Of the Footnote Fallacy

                    Our society over-rewards specialization and people rely increasingly on experts with highly specialized knowledge for information.  This led to a class of professionals such as doctors and lawyers becoming better off and powerful.  Specialist do not like it when people comment on subjects outside of their discipline.  In academia within subjects experts specialize in different areas of the subject.  Sometimes these specialists criticize people for commenting on an area of their discipline that's outside of the area of the discipline they specialize in.  In other words, a marine biologist could be criticized for commenting on evolutionary biology.  People tend to assume that unless someone has had rigorous university level courses within the discipline then they should not comment on it.  Even if that person has a small degree of knowledge on that subject.  Perhaps, by reading books on it in leisure.  Thus, the Footnote Fallacy emerges as generalists are criticized by specialists for either commenting on a subject they did study formally or for minute details the generalist missed.  This is not to say that its always a bad thing to get useful information from a specialist, or that a specialist should not correct a generalist when it is done respectfully.  Typically, the salary for specialist is significantly higher than for workers with more general skills.  Indeed, the thinking behind the Footnote Fallacy has profound implications for the economy.  In the long run a lack of interdisciplinary thinking could lead to less productive professionals.  Interdisciplinary thinking usually allows one to make connections between two seemingly unrelated phenomenon in a practical way.  Interdisciplinary reading and listening to classical music may foster this process.  Much literature both fiction and non fiction and innovation has been the result of such dot connecting.  Of course, if one were to make connections between different topics for the purposes of innovating in industry than different methods may be needed other than the ones mentioned in this blog.          

Of Restoring Economics as a Discipline

                   Economic courses used to be widely available in high schools.  Although, advance placement (AP) economic courses are becoming more common in high schools.  AP courses are year long courses that a high school student takes in order to be placed in a higher class in the subject of the class in college given that the students score is high enough.  AP test are scored from 1 to 5 with 5 being the highest score and 1 being the lowest.  Typically, a state school with require a score of at least 3 to be placed higher while more reputable universities may require a score of 4 or 5.  Aside from these AP courses, some students have the opportunity to take an economics class as a college credit plus class either through their high school, online through a college, or on a college campus.  College credit plus is a program that allows high school students to take college level courses to earn college while their still in high school.  Of course, a student doing this would still take high school classes and possibly participate in extra-curricular activities.  I participated in college credit plus when I was in high school by taking classes online through a university and I earned a years worth of college credit with many of them being business courses.  Over the summer after my junior years of high school I took my first economics course, micro-economics, online through a community college.  At the time I had spent about four years being fascinated by economics.  I would spend hours some weekends reading through the latest business and political news in the Columbus Dispatch.  I read books such as "Understanding Wall Street" to learn how the financial system works.  I would buy old economic textbooks from Goodwill to read.  The one that I spent the most time reading was on economic development.  It was an old textbook from the late 1990's and it still influences some of my thinking to this day.  When I took the course I thoroughly enjoyed it and it was my favorite class up to that point.  Even though I was familiar with many of the basic principles of economics and the indicators used to determine the overall health of the economy.  The course still refined my thinking and gave me a broader perspective of some economic issues.
                Aside from college credit plus classes and AP classes some high schools offer economics as an elective for high school credit.  Some high students do not have the opportunity to take an economics course.  Economics is essential for understanding how to make the most of our resources.  I may have mentioned in a previous blog that economics is a social science that analysis how resources are used in a society.  This would involve looking at the whole of society as business and government make important decisions on how to use their resources.  This aspect of economics is called macro-economics.  While analyzing the decision of individuals and individual companies is called micro-economics.  Typically, a student taking economic courses takes micro-economics first then macro-economics.  Of course, once a student completes these two principle classes, they have the opportunity to take more specialized courses such as labor economics.  I will cover these subjects further in depth in subsequent blogs.
               Economics is taught at most universities and offered as a major to undergraduate.  While others offer a masters degree or even a doctorate (PhD) in economics.  Typically, an economics major would take the principles courses mentioned earlier then a more advanced version of both classes.  The student would also take courses in other disciplines such as the arts and humanities for general education.  Also, its likely that calculus and a rigorous statistic course or two would be taken. Finally, econometrics which is an advanced course on economic statistics would be taken in lieu of a few high level economic electives.  After graduation an economics major could either continue to graduate or start a career.  The career options available to economic majors are quite board.  These options include working for the government, working for a bank, in house economist for a company, and if the student continues to graduate school teaching at the university becomes an opportunity.  There are probably many others that I did not mention.  Typically, if an economist works for a company they are analyzing the market to help guide decisions.  If an economist works for the government their usually either analyzing statistics for agencies that collect data such The Labor Bureau of Statistics or their helping guide policy making.  If one continues to a masters degree in economics than usually advanced math courses such as differential equations would be taken.  Also, depending on the program, the student may have to present a thesis paper that is about forty pages long or so to a thesis committee.  The thesis paper generally involves an empirical study and the committee would then evaluate it. Then if one decides to pursue a doctorate then the student would have to write a dissertation which is typically a 100 to 200 pages long research paper that contributes to the field.  Typically, a dissertation involves an empirical study that involves doing field work.  Then the doctoral student would have a dissertation committee that the student would meet with every once in a while.  When the dissertation is complete, which usually takes three to five years even at full time depending on the topic, the student then presents the dissertation before the dissertation committee.  The job of this committee is to determine whether or no the student is worthy of a doctorate.  Once the student has made a successful presentation to the committee and the committee is convinced.  Then the student graduates with a doctorate and can teach the subject at the university level.  Although, some adjunct professors do not have doctorates.       
              Outside of formal economic courses there some misconceptions about economics that I've pointed out in some of my past blogs.  For example, some people think socialism can work even though its failed every time it was tried.  Socialism ultimately fails because a collectivist system always gives people a far less incentive to work hard or innovate.   I will this issue further in depth in later blogs.  This not to say that our society needs to be individualistic to its death.  Indeed, a society can balance the values of individualism with helping those in need.  This is especially a problem on college campuses where some students who did not take an economics class misunderstand some the most basic principles of economics.  Some of them think that socialism would work.  This is not to support the thinking of the Republican or Democratic parties.  I am merely pointing out some of the issues that can occur when economics is misunderstood. 

