Almost two hundred years ago, the Luddites were an organized group that was violently protesting against losing their jobs to the machines during the industrial revolution. They were right, but two hundred years too soon. The productivity increases did create more jobs but not enough well paying ones to support the dramatic increase in capacity. […]
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There have been numerous articles discussing minimum wage regulation. The argument against them is a microeconomic one that it hurts the bottom line of businesses and will cause them to lay off employees. The question is how far down do wages have to get before we get to slave labor for them to be happy. […]
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The title of this article was a slogan in the 1992 Clinton campaign. Have you ever wondered why you continually see changes in democratically elected governments from right to left and from left to right and then switching back again? You see this on a global basis not just in the USA. Were those leaders […]
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It is fascinating how the much promoted concept of “free trade” has developed considering that the major industrial powers of the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries have been built by using protective tariffs. Great Britain, United States, Japan and now China have all used tariffs to protect their fledgling industries from international competition by using tariffs. […]
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Have you ever noticed that the economic academics and pundits on television and in print are very confusing, opaque and paradoxical? They use terms like growth, growth rate and GDP to describe the status of an economy that are nebulous and have defused meanings. I call this “Econo Speak”. They also never use the word […]
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Baxter is a new robot that has two major differences than other robots. It is very inexpensive and can work with humans without hurting them. Its total cost is $22,000, lasts for 3 years which comes to a total cost of less than $4 an hour. It does not need vacations, breaks, nor takes the […]
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Austerity-Fiscal Cliff-An Explanation Money is the life blood of an economy. When the supply of money in circulation is extremely low, you will see recessions and depressions. When the supply of money is too large, you see excess inflation and asset bubbles. When money flows we grow. When money stops, we […]
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There are many reasons why inequality exists in an economy. Before I give my laundry list, I will discuss some general macroeconomic reasons. One, we are NOT created equal! We have many different talents, abilities, appearances along with unique emotional and physical makeups. Second, the institution of capitalism-competitive markets by its sheer nature of operation […]
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Have you noticed only one Presidential candidate is debating Monetary Policy and the Federal Reserve – the Libertarian Ron Paul. The only other one is the far left, past Presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich by introducing HR 2990 “The NEED Act”. It is very hard to understand why because it was the 100% cause of […]
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Since the current Republican debates always discuss “limited or no government,” I thought I would discuss the macroeconomic history of laissez faire – libertarianism of the last 150 years. This philosophy has many followers because it sounds simple and accurate. Unfortunately, this is far from the actual failures in practice. These long term failures can […]
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