--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Bhairitu <noozg...@...> wrote: > > tartbrain wrote: > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "curtisdeltablues" > > <curtisdeltablues@> wrote: > > > >> --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, nablusoss1008 <no_reply@> wrote: > >> > >>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXDRNeCFxKQ&NR=1 > >>> > >> I understand that you are linking his themes with the Maharishi quote > >> Nabby. But I see it a little differently. > >> > >> It isn't capitalism that Patel is targeting as much as free market > >> dominant capitalism. All markets have a continuum of regulation and > >> freedom. One of our biggest problems in the US is that our system of > >> regulations is corrupted by special interest corporate lobbying. This > >> allows some of our biggest corporations to act in a way that doesn't serve > >> the public good and can even cause disasters like our credit markets. > >> > >> And yet the incentives created by freedom in markets are a fantastic way > >> to get people moving, to create systems of profit that can end up > >> benefiting society through job creation. > >> > > > > > > Excellent distinction. There is a tendency (or thinking below our full > > potential) to generalize Captitalism (or is it Kapitalism,) with all > > markets. Often there is actually little corellation. > > > > What we have and are increasingly getting is cronyistic elitist statism -- > > which has NOTHING to do with free markets, particularly free markets at the > > at the mom and pop micro level. > > > > I recently finished, and highly recommend, "Banker to the Poor" by the guy > > who won the Nobel prize for his work in implementing and promoting > > micro-finance for the world's poor. Its a breakthrough position, in my view > > -- giving copious red meat (ok red lentils) to both the right and left (a > > defunct set of terms, in my view - how can politics and world view, world > > and individual solutions be limited to one dimension?) Ending world poverty > > by enabling the 10% of the population to create and grow their open > > businesses -- getting out from under the hand of exploitative statist > > mini-Kapitalists who control local politics and markets (an oxymoron -- who > > control controlled transactions among unfree participants)and enabling the > > disadvantaged to creatie wealth, dignity, skill base, and a much more > > textured and robust economy. > > > > And then once again regulations assist so that an employer doesn't exploit > > workers, which has not worked in all of our industries but has helped in > > some. Looking at working conditions at the turn of the last century we can > > see that some progress have been made. > > There was a lot of this kind of writing back in the 1970s. Remember > "Small is Beautiful" and "Human Scale"?
Good books. Probably worth re-read. I also read a lot of different > economic books back then in Paul Erdman's economic thrillers where he > explained economics through the medium of a novel. I loved Erdman. I wish there was someone doing his sort of research / writing today. Too bad he didn't > live to see the fiasco that's going on now. > > As I've mentioned here before I really don't think anyone can really > manage a large corporation and those doing so are putting on a charade > (sort of illustrated in the movie "The Informant."). I think the > economy will collapse so bad that we indeed will be truly left a nation > of villages where about everything is locally produced by local small > businesses. You can do a lot of things that way including manufacturing > electronics and small cars. > > Do note that people expect the government to "create jobs". Why not > charge the government with creating small businesses. Yes. And thats a theme of Banker to the Poor. And a related theme is that training, the backbone of "creating jobs" and enabling people to fit in to created jobs is quite inefficient in fighting poverty. His bank, and micro-finance which has grown way beyond his efforts, is all about providing capital (its not a dirty word -- it just at times is used in corrupt ways) to the poor to enable them to create their own business. For example a sewing machine, a set of tools, a village cell phone, buying supplies in bulk, etc. Its his contention that the poor are quite trained in the skills and marketing know-how from from the context of their lives. Their biggest hurdle is not having the capital to enable them to take that big (yet micro in dollar terms -- on the level of a (or several) hundred dollars. > Oh no, that might > interfere with the operations of the mega corporations. > > I also maintain there should have been no bailout of the banks in 2008 > and the ensuing collapse would have created a short economic depression > much less painful than the one we may suffer for decades. The collapse > would have hastened the small business scenario. I have felt the same. And further, that given the high unemployment that would have caused -- the economy and social safety net could have been kept afloat over those several rough years by granting liberal educational loans -- enough for tuition and reasonable living expenses, and to anyone and everyone who wanted to go back to school or obtained specialized training -- part loans part grants. In the longer run, the grants will be paid back when the recipients earn more from their new degrees and certificates and pay more taxes. Unemployed ? -- don't need to starve -- go back to school. Anyone can stay in school that gets decent grades. Economies will always be cyclical -- and will be more extreme ups and downs with corrupt government / political processes like the US and most nations face. And education / training needs to be life-long -- no career and skill set will last 40 years anymore. I suggest we collectively, as a society, fuse these two together. Pump up building human capital to offset the low ebb of economic cycles -- and bubbles created from delusion.
