Can I have friggin feedback?

As the title suggests, I would like some feedback so I don’t have to write twenty pages on the political economy. That way I can help address your concerns or questions, point out some useful reading I’ve come across. You, know, a mutual knowledge exchange. I want to know what you guys know, too.

So how are you guys enjoying Black September (catchy cognomen conferred by the Wall Street Journal)?

The economy, the elections… both dogged through jarring controversies (by the way, Palin is making things very easy for the Dems—so there’s one thing for us to cheer up and don’t buy into the whole female turnover to the Republican party because of Palin… I checked it out, and the situation is essentially like a Beware information text box on the corner page of some Statistics textbook—highlighting the ways in which statistics info is deficient and misleading. In fact, I was going to do Part II Palin and Republicans, but not anymore) Anyway… the economy and the elections. So, I obviously can’t get into all of the economics here, but I encourage you to start your own research projects on the economy and become “enlightened”.

I actually want to begin by briefly noting the tom foolery at the BlueWave event, where Pam was so gracious enough to take us. The Democrats, except for one, at the event used the rallying call reverberated around all the blue/red county halls—the economy effecting the middle class, aka Americans. So the routine goes something like this: blame the venal Bush administration, remind us how much of an economic purulence is the Iraq war, we need energy independence like the 4th of July, and don’t forget Change from this and that. So, this is where Economics comes into play I guess. And as a former Board Chief at Goldman Sachs, the last one of two (formerly five) remaining investment banks on Wall St, there was a reason why Corzine didn’t go on the offensive against Bush (and maybe I’m giving him too much credit as a sincere elitist who knows better) at the BlueWave event. The reality is the economy is a dynamic.

McCain like all of us, including Obama (just because they don’t have time to study the matter) are not experts on economics. Experts know derivatives, models and modes, various input-output coefficients, and quantitative theorems. Any attempt by McCain to declare himself economically circumspect is utter rubbish; we really should know by now, that there’s a difference between a republic and a democracy. McCain is from a republic, Galbraith from a democracy. With this mind, it’s easy to see the objectives McCain wants to pursue; co-opting and appealing to the carefully cultivated emotions from the public, instead of enlightening them--where the latter drew Thomas Jefferson’s advocacy.

McCain's stance against pork barrels projects are a stupid issue and unimportant; how can you siphon off money in a system where money is created out of thin air (the Fed post 1929) and engrossed by perpetual open-ended credit (personal savings as % of disposable income [that's the blue collar american income] is -.40%, FDR in 1944 was like 25%, that's freaking awesome)? So, this wraps up McCain and his economic agenda. And you really have to be kidding if you think his healthcare thingamajig and reform policies are important. In total sincerity, it’s unimportant because the health care system is working just fine, so YOU need to shape up. At least that’s what the economics say and has been saying since the Nixon years. Remember, profit revenue, net gain, that’s privatized in a free market. The firm costs and production excesses are socialized, that’s called “externalities”. The externalities are what Obama and McCain talk about in their debates (you know, we American free marketers are looking out for you). In the functioning of economics (the real world outside those debates), methods to maximize profits minimize costs in an industry (health care) so intimate to human idealism, creates problems when the only thing the Average Joe knows is work (because you need money to live) and health care (in order to live)--the great gulf between externalities and the economics of health care totally unbeknowst to him. Hence; one of the 2008 issues is health care (but as it rightly should be; my reasons do more with democractic principles than economics or my family and I)

The economy is not so good (obviously--the finance sector, which is about 25% of the American economy, forgot to "pull out" and now has a surprise [wink, wink]). But, the jobs in the health sector?: they're expanding by 36% through 2012. So, hey part of the economy is growing (the U.S. always grows, but in times like this its by 1.23%) because 36% adds to the GDP, Gross Domestic Product (the how big is your d*@k stick amongst nations). The externality in this case, and now I’m sort of distending the definition, is that the 36% increase in health care jobs means that there is an increase in American obesity and their cancer phone problems and pollution, coronary heart disease grease and "I need to exercise, but I don’t have the time". That’s a relationship in the economy, which has no say in politics because people don’t have time to learn, so people like Bush II talks to us like we're stupid. McCain is a lot of bull, an incredible marksman in pointing out what’s wrong with “the economy”, and an old bag of dust.

Guys, this is my most disorganized blog, but the issue of political economy is too overwhelming, I feel like a virgin again. So can you just ask me questions? I’ll respond. Then I’ll ask you questions and then you respond, like I hinted at the outset.


PS Runie: Bill Clinton's administration (as I told you) was more of an economic a-hole than Bush II. Look at things now. You still rock though. I hope your neck is better.