Of Urban Poverty

                      The following is a quote from Rights of Man by Thomas Paine first published in 1791.  This is from Chapter 5 titled "Ways And Means of Improving the Condition of Europe, Intersped with Miscellaneous Observations".
                         "Cases are continually occurring in metropolis, different from those which occur in the country,and for which a different, or rather an additional, mode of relief is necessary.  In the country, even the large towns, people have a knowledge of each other, and distress never rises to the extreme height that it sometimes does in a metropolis.  There is no such thing in the country, as persons, in the literal sense of the word, starved to death, or dying with cold fro, the want of a lodging.  Yet such cases, and others equally miserable happen in London."
                         The world's population has increasingly moved to urban areas especially in the time after Paine's writings in the late eighteenth century due to industrialization.  Urban poverty is still a major issue and the welfare system has only made it worse.  Part of the reason for the breakdown of culture in America is the rise of mega cities.  There are so many people crammed in together that there is no sense of community or neighborliness.  This trend is accelerating as mega cities such as New York City continue to grow.  It is important to note that most of the Yellow Jacket movement protesters are from suburbs and the country side.  The Yellow Jacket protesters are protesting against Emmanuel Macron's technocratic policies that have left French culture to decay.  A few months ago Macron said that there is no such thing as French culture.  France makes a great deal of money from French culture.  France is a popular tourist destination as it has many great medieval cathedrals and castles.  Being a part of the European Union and the currency union means that the currency the French use, the Euro, is heavily influenced by the actions of the European Central Bank.  The European Central Bank lowered interest rates in the wake of the 2012 European debt crises.  At that time many European such as Greece, France, and Portugal were burdened by high public debt.  In such public debt often came to close to 100% of GDP and many of the same countries are still just as indebted.  In other words, some European countries have public debt that is equal to the total final goods and services produced within a country.
                       Since the 1950's urban sprawl has led to the creation of many suburbs around cities.  During the 2008 recession we saw this trend reverse as people moved to the inner city closer to work.  This trend led to the inner part of many cities being revitalized as wealthier people eventually moved in.  Rent went up in many areas forcing low income families out of some neighborhoods.  There are a couple of ways to prevent this from happening.  One is rent controls or preventing landlords from raising the rent on low income families beyond a certain point.  Also, development could be limited to certain parts of the city.  Thus, preventing rent from going up in certain areas while other parts of the city are revitalized.  Another consequence of this trend is that in many U.S cities the Suburban poor outnumber the urban poor as people leave suburbs for the growing inner city and low income families are forced out of certain parts of the inner city.  Also, suburbs typically offer fewer services such as public transportation than large cities.  As I've mentioned in my blog on immigration, one the possible ways to help the urban poor find good jobs is to match them with jobs in areas with labor shortages such as North Dakota.  Also, there are high skilled industries in the U.S that face labor shortages and some of these industries offer blue collar jobs that do not require a college degree.  So, another possibility is to offer training for blue collar jobs to low income workers.  It may be more practical since many families may not be willing to move, especially out of state, for a job.  In the long run if labor shortages in the U.S are filled by domestic workers especially workers that were previously performed low skill work than poverty would be significantly reduced.      

Of the Competition Between Small Businesses and Corporations

                    It seems that those wanting to localize the economy and those pushing globalization are in competition. The possible decisions of both sides could be modeled using game theory techniques developed by John Nash.  Some of  the elites do not realize the economy is an open system. I suspect that one of the biggest weaknesses of the elites is that they view the resources of those trying to localize the economy as being too limited to damage their economic and political clout. By localizing the economy I do not mean that free trade would be avoided. Rather, regions and cities would benefit more from free trade.  This is because under a system of placed based finance and industry the goods and services that a country exports would be produced by firms that would re-invest much of the profits from this activity locally and regionally within the exporting country. Also, companies would have a greater incentive to invest regionally and locally as the economy of regions and cities in a country improve.  This is assuming that this process has already started and people with time and money to invest have started to think in local and regional terms.  Thus, the human resources in a region would be greatly improved and consumers would have more disposable income.  This is assuming that goods and services that require a high level of skill to produce would be produced in this region.  Of course, consumers and companies would still buy imported goods and services as free trade would still take place.  I have commented in earlier blogs on the impact of free trade and a full analysis of this is beyond the scope of this blog.
                 Despite the benefits of a more localized economy there are organizations that benefit from hyper- globalization.  For example, in 2013 the CEO of Apple, Tim Cook, testified before congress after the company had avoided paying taxes on billions of dollars of profit made overseas via Irish holding companies.  Apple made a deal with the Irish government to be taxed at a 2% and Apple transferred intellectual property to Ireland so that Apple could keep its profits made in Europe there.  However, the Irish government claimed it could not tax Apple's overseas profits as it would be under the U.S federal government's jurisdiction and the U.S government did not tax Apple for these overseas profits as they claimed it would have been under Irish jurisdiction.  Although months ago Trump gave a one time tax incentive for companies to move money back to the U.S, this policy is unlikely to have a significant long term effect.  Another example is that during the 1990's the NAFTA trade deal was signed under the Clinton administration between the U.S, Canada, and Mexico.  Shortly after this free trade deal was signed American manufacturers moved production overseas to countries with cheap and abundant labor such as Mexico and China.  However, this trend recently started to reverse when companies started moving production back to the U.S from countries such as China.  This is because when China enjoyed a decade of rapid growth from 2008 to to 2018 the wages of low skilled workers went up as demand for these workers soared.  Also, China's One Child Policy which limits the number of children families are allowed to have has limited the supply of labor.  This trend in the labor market combined with the high cost of shipping goods from China to the U.S has made it cheaper for manufacturers to move production to the U.S.  Also, the jobs that are coming back to the U.S are high skilled jobs.   
                 Corporations can raise capital by issuing stocks and bonds.  That money can be invested in the business in the form of research and development or marketing.  Also, the massive amount of marketing that large companies that focus on consumer products engage in builds a brand image for that company.  Large companies can innovate by dedicating a group of employees to the task of improving one of their products as part of research and development.  Or the company could collect data from consumers that use the companies product to find ways to improve the product.  However, large corporations typically have many layers of management, so an employee with an idea would have to go through several layers of bureaucracy before he could start developing it.  Typically, multi-national corporation are not as agile and cannot innovate as fast as a small business could.  A corporation could create barriers to entry such as lobbying to the government for costly, unnecessary regulations that deter entry by small companies.  Also, if the large company is in an industry where it would be dependent on suppliers such as the restaurant industry.  For example, hypothetically if a large burger chain could prevent smaller firms from entering the market by buying vegetables such as lettuce from suppliers.  Thus, raising the prices of the key ingredients.  This is not purposeful price manipulation as the buyer has to buy these ingredients in order to produce enough burgers to satisfy demand.  Rather, it is a by product of a company becoming so large that its purchases from suppliers impact the market price of those goods.
                   Small businesses can often develop a niche market for their products in the local communities they serve as customer service is typically better.  Also, small businesses have more flexibility to innovate as they are only being run by one or two people.  However, this opens up the possibility that the sole proprietor or partners either lack the knowledge necessary to make sound business decisions or they merely commit a fatal error that leads to the downfall of the business.  This can be avoided if small business owners speak with successful entrepreneurs on how to properly manage a new business.  Indeed, the success of small business is vital to the local economy.  As cited in INC article, "The Truth About How Small Businesses Create Jobs and Benefit the Economy", The Bureau of Labor Statistics stated that since the end of the 2008 recession to March 2018, small businesses (businesses with less than 500 employees) have created 62% of all net new private sector jobs.  A link to the articles is posted in the references below.  As I've pointed out in previous blogs, the success of small businesses and credit unions would help keep the money local.  Thus, enriching the local and regional economy.
                  Now back to my suspicion that the biggest weakness of those perpetuating hyper globalism do not think that those trying to localize the economy have sufficient resources to compete with them.  Those pushing globalism may be afraid of something else threatening their political and economic clout.  The first thing they may be afraid of is that the mechanism of propaganda they are using is not working.  In other words, people may not be believing the commentary given in the corporate controlled media such as CNN or MSNBC.  Media companies typically have political biases, so it is important to distinguish facts from commentary when reading articles by any news outlet.  The second thing they are afraid of is the possibility that a third party will interfere.  While it is unknown who this third party is.  Former Assistant Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Catherine Austin Fits, provides a possible explanation for the "third party".  As I've mentioned in previous blogs, there have been a number of UFO sightings over the last decade and there is evidence that there is trillions of dollars missing from the U.S federal government that went toward a secret space program.  I am not suggesting that the UFOs are aliens because they could be humans from Earth with advanced technology.  These UFOs are probably not using anti gravity technology or other outlandish techniques that some researchers have speculated.  Its further possible that many of these UFOs are not even intended for space travel.  Which means its plausible that many of these UFOs are merely the product of secret research and not aliens.  Catherine Austin Fits has further stated that there's evidence that there is so much money missing that some of it is possibly going to a third party.  Perhaps in the some of commerce or even tribute.  If a third party were to intervene its unclear what the third party would do.  Its possible that combination of interference by a third party and a group of coherent observers that are not influenced by mainstream media could occur at the same time.  Indeed, this would involve action by both a third party and a group of coherent citizens.  As I've mentioned before, Catherine Austin Fits is the publisher of The Solari Report and I have posted a link to her website below.      

