Tag Archives: conventional wisdom

Acceptable Alternatives To The Truth

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Acceptable Alternatives To The Truth  PDF Version

In explaining economics and politics, I have a complete advantage over all others who are doing the same thing, simply because I do not believe lies. That is not an unfair advantage. Anyone else can do the same thing. In politics, although the truth is in everyone’s tool box it is never used. Any politician who tells the truth is at an immediate disadvantage.

When talking about politics I start by knowing I am not hearing the truth regardless of its source. All communication in politics is focused on getting results or advancing an agenda. Others who believe they are hearing the truth, even out of their favorite suportees mouths, are generally wrong in their assessments from the outset.

That is in fact the case with mainstream economics. Study mainstream economics if you want to be highly adept at understanding a system that does not apply to or even exist in the real world.

John Kenneth Galbraith was a brilliant 20th century economist. Sure he was a liberal but he was an absolute master at observing what was going on in the world of economics, that was out of the visual field of everyone else. His solutions were misguided but his observations were right on

.In his classic 1950’s book, The Affluent Society, he introduced the term conventional wisdom. Today that term is used constantly but the gravity of its meaning has become lost. Conventional wisdom works out to be an alternative to the truth the vast majority of the time. Conventional wisdom is not what is true. It is a belief system the majority are comfortable with.

Policy is always based on conventional wisdom rather than what is factual or even logical. Often it is a means of adopting a lie,hoping it works or for the best, because the truth is too troubling to look at.

What is today’s conventional wisdom? Probably the biggest is the insistence by virtually everyone is  that the stock market is in a bubble created by investors bidding stocks up. It is quite unsettling to entertain the idea that we don’t have a bubble but a political agenda that provides affirmative action for stock prices. Bubbles burst. Political agendas fail but they don’t bust. What are political agendas? Political agendas are what politically powerful people convince congress that government should do.

I doubt that I am alone among economists as seeing QE and fiscal stimulus as not only unnecessary but completely destructive. The fact is that you cannot get paid as an economist unless you advance the conventional wisdom the modern discipline is based on. For that reason, the conventional wisdom that stimulus is needed and even that the Federal Reserve is an important necessary institution are standards that are

 

What conventional wisdom comes down to is a reasoning of choice that displaces the truth. The popular ideas that circulate in the echo chambers, both liberal and conservative, are bits and pieces of conventional wisdom that morph into sound bites. So, when does anything other than conventional wisdom enter the national dialog. That happens when suffering caused by policies based on yesterdays conventional wisdom begin failing.

 

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Patriotism Completely Explained

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Patriotism Completely Explained  PDF Version

Here is the first definition of patriotism that turns up on a DuckDuckGo search. With this definition in mind, countless U.S. citizens plus even more from other lands, enemies and foes have died in wars,….had bombs dropped on them…. and many are buried in graveyards where only patriots are allowed to be buried. Internments in a special graveyard is a patriot’s reward. Being honored as a veteran is another reward. Proclaiming oneself as Patriot Joe or Patriot Bill gains the eyes and ears of other citizens and exalts the professed patriot in the eyes of others.

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Living in the Presence of Evil

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Living in the Presence of Evil.PDF Version

Before reading, it might be good to examine the definition of evil – as the word is used in common language , as well as some more sophisticated thoughts on the subject by Scott Beck who is the well – known author of “The Road Less Traveled.”

Merriam Webster- Definition of Evil.

Dr. Scott Peck, Psychiatrist On Causes of Evil

Mostly in this blog, I discuss economics, politics and natural law – in terms of how it applies to these subject areas. I am not a prophet or an avatar. However, I am a mystic. My method is not to rely only on things that can be seen , touched, felt and watched. I heavily consider influences we can’t see.  One time I heard a man give an answer when asked what made him certain that there was a spiritual world. His reply was, “I can feel the presence of guidance and influence that is outside the physical realm.” Most people can accept that they don’t know they can. Replacing what is real in life with fantasy diminishes one’s ability to interact with the cosmos, so to speak. This is not the same as clairvoyance, for which I have no solid insight. Continue reading →

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New Dynamics Corporate America

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New Dynamics Corporate America.PDF Version

Early in life, most Americans remember the phrase, “the consumer is king.”. This concept began to change in the 1950s. John Kenneth Galbraith, in his book The Affluent Society. coined the term “conventional wisdom”. He explained how what is perceived to be true continues to be deemed to be true long after it is no longer true. Conventional wisdom is that the consumer is king. The consumer is no longer king in the U.S. economy.

