Monday, August 2, 2010

AZ Republic has it Backwards!

The Arizona Republic newspaper today had a headline reading: Economy Weakens as Wealthy Spend Less" (p. A1).

The Republic doesn't get it. The headline begs the problem, which is that the U.S. economy has become so inequitable in the distribution of its resources that it depends upon the consumption of a very small elite.

In the film, Capitalism: A Love Story, Michael Moore examines a Citigroup document, which argues that the U.S. is not a democracy, but rather is a plutonomy. Plutonomies depend upon the consumption of elites and disregard the rest of the populace. The AZ Rep. article reinforces the emergence of the US as a plutonomy.

Plutonomies are inherently unstable because they rely on the oppression of a larger population. Plutonomies aren't economically viable either, because demand is so centralized it becomes vulnerable to disruption.

Keynesian economics recognizes this problem and argues that governmentshould ensure adequate demand through investments in the nation, its infrastructures and populations.

Widespread demand is more resilient than centralized demand. Equity is more sustainable for a system than oppression.

Unfortunately, our media, corpatocracy, and "leaders" seem to be missing the obvious problem, which is the impoverishment and marginalization of the populace...

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