           

References

"The Truth About How Small Businesses Create Jobs and Benefit the Economy"

  https://www.inc.com/todd-mccracken/why-we-need-to-give-more-aid-not-less-to-small-businesses.html

"Apple CEO makes no apology for company's tax strategy"

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-tax-apple-idUSBRE94J0U320130521

"The Solari Report"

https://home.solari.com/

Of Excessive Optimism

           Physiological, cognitive, cultural, environmental, and political factors can effect the decision making of consumers, business leaders, and politicians. A sound culture and a coherent mind is necessary for good decision making. I suspect that the culture was deliberately damaged from 2000 to 2008 to set the stage for the housing bubble of the early 2000's and the eventual 2008 crash.  Indeed, many economist, politicians, and business leaders deliberately ignored signs that housing prices in the mid 2000's were overvalued.  As I've stated in earlier blogs, many of these professionals and leaders will publicly state that this period of prosperity is different this time.  Thus, dismissing the possibility of a financial collapse and estimating low odds of a recession.  I've explained in earlier blogs how the lending tendencies of banks during the early 2000's led directly to the financial crises of 2008.  Indeed, proper regulation and oversight may have prevented such a crises.  This to say that simple, easy to understand regulations and adequate, not excessive, oversight of both commercial and investment banks are needed.  In previous blogs I thoroughly explained the difference between these two types of banks and why they need to be separated in order to ensure the stability of the financial system.  It is important to note that years ago Oxford scholar Dr. Joseph p Farrell has observed during interviews with the late George Ann Hughs, back when she hosted the Byte Show, that the bankers that testified before congress during the bailout hearings looked as if they were under a great deal of pressure.  They requested that their should be no government oversight of the bailout funds provided to several major American banks by the federal government.  Their request was subsequently granted despite evidence of wrong doing by these banks.
            Another factor affecting the economy of the 2000's was the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. In this blog I will not comment on whether or not the U.S should have sent its military into these countries, but rather I will objectively analyze the economic effects of these wars.  The U.S government spent over a trillion dollars on these wars during the 2000's.  This increased military spending caused the budget deficit to widen and few steps were taken to finance these wars.  Also, the Bush administration cut taxes in the early 2000's across the board meaning these tax cuts included all income levels.  Since then these tax cuts have been extended by Obama and Trump.  Although, Trump passed a tax reform bill into law about a year ago, but explaining this legislation is beyond the scope of this blog.  In theory, the Bush administration could have taken steps to ensure that these wars were sufficiently financed while borrowing little if any money to pay for them.
              The economic impact of increased government spending and a budget deficit is debated amongst economists.  I will comment more on this issue in later blogs.  Generally, economist agree that increased government spending may increase demand and a budget deficit could increase interest rates.  This is because when the federal government runs a budget deficit the treasury must issue more treasury bonds.  Thus, lowering the price of bonds, and increasing the interest rate.  This is known as the crowding out effect.  In theory, a higher interest rate encourages saving and discourages investments.  It is important to note that in this context investment refers to investments made in physical capital such as manufacturing equipment.  Such investments are often made by businesses to increase capacity, expand to a new location, or start a new business altogether.             