In the fifties, Galbraith noticed a change. Sophisticated advertising techniques developed. Demand for goods and services, which had previously sprung up in the hearts of buyers was taking a back seat. Corporations were then creating demand for their products and services by virtue of increasingly sophisticated advertising. The 1950s were only the beginning of the practice of manipulating the public mindset Continue reading →

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Searching For A Search Engine

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As you might have learned, in fantasy free analysis, I treat institutions and people according to how they function and pay no mind to how they are defined.  While in the global mindset, Google is deemed to be a search engine. Countless other deemed “search engines”, populate the internet as well. Each copies the Google model as best as possible while providing a bit of uniqueness to make it seem different. Yes, Google defined itself as a search engine, but then over time morphed itself into something else. Continue reading →

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Another Silly Recession Headline

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I clipped this headline off of Zerohedge this morning.

So, why is it suggested that the U.S. might be in a recession, when it obviously is to anyone with at least one eye, who is looking?  We have a growing homeless population. Banks are failing. Small banks are losing deposits. Retail stores are closing. Home prices have started falling and so on. 

 

So, why is GDP still o.k. but just might head into a downturn? Continue reading →

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Acceptable Alternatives To The Truth

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Acceptable Alternatives To The Truth  PDF Version

In explaining economics and politics, I have a complete advantage over all others who are doing the same thing, simply because I do not believe lies. That is not an unfair advantage. Anyone else can do the same thing. In politics, although the truth is in everyone’s tool box it is never used. Any politician who tells the truth is at an immediate disadvantage.

When talking about politics I start by knowing I am not hearing the truth regardless of its source. All communication in politics is focused on getting results or advancing an agenda. Others who believe they are hearing the truth, even out of their favorite suportees mouths, are generally wrong in their assessments from the outset.

That is in fact the case with mainstream economics. Study mainstream economics if you want to be highly adept at understanding a system that does not apply to or even exist in the real world.

John Kenneth Galbraith was a brilliant 20th century economist. Sure he was a liberal but he was an absolute master at observing what was going on in the world of economics, that was out of the visual field of everyone else. His solutions were misguided but his observations were right on

.In his classic 1950’s book, The Affluent Society, he introduced the term conventional wisdom. Today that term is used constantly but the gravity of its meaning has become lost. Conventional wisdom works out to be an alternative to the truth the vast majority of the time. Conventional wisdom is not what is true. It is a belief system the majority are comfortable with.

Policy is always based on conventional wisdom rather than what is factual or even logical. Often it is a means of adopting a lie,hoping it works or for the best, because the truth is too troubling to look at.

What is today’s conventional wisdom? Probably the biggest is the insistence by virtually everyone is  that the stock market is in a bubble created by investors bidding stocks up. It is quite unsettling to entertain the idea that we don’t have a bubble but a political agenda that provides affirmative action for stock prices. Bubbles burst. Political agendas fail but they don’t bust. What are political agendas? Political agendas are what politically powerful people convince congress that government should do.

I doubt that I am alone among economists as seeing QE and fiscal stimulus as not only unnecessary but completely destructive. The fact is that you cannot get paid as an economist unless you advance the conventional wisdom the modern discipline is based on. For that reason, the conventional wisdom that stimulus is needed and even that the Federal Reserve is an important necessary institution are standards that are

 

What conventional wisdom comes down to is a reasoning of choice that displaces the truth. The popular ideas that circulate in the echo chambers, both liberal and conservative, are bits and pieces of conventional wisdom that morph into sound bites. So, when does anything other than conventional wisdom enter the national dialog. That happens when suffering caused by policies based on yesterdays conventional wisdom begin failing.

 

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