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A Mountain of Debt and no Growth
A Mountain of Debt and no Growth
Too Many Geezers
So far, we’ve proposed two reasons why the 21st century has been such a dud …
First … the developed nations are cursed with too many geezers. We have nothing against old people (especially as we hope to be one ourselves all too soon). But old people do not build a new economy; young people do. And today, there are not enough young people to power the kind of economic growth we’ve gotten used to.
Second… rules, regulations, subsidies, laws and orders now protect established financial interests against upstart competitors. Businesses get older along with the population, as government creeps over more and more of the economy.
The feds use monopoly force to prevent competition and reward today’s voters and capital owners. The baby born in 2015 finds himself subject to debts, obligations and restrictions that were meant to benefit his grandparents. Today, we give you another reason for the flop that is the 21st century. As you will see, they are all related…
Pages in the Federal Register. There was a brief reprieve from over-regulation in the Reagan era, but shortly thereafter the regulatory State went into action again at full blast. Capitalism is slowly but surely asphyxiated, and with it any chance to escape the debt trap is dying with it (chart source: the George Washington University regulatory studies center) – click to enlarge.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
OVERdevelopment, OVERpopulation, OVERshoot
OVERdevelopment, OVERpopulation, OVERshoot
William Ryerson’s introduction to the new book OVERdevelopment, OVERpopulation, OVERshoot.
MOST CONVERSATIONS ABOUT POPULATION begin with statistics—demographic data, fertility rates in this or that region, the latest reports on malnutrition, deforestation, biodiversity loss, climate change, and so on. Such data, while useful, fails to generate mass concern about the fundamental issue affecting the future of the Earth.
In reality, every discussion about population involves people, the world that our children and grandchildren will live to see and the health of the planet that supports all life. In my roles as president of Population Media Center and CEO of the Population Institute, I spend most of my time in developing countries, where many of my friends and acquaintances are educated and prospering. But I also know individuals who are homeless, unemployed, or hungry. The vast majority of people in these societies, regardless of their current status, do not enjoy a safety net. They live from day to day in hopes that their economic circumstances will improve. Abstract statistics on poverty are irrelevant to families struggling to secure the food, water, and resources needed to sustain a decent life.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
The Federal Reserve Has Declared the Winner in the Generational Financial War
The Federal Reserve Has Declared the Winner in the Generational Financial War
The policy of safeguarding Boomer benefits with asset bubbles will lead to the destruction of the unprepared, the unwary and those who foolishly trusted our “leadership” and central bank to tell them the truth.
Though it is exceedingly politically incorrect to mention it publicly, a financial war between the generations is being fought in the U.S. and every other developed nation that has promised social welfare benefits to its burgeoning class of retirees.
The war is being fought on multiple fronts: political promises, interest rates, housing, central bank policies and official rates of inflation, to name a few of the top battlefields.
Though no one in power will state this publicly, the Federal Reserve has already declared the winner of the generational war: the Baby Boomers won and Gen-X and Gen-Y lost. Fed policies insure the Boomers will benefit from financial bubbles inflated by the Fed, and the following generations will lose–not just this year or next year, but for decades to come.
Any nation that offers its retirees social welfare benefits (pensions and healthcare) faces a no-win demographic crunch: the number of retiring people entering the class of beneficiaries far exceeds the number of additional full-time jobs being created. In other words, it’s not just a matter of having enough young people to support the rapidly expanding cohort of retirees–there must be enough good-paying full-time jobs for the young people so they can pay high taxes to fund the retirees’ benefits and support their own consumption/saving.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