Of Austrian Economic Thought

                    The Austrian School of economic though emerged in the Austrian Empire in late 19th and early 20th century and its theories are based on methodological individualism.  Methodological individualism is the idea that social phenomena come from the intentions and actions of individuals.  Also, the school came about partially to criticize Marxism and the historical methods of analysis economist in Germany used. This school of thought first appeared in the work of Carl Menger when he published the book,  "Principles of Economics".  This book is considered to be one of first treatise on marginal utility of the modern era.  Also, the school's introduction of subjectivist approaches in economics led to the marginalist revolution of the 1870's.  Also, the "Physcological School" or "Vienna School" began to develop around Menger's work.  Menger's work was carefully read by  Eugen Böhm von Bawerk and Friedrich von Wieser.  Lengthy critics of Karl Marx were written by Böhm-Bawerk in the 1880's and 1890's.  This work was part of these three economist's participation in the Methodenstreit in the late 1800's.  The Methodenstreit (Method Dispute) was a dispute between Marxist in Germany, Austrian economist, and other economist that either supported or opposed Marxism. 
               Frank Albert Fetter led Austrian economic thought in the U.S in the early 20th century.  Fetter's wrote a comprehensive work on Austrian economic thought titled, "The Principles of Economics" which restored American interest in the Austrian school.  Also, a few important economist were trained at the University of Vienna during the 1920's.  Eventually, these economists participated in private seminars held by Ludwig Von Mises.  Among these economists were Gottfried Haberler, Friedrich Hayek, Fritz Machlup, Karl Menger (son of Carl Menger), Oskar Morgenstern,Paul Rosenstein-Rodan and Abraham Wald, among others.  Most recognized the profound techniques the Austrian School developed for micro-economic analysis.  However, many of the Austrian school's theories on macro-economics were rejected due to lack of empiricalism and mathematical models.  This problem led to many economists rejecting Austrian economic thought in favor of the mathematical models developed by John Maynard Keynes among others.  By the mid 20th century there was no distinct Austrian school in the U.S.  Also, during this time, the Austrian school began to split due to a disagreement about whether or not neo-classical economic models could be used effectively.  Mises fiercely criticized the neo-classical models and was a staunch libertarian believing that any government intervention would only harm the economy.  However, Friedrich Hayek found many of the neo-classical models usefull and was not entirely opposed to government intervention.  In 1974 Hayek won the Nobel prize for economics alongside Swedish economist Gunnar Myrdal.  Thus, public interest in the Austrian school increased and Hayek's research was instrumental in the reemergence of laissez-fair thought in the 1900's. 
            Many of the ideas developed by first wave Austrian economists have become widely accepted in modern economics.  Those theories include Carl Menger's theories on marginal utility, Friedrich von Wieser's theories on opportunity cost, and Eugen Böhm von Bawerk's theories on time preference.  Also, Menger and Böhm-Bawerk's criticisms of Marxian economics made noteworthy contributions to modern economics.  In 1981, Frich Machlup compiled the usually ideas of economists that are part of the Austrian school. 

            "Methodological individualism: in the explanation of economic phenomena, we have to go back to the actions (or inaction) of individuals; groups or "collectives" cannot act except through the actions of individual members. Groups don't think; people think.

Methodological subjectivism: in the explanation of economic phenomena, we have to go back to judgments and choices made by individuals on the basis of whatever knowledge they have or believe to have and whatever expectations they entertain regarding external developments and especially the perceived consequences of their own intended actions.

Tastes and preferences: subjective valuations of goods and services determine the demand for them so that their prices are influenced by (actual and potential) consumers.

Opportunity costs: the costs with which producers and other economic actors calculate reflect the alternative opportunities that must be foregone; as productive services are employed for one purpose, all alternative uses have to be sacrificed.

Marginalism: in all economic designs, the values, costs, revenues, productivity and so on are determined by the significance of the last unit added to or subtracted from the total.

Time structure of production and consumption: decisions to save reflect "time preferences" regarding consumption in the immediate, distant, or indefinite future and investments are made in view of larger outputs expected to be obtained if more time-taking production processes are undertaken.

He included two additional tenets held by the Mises branch of Austrian economics:

Consumer sovereignty: the influence consumers have on the effective demand for goods and services and through the prices which result in free competitive markets, on the production plans of producers and investors, is not merely a hard fact but also an important objective, attainable only by complete avoidance of governmental interference with the markets and of restrictions on the freedom of sellers and buyers to follow their own judgment regarding quantities, qualities and prices of products and services.

Political individualism: only when individuals are given full economic freedom will it be possible to secure political and moral freedom. Restrictions on economic freedom lead, sooner or later, to an extension of the coercive activities of the state into the political domain, undermining and eventually destroying the essential individual liberties which the capitalistic societies were able to attain in the 19th century.", "Austrian School" 

                    In the late 18th century and early 19th century Austrian economist  Eugen Böhm von Bawerk developed the Austrian theory of capital and interest.  This theory states that interest rates and profits are determined by two factors, namely supply and demand in the market for final goods and time preference.  Also, the theory links capital intensity with the degree of roundaboutness of production processes.  Böhm-Bawerk stated that he law of marginal utility necessarily implies the classical law of costs.  Therefore, Some Austrian economists disagree with the idea that interest rates are affected by liquidity preference.  According to Mises, inflation was caused by an increase in the money supply.  The economic calculation problem is a criticism of socialism that began when Max Weber pointed it out in 1920.  Also, that some year Mises published an essay titled, "Economic Calculation in the Socialist Commonwealth" in which he argued that the pricing mechanism in socialist systems wouldn't work simply because the government built all of the equipment necessary for production.  Therefore, all of the capital goods put into factories were internal transfers and not purchases.  Thus, government officials would be unable to price goods and services accurately and resources would be allocated inefficiently. Later on Mises had conversations about Weber's ideas with his student Friedrich Hayek.  Hayek incorporated Weber's ideas into his work including a book titled, "The Road To Serfdom".  The Austrian school emphasizes the organizing power of markets.  Hayek argued that market prices reflect information, the whole of which is not one to any one individual, which determines the allocation of resources in an economy.  According to the economic calculation problem, since socialist systems lack the individual incentives and pricing mechanisms found in capitalist systems, socialist economic planners lack the incentive or the information necessary to make good decisions.  The debate of the economic calculation problem rose into the mainstream in the 1920s and 1930s.  Eventually, this particular period of debate became known as the socialist calculation debate. 

