 But in the past, US companies have been able to increase their profits through downsizing in the US, through colonizing other people's resources, and through the increase of globalization. |
| It is interesting to note that the 200 richest people have more assets than the 2 billion poorest. |
| Wall Street sees a social fabric or social contract as inefficiencies, which need to be removed. |
| If you look internationally over the last 50 years there have been improvements in the third world, but in the last 20 years the reverse has happened, with debt crises and increased poverty. |
| In the US, most progressives start to see the differences between internationalism and economic globalization. |
| Money is a mechanism for control. |
| And each of these perspectives comes to the same conclusion, which is that our global economy is out of control and performing contrary to basic principles of market economics. |
| The first principle of the market economy is that it is comprised of many small buyers and sellers, which implies a substantial degree of equity. Another fundamental market principle is that costs are internalized in the producer's price. |
| More humane societies are usually smaller, like the Scandinavian countries and Holland, where it is much easier to reach consensus and cooperation. |
| More and more surveys in the US are indicating a change in values taking place among consumers, who become more concerned about quality of life, food, health and the environment. |
| The professional study of economics has become ideological brainwashing. It is a defense of the excesses of the capitalist system. |
| Europeans say they are proud of their social fabric, of strong rights for workers and the weak in society. |
| My own experience in the third world was that even if people started to make more money, the cost of living and housing increased often faster than the wages. |
| Money flows into the US, and inflates US assets, and allows the US to have a monstrous trade deficit. That means we are consuming more than we are producing. |
| But we can also take the radical view that the test of an economy has to do with the extent to which it is providing everybody with a decent means of living. |
| There is no visible sign that the current politicians in the US are willing to see the need for change. |
| We should be moving toward local currencies not global or European currencies. |
| Moreover, statistics can be deceiving: the growth of jobs in the US in the 90s was due to many part-time jobs, with no benefits and generally low pay. |
| If I would need to make a prediction I still believe Kaplan's scenario is very plausible. |
| As long as you have a system that is based on the rational that if you are making money you are thereby making a contribution to society, these financial rogue practices will continue. |
