. Which in turn creates inflation. The rich, especially the wealthy then are paid obscene salaries.

    • ECA says:

      JP,
      the problem here is many..
      1. elected officials are not economists.
      2. Officials are not bookkeepers..
      3. Officials know very littel except politics, and ask OTHERS to tell them what to do..
      4. WHO do we elect? not the person WHO knows what to do, and is honest…
      There is TONS more to write here…but YOU need to find a solution. something to explain to others so they understand. AND DONT let ECONOMISTS tell you you arnt right..
      (My analogy above about $1, is how you have to see it, they will tell you it dont work that way, THEY ARE WRONG)

  9. Dwight E. Howell says:

    The post should be correct.

    Let’s look at the economy of Baltimore a bit. Over 20% of the working population works for the government. A staggering number live off government handouts. About 1.8 Billion was dumped into the city in the last few yrs but students complain they are having to use 20 yr old textbooks. The city does make money off sports and conventions. I’m not sure what the other money makers are. The city is becoming less and less able to cover it’s own bills based on locally generated revenue. At some point something really, really bad is going to happen.


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