                    Mises developed the Austrian business cycle theory and Hayet later expanded upon the theory.  This theory states that booms are caused by excessive lending that results from low interest rates and low reverves held by banks.  Eventually, once the banks run out of money to lend there is a recession because the debt fueled economic cannot continue while businesses and consumers are burdened with debt.  This leads to bankruptcies, foreclosers, and mass unemployment. Much of the Austrian school believes that a recession is necessary to rebalance the economy after a long period of malinvestment caused by excessive lending.  In other words, the Austrian school teaches that duing a boom excessive lending causes inefficient investments or malinvestment and an inefficient allocation of resources.  Therefore, only a recession can cause resources to be reallocated efficiently as debt is slowly either paid off or defaulted on.   Ludwig von Mises argued that central banks allow commercial banks to lend money at artificially low interest rates and creates a period of inefficent debt fueled growth.   Friedrich Hayek however argued against perfect competition in the banking industry and that central banks were absolutely necessary to ensure the stability of the financial system.  It is import to note that some economist within the Austrian school argue for a gold standard because fiat currency, which is back by the government issuing the currency, is not based on the free market.  Although, some Austrian economists disagree with this assessment.  The Austrian school tends to be libertarian believing that the government should not intervene in the economy.  While some modern economists within the school are more accepting of government intervention.  

                     Some economist still argue that modern Austrian economic thought ignores mathematical models in favor of analyzing individual behavior.  Also, economists disagree over whether socialism works.  Some have pointed to the low rates of poverty and relatively low income inequality in socialist countries such as Sweden.  While others have argued that these socialist government are using resources less efficiently then the private and therefore is slowing down economic growth.  It is important to note that these socialist countries have components of both capitalism and socialism.  In these countries people are free to choose their career, start a business, and make decisions for themselves as a consumer.  While the government engages in massive social welfare programs such as universal health care and retains control over certain industry leaving all the other industries to the free market.  It is important to note that the Austrian business cycle theory has some truth to it because as we saw in both the 2008 recession and the crash of 1929 debt was heavily involved in both cases.  Investors over burdened themselves with debt to buy stock throughout the Roaring 20's and prime mortgage lending fueled the housing bubble.  However, the theory lacks components such as explanations for involuntary unemployment and why investors become euphoric during asset bubbles.  The problems with a gold standard emerged during the Great Depression when the Federal Reserve could not print more money because there was not enough gold available to back the currency.  Eventually, this led to the U.S, along with most countries around the world, moving to a fiat currency that is only back by the guarantee of the federal government.  The Austrian school's explanation for inflation fails to take into account supply and demand for goods and services while it argues that inflation is caused by an increase in the money supply.  As we saw with oil prices in the 1970's and 1980's inflation was caused by high oil prices due to an embargo on several Middle Eastern countries.  Austrian economic thought is useful for micro-economic analysis and rarely useful for macro-economic analysis.  Although, there are problems with solely relying on mathematical models for economic analysis.  

References

   "Austrian School" 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austrian_School

      

Of Game Theory

                     The mathmatical modeling of strategic interaction between rational decision makers is referred to as game theory.  In 1713 in a letter written by Charles Waldegrave he analyzed different strategies for the two person version of the card game le Her and he wrote this letter to his uncle and French diplomat James Waldegrave.  Eventually, these set of strategies for the two person card game became known as the Waldegrave Problem and the letter was the first known conversation about Game Theory.  Former U.S president James Madison made a model of the possible behaviors of states under varoious systems of taxation.  This model would become recognized a game theory model.  In 1838, French philosopher and mathmatician,  Antoine Augustin Cournot published a book titled, "Researches into the Mathematical Principles of the Theory of Wealth".  However, Cournot's work provides a model that is a limited version of John Nash's later equilibrium.  German logician and mathmatician  Ernst Zermelo published a book titled, "On an Application of Set Theory to the Theory of the Game of Chess" in 1913.  This book lead to more in depth analysis of strategic interaction.  Danish economist Fredik Zeuthen found that the mathmatical model is a winning strategy by utilizing Brouwer's fixed point theorem.  In 1938, French mathmatician and politician, Émile Borel published a book titled, "Applications [of probability theory] To Games of Chance; Professed Course at the Faculty of Sciences of Paris".  In this book Borel developed a minimax theorem for two-person zero-sum matrix games only when the pay-off matrix was symmetric.  Borel also proposed that that non-existence of mixed-strategy equilibria in two-person zero-sum games would occur.  However, this idea was later found to be incorrect.
                    In 1928 game theory emerged as a distinct field of study when Hungarian-American mathmatician, physicist, computer scientist, and polymath John von Neumann published a paper titled, "On the Theory of Games of Strategy".  In this paper Von Neumann's original proof utilized Brouwer's fixed-point theorem on continuous mappings into compact convex sets. Thus, this become a standard method in game theory and mathematical economics.  In 1944 Von Neumann published a book titled,  "Theory of Games and Economic Behavior" which he co-authored with Oskar Morgenstern.  In the second edition of this book, Von Beumann proposed  an axiomatic theory of utility, which revived Daniel Bernoulli's archaic theory of utility (of the money) as a seperate field of study.  Also, Von Neumann's 1944 book was the culmination of his research into game theory.  This elementary literature consists of a way to find  mutually consistent solutions for two-person zero-sum games.  Throughout the 1950's research into game theory primarily focused on cooperative game theory in which some of the parties involved in the strategic interaction would mutually agree to follow a certain strategy.  Also, the agreement between these parties were assumed to enforceable.
                       In 1950, a mathmatical model of the prisoner's dilema was developed, and an experiment was performed by exceptional mathmaticians Merrill M Flood and Melvin Dresher, as a portion of the RAND campany's research into game theory. RAND did research into game theory because of its possible application to the arms race between the Soviet Union and the U.S.  During this time period, American mathmatician, John Nash developed a criteria  for mutual consistency of players' strategies applicable to a wider variety of games than the criterion proposed by von Neumann and Morgenstern.  Also,  Nash found that every n-player, non-zero-sum (not just 2-player zero-sum) non-cooperative game has this model.  This model became known as the Nash Equilibrium.  During the 1950's research into game theory increased dramatically as the U.S government hired game theorist to help them understand the strategic interaction between the U.S and the Soviet Union.  Also, the ideas of the core, the extensive form game, fictitious play, repeated games, and the Shapley value were developed.  In Addition, game theory was starting to be applied to philosophy and political science during this era.
                 In 1979, American political scientist Robert Axelrod attempted to set up computer programs as players and found that in tournaments between them the winner was often a basic "tit-for-tat" program that works together on the first step, then in later stages just does whatever its opponent did on the last step. The same winner was also usually obtained by natural selection; a fact widely taken to explain cooperation phenomena in evolutionary biology and the social sciences.  In the 1970's, the research of British thereotical and mathmatical evolutionary biologist and geneticist John Maynard Smith and his  evolutionarily stable strategy led to game theory to be deeply applied to biology especially evolution.  Today game theory techniques are used by many social scientist, biologist, and economist to model strategic interaction between people, organizations, and even, in the case of biologists, animals.  Game theory can be applied to any situation involved strategy.

