Disambiguating Capital from Simple Wealth

To the modern wealthy, as Piketty notes, [See Capital Versus Unearned Wealth] all wealth that is not paid in labor compensation is Capital. Effectively, and in modern Newspeak this is true. But the reality is that Actual Capital as a moral and effective mover of general prosperity is not synonymous with all wealth. This conflation of arrogated wealth in the hands of an elite and actual capital is...

The Verbal Sleight of hand of the Supply Side movement

Circles

https://www.facebook.com/www.adme.ru/videos/10153193745950172/
We live in circles. Closer and farther, tangled and mangled The family is a circle we can't break, tied by heart-strings that stretch and shake, and thin Our hearts will break before they do.
Ties of love and affection do not go away, though the strings may rot and stretch, They can stretch so thin, they become invisible and tracking them down is impossible.
But they never really are gone. And when we've cared for someone We know because part of them lives on, no matter how far they go.
Inner circles and outer circles. Are fences to keep our hearts within; Because the ties don't break, though they stretch and shake, they thin Sadly, our hearts do break, and a piece breaks off with them.

Christopher Hartly Holte, 10/11/2015

Rest of Images:

http://www.adme.ru/tvorchestvo-dizajn/fei-iz-provoloki-725210/

The Predator State - Review of James Galbraith's book

Review of Galbraith's Book on the "Predatory State" (part one)

In the book "The Predator State" James Galbraith shows the history; genesis, development and fashion shifts in the governing ideology and moraes of our political economy. more immediate. He's showing how we are a Predator State, and how Tory "Con" economics is warping our economy.

{This is going to take several posts.}

The Newspeak of the Reagan Revolution

When James Galbraith (following in the footsteps of J.K. Galbraith) writes on economics and it's ills, he's describing the results of a predator state ideology that has it's roots in Empires dating back to the Classical period, but is heavily influenced by what can be called "Tory Economics". James Galbraith has explicitly written on the subject of the "Predator State" and calls one of his books by that name.

Not So Innocent Frauds

A Review of J. K. Galbraith's book "The Economics of Innocent Fraud"

Reading this book by John Kenneth Galbraith is like hearing someone preaching to a choir. In this book about not so "innocent Frauds", Galbraith identifies pretty much most of the shibboleths of the 20th century and tags them as the frauds they were.

While some of the frauds he identifies were identified as frauds before he was born, even so the man deserves a lion's share of credit for the entire 20th century and he fought a rear guard action against those frauds when they were first offered up as "fine new clothe that only a fool can't see how valuable it is". He's actually kind to the Reagan Revolution. He calls what to me were diabolical and almost violent frauds. But by "innocent" Galbraith is referring to the fact that most of the believers in these frauds don't know they've been conned.

Definition of Innocent Fraud

"Most progenitors of innocent fraud are not deliberately in its service. They are unaware of how their views are shaped, how they are had. No clear legal question is involved. Response comes not from violation of law but from personal and social belief. There is no sense of guilt. More likely there is self approval."

Fixing our Banking System and Fixing infrastructure are tied

From: http://infrastructurewithoutdebt.org/

The following Youtube article explains the distinction between "Greenbacks" and "Federal Reserve Notes" fairly clearly. One is money notes issued through the privateering banking system. The other are notes issued without interest. What we did during the Civil War points to a way forward for our country.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3P9VsX_o8C4&sns=fb

More on this later

http://stonehavencommons.com/about-us/

Related to: http://www.thetwofacesofmoney.com/files/money.pdf/p>

A Progressive Agenda Gets the Snooze Treatment

I consider myself someone who pays attention. Yet somehow poor Bill De Blazio and Al Sharpton managed to get their efforts to create a common agenda knocked off the radar pretty thoroughly. The cynical media, punditry, and others -- all hit the snooze button on his "Progressive Agenda." That's all the shame. It was missing some of the elements that are needed for a common plank. But it was a good effort and it all needed to be taken seriously. Anyway this is the agenda (Reformatted a bit) from their website. The reporters who covered De Blasio's announcement didn't even bother to report the actual agenda in most of the reports:

1     Lift the Floor for Working People

1. Raise the federal minimum wage, so that it reaches $15/hour, while indexing it to inflation.
2. Reform the National Labor Relations Act, to enhance workers’ right to organize and rebuild the middle class.
3. Pass comprehensive immigration reform to grow the economy and protect against exploitation of low-wage workers.
4. Oppose trade deals that hand more power to corporations at the expense of American jobs, workers’ rights, and the environment.
5. Invest in schools, not jails-- and give a second chance to those coming home from prison.

2     Support Working Families

6. Pass national paid sick leave.
7. Pass national paid family leave.
8. Make Pre-K, after-school programs and childcare universal.
9. Expand the Earned Income Tax Credit and protect and expand Social Security.
10. Allow students to refinance student loan debt to take advantage of lower interest rates, and support debt-free college.

3     Tax Fairness

11. Close the carried interest loophole.
12. End tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas.
13. Implement the “Buffett Rule” so millionaires pay their fair share.
14. Close the CEO tax loophole that allows corporations to take advantage of “performance pay” write-offs.

This agenda is close to the "Common Agenda" I was proposing at the end of last year. It's a shame it didn't catch on. It's also similar to Bernie's 12 point plan (or 11 points). What is missing (Ironically since Al Sharpton was part of it's creation) is a specific nod to Black Lives Matter, and the urgent need for banking reform and Infrastructure investment - which are tied issues (more to come).

https://progressiveagenda.us/agenda

Huffington Post Article with Al's great speech (I loved it):

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rev-al-sharpton/a-progressive-agenda-must_b_7307672.html

My previous post on Bill De Blasio:

http://holtesthoughts.blogspot.com/2014/12/time-for-christmas-truce.html

Previously I'd posted on what we needed for Infrastructure. But it turns out that currency reform and infrastructure reform are related issues. I'll be coming back to that -- but this is the previous post:

http://holtesthoughts.blogspot.com/2014/12/how-to-rebuild-our-infrastructure.html

Related Posts:

http://holtesthoughts.blogspot.com/2015/09/why-social-programs-are-investment-and.html

http://holtesthoughts.blogspot.com/2015/07/in-order-for-all-lives-to-matter-black.html

http://holtesthoughts.blogspot.com/2015/06/the-common-plank.html

The End of Normal - Galbraith and a way forward

The book "The End of Normal" expresses part of James Galbraith's efforts to lay out his macroeconomic ideas clearly. He's building on the work of his father and of other Post Keynesians, to lay out a new way forward. The standard review of the book says:

"The years since the Great Crisis of 2008 have seen slow growth, high unemployment, falling home values, chronic deficits, a deepening disaster in Europe—and a stale argument between two false solutions, “austerity” on one side and “stimulus” on the other."[B&N]