Economics Without The B.S.**:
Could Supply-Side Economics be the reason for our economic stagnation?
We have people today, and for the past several decades, advocating to give the entrepreneurs freedom to act and they will create the jobs that our society needs. But after several decades of this thinking, here we are:
(1) with economic stagnation – falsely blamed on debt;
(2) economic rewards going to the few, the powerful, and not sharing equally to all who work and produce in our society;
(3) misplaced economic incentives that are not directed at the overall productivity of our economy due to concentrated wealth and its resultant political influence;
(4) a consumer economy that is out of balance with the commercial and industrial needs in our society;
(5) and leadership in our society, both at the government and private sector, that appears either unable or unwilling to tackle tough issues with regard to:
(a) educational needs of children and adult education/and continuing education;
(b) revitalizing urban centers and small towns;
(c) and giving attention to our physical infrastructure and natural surroundings;
and all of this and more in a time in history when we are globally connected, highly educated (both formally and practically), with boundless resources, and enormously wealthy.
There was a time when supply-side thinking was needed and worked – in the 1980’s – but we are long past that point. After that economic turn-around, our middle-class has become complacent, politically ineffectual, and of no consequence. We are now in an economic miasma that is affecting our society and degrading our democracy. It reminds me of the complacency of the 1950’s which led to the Sputnik awakening.
We need to get back to a demand-driven economy. But that will take a public revitalization of citizenship to force action from the leadership in our society. Sputnik scared the hell out of us during the Cold War. It was right there on the front page of every newspaper in the country, big city paper and the rural/local 6-page edition, in a day when EVERYONE read a newspaper. As a result, we were accelerated into a decade of scientific achievement resulting in a man on the Moon – an achievement which was not believable by our scientific community when President Kennedy first announced it. The demand (read as a challenge) placed upon our scientific and technical community spawned innovation that was unheard of just a couple years before.
Because we have been an economy with supply-side emphasis, and many of our leaders are not technically oriented, we have an entrenched, well-off segment that is satisfied with the status quo. WE NEED TO CREATE DEMAND! The demand comes from inspirational leadership that challenges us to explore the unknown, be innovative, and use our creative energy. WWII demand created an economy that got us out of the Great Depression.
We do not accept the status quo. We are the one animal that uses our brain to shape our culture. Our mentality, our culture, is demand-driven (not supply-driven). We exist to meet challenges and conquer those obstacles – not to get rich. If that’s the way our culture operates, then that’s the way our economy should operate. We will not fix our economy, or society, by handing out tickets to the Gravy Train. We need to tap into the American culture and way of life that wants to be challenged, explore, and innovate. WHERE IS THE DEMAND?
No comments:
Post a Comment