References

"Game Theory"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_theory

Of The Death Of Money

                     For the last decade China has been manipulating its currency to make its currency weaker against the United States dollar.  Thus, allowing China to flood the U.S market with cheap goods.  When a country has a currency relatively weaker than other countries currencies that country can easily export goods to other countries as its goods are cheaper.  Conversely, if a country has a currency that relatively stronger than other countries currency than that country would struggle to export goods as that country's goods would be more expensive.  As I've mentioned in previous blogs central banks strive to keep inflation high enough to ensure that growth can occur while keeping inflation low enough so that prices do not increase faster than wages.  Typically, an industrialized country such as Japan would want an inflation rate of 2%.  It is important to note that 2% is a normal inflation target for central banks in countries such as the U.S and Japan.  Inflation has been relatively low in the U.S in recent years.  However, the price of health care and college tuition continue to sky rocket.  While wages remain relatively stagnate.  It is important to note that health care expenses is the leading cause of bankruptcy in the U.S and student loan debt in America is well over a trillion dollars.  This could lead to yet another financial crises if for some reason college graduates are unable to find work.  Also, the U.S federal government in over $20 trillion of debt.  Much of this debt is owed to other countries and this too could result in a financial crises.
                Despite this concerning situation I think the economy is going to slow burn not crash.  In other words, the economy the economy will slowly become more and more inefficient until it is unable to support more debt fueled growth rather than suddenly crash.  Catherine Austin Fits has frequently pointed out in her quarterly wrap ups that the economy is not going to crash its going to slow burn.  Indeed, when a financial market crashes it does not happen out of a void there is a lengthy process leading up to that event.  One the biggest problems with the mainstream media is that it makes it seem as if events are happening suddenly out of a void.  In reality these events had a long process leading up to them.  I would discourage readers from paying too close of attention to mainstream media.  Instead read about subjects that you are interested in and find alternative media outlets on websites such as You Tube.  Also, one could probably find a podcast for just about every subject.        
                As I've pointed out in previous blogs, debt as monetized currency is coming to an end for reasons I've pointed out in this blog and previous blogs.  When this happens there will be a void that would have to be filled.  Some people have argued that there will be hyper-inflation.  I do not think that Americans will lose confidence in the U.S dollar because they have been raised to believe that it has value.  Also, if they lose trust in the U.S dollar they have few alternatives to use as currency.  Electronic currencies such as Bitcoin have proven to have volatile values and it would be difficult for Americans to switch to using the currency of a foreign country.  Therefore, hyper-inflation should not occur.  As I've pointed out in a previous blog the government can try to fill this void by printing money through the central bank or individuals could fill the void by establishing debt free money simply by saving money and localizing the economy.  Localizing the economy would mean that consumers would buy from locally owned businesses when possible and people with time and money to invest would invest regionally and locally.  This course of action would stabilize the economy and further stabilize the currency.  Middle class and working class individuals would have the most to gain from a localized economy.  

Of Western Esotericism

                    Western Esotericism is a movement that has its origins back to the Hellenistic Eastern Mediterranean, then it continued into the middle ages and the renaissance period as the works of ancient Greek and Roman philosophers were translated before its emergence from the enlightenment as a "modernist occult" movement with esoteric lodges appearing in Europe and North America in the early 1900s. Finally, in the early 20th century it became a multi-disciplinary subject in America that encompasses theology, alchemy, and the arts used primarily to study the impact of esotericism on Western culture and Christianity.  It is important to note the medieval Greeks and Byzantines of South Eastern Europe never lost ancient Greek and Roman tradition, so they would have indeed been able to carry on the esoteric traditions of the ancient Greeks and Romans.  Arabic cultures are well known for their translations of ancient Greek and Roman philosophy during the medieval era.  This allowed North African and Middle Eastern civilizations to make notable advancements in math, medicine, and engineering.  Scholarship was promoted throughout much of the Near East, North Africa, Greece, and Byzantine throughout the middle ages and renaissance.
               Western Esotericism includes the tribal religions that most of ancient Europe had before the spread of Christianity throughout the early Middle Ages.  Indeed, these esoteric traditions combined with those of ancient of ancient Greece and Rome had a profound impact on Christianity and Western culture.   It is important to note that ancient Egyptian and Sumerian culture influenced Greek and Roman culture.  Thus, western culture and Christianity was indirectly influence by ancient Egyptian and Sumerian culture. The study of these cultural influences is often referred to as Western Esotericism and few scholars still study it to this day.  In my view, the "modernist occult movement" is evidence that these ancient esoteric traditions were indeed passed down and perhaps even practiced by secret societies.  If this is true then that means that western culture and Christianity is still being directly influence by these ancient traditions to this day and that is high octane speculation.  I would say that there is maybe a 20% chance that this is indeed true.  Also, if some people read ancient Greek and Roman philosophy or ancient Sumerian literature such as The Epic of Gilgamesh it would be yet another way that these ancient traditions could influence western culture.  It is important to note that Irish Folklore, Norse Sagas, and other ancient literature from pre-Christian Europe would also be good to read.

Of Health And Wellness

                     In theory one can stay healthy by consuming a healthy diet while exercising regularly.  Some people cannot exercise because of health problems or physical limitations.  It is important that well eating healthy is important it is usually uncessary and unhealthy for one to over analyze his diet to ensure that it is healthy.  As long as someone has an overall healthy diet than that person should be able to stay healthy. However, sometimes there are independent forces that could adversely effect someones health such as a virus that causes an illness or a chronic health problem that developed over time.  In some extreme cases of this a doctor may be needed.  Organic food is healthier than other food because fruit and vegetables often absord pesticides and have GMOs in them.  Organic food deos not have GMOs or pesticides in them.  Also, meat without GMOs may be healthier than meath with GMOs in it.  It is important to note that if you have questeions about exercsing or a healthy diet than you should talk to a registered dietition or a personal trainer.   

