| With respect to macro-economics, economics is the only discipline where one ends up less competent after earning a graduate degree. Acquiring an advanced degree in economics requires disregarding free market principles in favor of central economic planning. I do not know of a graduate program that does not teach that intervention through monetary or fiscal policy is necessary. By using common sense such notions can be debunked in one sentence. Government intervention by virtue of contradiction can never successfully stimulate an economy, improve economic activity or even contribute positively to an economic goal. Government is not capable of making economic decisions. Governments make political decisions. All government activities allocate resources inefficiently and result in lower standards of living. Private entities make economic decisions because there are natural incentives to economize. These incentives are not considerations in political decision. All valuable economic writings are based on common sense and are simple observations. Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations is a book of common sense observations of markets. All people have common sense and can theoretically use it to flawlessly determine fact from fiction and consistently and accurately predict human behavior. Unfortunately most people cannot tap into their common sense because they define everyone and every situation in their lives with euphemisms, as a way of coping with the harsh realities of living. In order to make genuine use of common sense one must go through the agony of disregarding all of life’s comforting euphemisms. Common sense is actually all any of us have in terms of things that are valuable for decision making. Why? We have to start by acknowledging that all of life’s basic questions have no answers. We are all alive but no one knows what life is. We all have consciousness but consciousness has no explanation. There are no firm answers as to why we are alive or what happens when we die. Despite high IQs and many positive attributes every day begins with a state of complete ignorance. Survival depends on responding correctly to what we see and experience through common sense. Common sense has been a useful tool for survival and its usefulness is validated by virtue of the fact that the species has survived. Once all euphemistic definitions are discarded the overall scheme of things becomes clear immediately. Caution is necessary because without the upbeat definitions of things, life is too harsh to enjoy. There is great value in developing the skill to clear the mind of euphemisms, when being right is critical and move back into one’s fantasy world for comfort. What are some common euphemisms? Usually everything that is said and believed is not true. Here some of the critical euphemisms. Politicians run for office to serve. No, politicians run for office out of self interest. Human beings are good and normally virtuous. No, people are neutral at best. The U.S. is a republic. No, the U.S. is defined as a republic but operates as something completely different. The representative function is clearly missing. Government is mostly a mechanism for rising above the law so as to milk the population. Where analysis is needed, wrong answers flow naturally when erroneous assumptions are made with respect to euphemisms that serve as a coping mechanism. Take away all of the erroneous assumptions about our system and folks who work in government and many theories and notions are debunked automatically. Most important today is the idea that any government initiative will boost economic activity. The Federal Reserve’s quantitative easing program is a good example. There is no chance that the stated benefit will be achieved. Governments are not capable of making economic decisions. They only make political decisions. This guarantees a misallocation of resources anytime government intervenes in the economy. <img alt=”” src=”https://quillian.net/00_seasonal/00_logo_1.jpg” /> <a href=”http://curbsidejimmy.com/radio/Hard%20Times%20Coming.mp3″>http://curbsidejimmy.com/radio/Hard%20Times%<ins datetime=”2014-02-19T17:41:04+00:00″> |
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