Chris Zell <chrisz...@wetmtv.com> wrote:
FDR was nearly the victim of a fascist coup that is usually left out of
> history textbooks.
>
It was left out of every history book I know, and I have read a lot of 'em,
plus original sources.
> And we do have nasty inflation in services, which is often overlooked
> in gov. stats. (NPR).
>
Not since the 2008 crash as far as I know. That is when the government
began increasing the money supply to counteract the crash.
> Wages have suffered relative deflation as minimum wage will not pay for
> rent ( properly) in any of the 50 states.
>
Again, not since 2008. The minimum wage lost value between 1997 and 2007.
It remained at $5.15 that entire time, and for long periods previously.
There is no question that overall wages have decreased relative to other
earnings since the 1970s. ("Other earnings" are things like profits from
Wall Street and CEO stock options.) Wages have also decreased relative to
productivity. See:
"Workers' salaries are at the lowest percentage of GDP since 1929"
http://www.dougsguides.com/content/whats
I do not know of any conservative or liberal economists who dispute those
numbers. They dispute the causes and proposed cures.
This does not bode well for the economy or society. I do not see how you
can run a mass-production based modern economy if the workers cannot afford
to buy the products of that economy. I agree with Henry Ford on that. If
this trend continues, people will not be able to buy cars, computers or
tomatoes or whatever you are making. What is a wealthy person going to do
with 20,000 personal computers, or a truckload of tomatoes? In what sense
is that wealth? The only thing you can do with the products of a mass
production industrial society is sell them to lots of people. If people
cannot buy them, the CEO and stockholders of Intel and Archer Daniels
Midland do not make any money.
If cold fusion works, people will not want to buy the output of the fossil
fuel and electric power companies. They will go bankrupt for the same
reason Archer Daniels Midland will if people cannot afford to eat. The loss
of demand looks the same from the point of view of the corporation.
Speaking of which, see:
Alpha Natural Resources, a Onetime Coal Giant, Files for Bankruptcy
Protecton [sic]
Alpha Natural Resources, once a powerhouse of the American coal industry,
filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Monday so it may emerge from
the grip of a $3 billion debt at a time when utilities are switching to
natural gas and coal prices are plummeting.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/04/business/energy-environment/alpha-natural-resources-a-onetime-coal-giant-files-for-bankruptcy-protecton.html?_r=0
The Japanese and European medieval economies or the economy of Afghanistan
today were not based on mass production. They could function with a small
number of wealthy people and many impoverished people. It wasn't pleasant,
but they were stable for long periods.
- Jed