Of The Problems With Mormonism

                    Joseph Smith claimed to have dug up plates that contained a new testiment to the bible. Smith claimed that "seer stones" were found with the plates.  He put the plates into in a hat in a dark room and used the seer stones to supposedly translate the text while another man wrote down what Smith was saying.  Smith claimed that the plates could not be seen by anyone besides him or that person would die upon seeing the plates.  Also, he claimed the texts were written in reformed Egyptian and the discoveries from the Rosetta Stone that would have been necessary to translate the texts if in fact they contained a new testiment of the bible did not make to North America by the time the book of Mormon was published in 1830.  Also, the book of Mormon claims that two tribes of Isrealites lived in North America from circa 650 BC to around 330 AD.  According to Mormon tradition, a small group of Isrealites sailed to North America in 650 AD and the split into two tribes happened much later.  Also, these tribes practiced the teachings of Methodist hundreds of years before Jesus was born while retaining their Jewish customs and beliefs.  It also asserts that these two tribes had their own priesthood independent of the priest hood that God had promised to only certain tribes of Isreal.  Indeed, according to the book of Mormom, none of the tribes God promised priesthood to was in North America.  God even told the priests that no one else would be promised priesthood by him.  It is not possible that God would promise another group of Isrealites priesthood after promising one group of Isrealites exclusive priesthood.  God is not a deciever.  Also, it is not logical that Jewish people could have practiced Methodist teaching hundreds of years before Jesus was born. 
                 The book of Mormom claims that the Jews in North America built temples, cities, and shrines.  There is no archealogical evidence that such a group of Jews had ever lived in North America.  Indeed, these ancient people lacked the technology neccessary to obliterate their cities and temples to the point where no evidence would survive.  The book of Mormom also claims that the two tribes of Isreal that supposedly lived in North America had a war.  According to Mormon tradition, the Nephites were with God and the Lamarites rebelled against God.  The book of Mormom asserts that at the end of the war God punished the Lamarites by darkening their skin and that this group became the Native Americans that we know of today.  It is important to note that Mormons believe that men can become Gods by living a good life and women can only become God's if their husbands allow them to.  This claim implies that Mormoms believe that God was once a man.  This a form of polythiesm not legitamite Christianity.  Christians believe in one eternal God now and forever.  Also, Christians do not believes that men and women can become Gods.
             Joseph Smith was a criminal and a con man.  Four years before he published the Book of Mormon Smith was convicted of being a con-artist and imposter in the state of New York.  He was claiming to be a necromancer and a charlatan.  He was wanted in Ohio for fraudulent banking practices.  Smith profited by publishing the Book of Mormon because he charged money for it.  After he founded the Mormon Church Smith and his followers moved to Utah.  The Mormons engaged in polygamy.  Also, the Mormons would often make up the majority of a town's population and vote as a block to ensure the political dominance of the Mormon church.  Since its founding Mormonism has spread far and wide.  The Mormon church requires newly confirmed members to spend at least two years doing missionary work.  Mormonism has spread to countries such as Spain and the U.K. 

References

"Conclusions About Mormonism"

https://www.padfield.com/2005/mormon-comparisons.html

Of the Lawsuit Against Monsanto By Vietnamese Legal Organization

                    Several months ago Monsanto was ordered by a court to pay $289 million dollars to an American citizen who claims that Monsanto's weed killer caused his cancer.  Monsanto supplied the U.S with Agent Orange during the Vietnam War.  Agent Orange was used to burn through the jungle that the Vietnam soldiers hid in.  The chemical agent has been known to cause debilitating health problems, birth defects, and infertility.  In spring 2017, after  Monsanto Tribunal in The Hague, the Netherlands spent six months investigating and two days testifying, came to the conclusion that Monsanto produced a chemical agent that greatly harmed the environment in Vietnam.  Monsanto rejected the ruling and claimed that the company was not at fault because Monsanto produced Agent Orange for the U.S government to use.  However, the firm still agreed to pay American war veterans that suffered from the effects of Agent Orange $180 million as a result of a class-action lawsuit against the company.  This case could set a president for the case that the Association for Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin (VAVA) plans to bring once again against Monsanto.
                    In 2004 the organization tried to file a class action lawsuit against Monsanto three times and the case was rejected because the court claimed that there not enough evidence that the diseases of Vietnamese people exposed to Agent Orange was caused by Agent Orange and that Monsanto is blameless as it produced Agent Orange for the U.S to use.  Recent advances of science has made it easier to link diseases and birth defects to exposure to Agent Orange.  The Vietnamese government estimates that 4.8 million people were exposed to Agent Orange.  There are still babies being born in Vietnam with birth defects because the grandfather was exposed to agent orange.  It is important to note that the Vietnamese government shells out approximately $431.1 million a year provide monthly allowance and cover health care and physical rehabilitation expenses for victims of Agent Orange.  The lawsuit that the Association for Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin plans to bring against Monsanto would cover three million Vietnamese victims of exposure to agent orange.  Also, American lawyers have sided with Vietnam on this issue and Vietnam has been trying to get international support on this issue.  The Association for Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin is hopeful that this support combined with the recent precedent set by the recent settlement that came as a result of a lawsuit against Monsanto will help their case be successful.  The case will take place in U.S courts under U.S law.
               Bayer recently brought Monsanto.  It is important to note that the German chemical company  Bayer used to be part of IG Farben.  IG Farben used to be a major contractor for the government under NAZI Germany.  Given that Monsanto was facing a potential lawsuit it will be interesting to see how Bayer and Germany protect themselves from the liabilities.  Not to mention that Bayer could now be sued for the damage Monsanto's GMO seeds did to the environment and the harmful effects on health that Monsanto's weed killer is notorious for.  

