Economics
THE UNIVERSAL ECONOMY – UNIT II: FIAT MONEY
In 2003 the United States invaded Iraq. Since then the ongoing wars in the Middle East and Africa have cost trillions of dollars. The money appears out of nowhere. Virtually no legislators ask, “How are you going to pay for it?”
In 2008 U.S. and world financial systems were on the verge of total collapse. Wall Street banks had been gambling in trillions of dollars of fraudulent loans and “exotic financial instruments” and the bets had gone bad. The banks were corrupt, but to avoid total financial devastation to America, we were told they had to be made whole ...
THE UNIVERSAL ECONOMY – UNIT I: CONCEPTUALIZING THE POSSIBLE
Where sovereign nations with sovereign currencies are concerned, asking “how are you going to pay for it” is always posing the wrong question. It automatically introduces artificial monetary constraints due to flawed manmade economic premises, and societies are invariably told “there isn’t enough money and they must do without.” The real question is, “do we have the resources, energy, manpower, and knowledge to provide for societal needs?” At 21st century levels of human knowhow, the answer to this question is virtually always “yes.” This is economic ...
PROTECTION FOR STATE RETIREMENT FUNDS
By Pew Trusts
https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/issue-briefs/2017/11/basic-legal-protections-vary-widely-for-participants-in-public-retirement-plans
State and local pension plans hold over $3.6 trillion in retirement fund investments for participants and their beneficiaries, with returns on these investments accounting for an estimated 60 percent of the money paid out in pension benefits each year.
In recent decades, public pension funds, in a bid to boost returns, have shifted funds away from low-risk, fixed-income investments—such as governm...
TERRIBLE GOP TAX PLAN
By Common Dreams Staff (11-21-17)
(This article is licensed under Creative Commons.)
Americans for Tax Fairness warns that the bill gives most of the tax cuts to the richest 1%, makes 82 million middle-class families pay more in taxes, and endangers funding for public services.
Amid mounting efforts to block the Republican Party’s latest attempts to cut taxes for the nation’s corporations and wealthiest families, a new report out Tuesday details 13 “terrible things” about the most recent GOP tax bill put forth in the U.S. Senate.
The analysis by ...
WILL WISCONSIN SACRIFICE ITS SOUL EVEN MORE?
“My plan is for the working people”. He told journalist. “No, I don’t benefit”, and further added, I think there’s very little benefit for people of wealth.” Do you really believe the lies, lies, lies of the president?
Number 1 thing to remember is that he gets so called intelligence briefings and reports in little bits and pieces. Tillerson called him an expletive moron and former general Mc Masters stated recently he has “a 12 second attention span of a kindergartner and is an idiot.” No one ever takes him to task on policy, because he doesn’t read ...
PENSIONS MATTER FOR FIREFIGHTERS
Public employees across the country are under siege. Retirement security -- from firefighters to police officers to teachers, public employees rely on their pensions to provide a secure retirement. Here in Wisconsin, we are not immune to those attacks. State Senator Stroebel has proposed legislation that is completely unnecessary and irresponsible.
The Wisconsin Retirement System (WRS) is well-funded, well-managed, and serves as a model for the rest of the country. At 100% funded, the fund provides public pensioners with an average of $23,430 per year from WRS. While ...
Mining Jobs Mirage
Last time I wrote about repealing Wisconsin's mining “prove it” law. I made reference to studies that show mining does not improve local economies. Here I provide the documentation for those assertions.
Mining, like any business activity, can temporarily increase employment and thus help the local economy. But many studies say most mining does not build SUSTAINED PROSPERTY for local communities. Not by itself. This should be apparent if you think about it.
Appalachia, with an economy dominated by coal mines, is famous for generational poverty. Many mining regions ...
Bribe Games By the Number
“Politics: A strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. The conduct of public affairs for private advantage.” Ambrose Bierce
Bribing companies to create jobs is not an effective way to promote economic development. It is not a comprehensive way to promote prosperity. The primary, and often only, result of business development tax incentives is simply reduced tax collections from the favored businesses. Everyone else pays for the incentives provided for the few.
In Wisconsin the job creation numbers provide proof. Citizen Action of Wisconsin has ...
A NEW ROLE FOR LABOR UNIONS
From The Commoner Call (10/30/17)
A recent statement from the AFL-CIO regarding a rejection of NAFTA and other corporate/globalist trade agreements unfortunately only skims the surface of the issues working people face. We are missing a vision of where we are going as a nation.
At root of the problem is a missing American vision of where we are going as a society. Our mythos is wrapped up in conquering the “wild” lands, inhabited by people we don’t respect or understand, whom we can push out of the way. Those days are over, but something really important is ...
LIMITS OF POWER
By WIPPS
What are the limits of power in our government? And how has the relationship between the Constitution, Congress and the presidency changed over time, especially in the 21st century?
WIPPS and the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters will present a panel of experts who will address:
Why presidents sometimes issue executive orders that fundamentally change public policy, while other times appear completely impotent to political action
Where the limits of institutional power are considered unsettled
If presidents have used executive orders ...