References

  

I.G. Farben

I.G. Farbenindustrie AG German Industry and the Holocaust

   http://www.holocaustresearchproject.org/economics/igfarben.html 

Of The Problems With John Dewey's Philosophy

                      John Dewey lived from 1859 to 1952.  Dewey introduced many ideas that helped shape modern education.  He graduated from the University of Vermont in 1879.  He spent two years as a high school teacher and one year as an elementary school teacher in a small town.  Dewey grew tired of teaching and left his post to pursue a doctorate in psychology at Johns Hopkins University.  In 1884 he graduated and accepted a position as faculty at the University of Michigan and he worked there the first several years after receiving his PhD.
                In 1894 Dewey elected to join the newly founded University of Chicago where he conducted experiments to test his theories.  He conducted experiments that involved activities similar to a mouse running through a maze or a dog learning to respond to a bell.  Eventually, he performed his experiments in a class room setting.  Dewey believed that the job of the teacher was to create an environment where the students would learn and perform the task that teachers wanted them to.  In other words, he believed that children can and should be trained.  Eventually, this thinking led to classical subjects that have traditionally been part of a high school level education such as Greek and Latin being eliminated from K through 12 schools.  Also, art and music was is not taught nearly as much as it used to be.  For the most part schools are abandoning the arts and humanities as science and technology becomes the main focus.  Some people would argue that the arts and humanity are no longer important and it is no longer necessary to spend time teaching kids the arts and humanities.  However, the arts and humanities are necessary to be connected to music and texts that are deeply connected to traditional western culture.  Furthermore, the arts and humanities are vital for people to develop human characteristics and creativity.
               Dewey believed that most of the decisions people made was merely a response to the environment or simply out of habit.  Dewey believed that most decisions people make did not require much thought.  This line of thought is reductionist in nature.  It assumes that people make decision based on spur of the moment feelings rather than rational thought.  Indeed, politicians have justified giving the government more control over the economy on the basis that most people are not capable of making rational decisions.      

Of The Rise Of Africa

                  Throughout the colonial era from the 1500's to the late 1800's European traded with various African civilizations and colonized much of Africa, eventually imposing their own economic and political system.  Also, the European colonist imposed Christianity onto the natives in many cases.  During this time European colonists took an exorbitant amount of resources out of Africa either by trading peacefully or forcefully taking control of an area and harvesting the resources from that area.  The English would establish their own government in the area when they took over a region for the purpose of harvesting the resources from the region.  When the French did this they allowed a respected native man to rule as a puppet for France.  When the Europeans did this they had governance over the natives living in that region.  European languages are still widely spoken in many African countries.  When the first World War took place from 1914 to 1918 much of the fighting took place in North Africa as European nations still had colonies there.  Indeed, resources such as rubber came into European nations from Africa to help the war effort.  World War 1 was the first Total War because it was the first war in which countries devoted their full resources to the war.  This brought a boom the manufacturing industry and some European countries.  However, after the war ended it took time for industry to switch from making guns to "butter".  This difficulty in switching back to consumer products result in high levels of inflation.
              Eventually, technological advances such as the radio and the latest car brought the economy into the Roaring 20's.  The Roaring 20's was characterized by a rising middle class, growth of a financial elite, and jazz.  Also, then American President Coolidge followed a hands-off economic policy.  Thus, keeping the role of government limited.  The stock market soared to new heights as investors brought more and more shares of stock on margin.  Buying on margin allows an investor to buy shares of stock by borrowing money. The Federal Reserve lowered interest rates and even more people borrowed money to buy stock.  Meanwhile, farmers were deeply in debt as overproduction caused prices of crops and meat to sink.  Eventually, overproduction spread to manufacturing as factories had warehouses full of inventory.  On October 29, 1929, Wall Street was forever changed when Black Tuesday hit and the stock market crashed.  Many people lost their life savings and people who borrowed money to buy stock had the most to lose.  There a run on banks as many people withdrew large sums of many from banks en mass causing many banks to fail.  It is important to note that throughout American history up to this point due to regulations that made it difficult for banks to operate in multiple states, so most banking was done with a locally owned and operated bank.  The Great Depression hit as many people lost their jobs as business shut down.  Eventually, many people struggled to survive as food became scarce and many farms were foreclosed.  Sometimes if a farm was going to be foreclosed, the farmers friends would take down advertisements for the auction so that no one else would come.  Then when the foreclosure auction took place the farmers friends would bid low to buy the farm and then give the farm back to the farmer.  People moved from one place to another thinking that one area would be more prosperous then the rest of the country.  In 1933 Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected president of the United States.  Roosevelt implemented a series of regulations and programs that became known as The New Deal.  Roosevelt started the Works Progress Administration which put many people to work.  Also, he created the first social security program for the elderly and widowed.  He passed regulations that encourage workers to unionize.  The Glass Steagall Act of 1933 was into law under his administration.  This law separated commercial banking from risky investment banking.  Furthermore, he created the FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation) to insure deposits up to a certain amount.
             In 1939, when Germany invaded Poland, World War 2 started.  The U.S did not get involved in World War 2 until 1941 when Pearl Harbor was bombed by the Japanese.  This war proved to be far more wide spread and devastating.  I will explain World War 2 further in depth in later blogs.  In the aftermath of World War 2, many European countries abandoned their colonies allowing the natives and the European colonist to govern themselves.  Eventually, violence erupted as people could not agree on the results of elections.  Also, Europeans drew up the borders for African countries and in many cases accidental put several ethnic groups into one country.  These ethnic groups did not get along.  Civil war broke out in many countries.  This conflict stunted economic development in many African countries.
        Recently some African countries have held elections that both sides have accepted the results of.
 Also, Africa is slower becoming more politically stable.  However, terrorist groups such as ISIS and Boko Haram still terrorize North and West Africa respectively.  It is important to note that 2010 there was a regime change in Tripoli, Libya, and Egypt.  The presidents of these countries had been in office for forty years with no legitimate elections to justify their lengthy administrations.  This may lead to North African nations becoming stable Democracies.  Also, Sudan split into Sudan and South Sudan.  This may lead to more stability in the country.
          In recent years, China's One Belt, One Road Project has extended into Africa.  China has been giving loans to African countries for China to build infrastructure there.  In other words,  African nations are borrowing money from China to pay China to extend its One Belt, One Road Project into Africa.  This could lead to more economic growth in Africa as upgraded infrastructure helps businesses and individuals.  Also, the improved infrastructure will facilitate trade and foster entrepreneurship.  It is important to note that South Africa is seizing land from white farmers and giving the land to other people.  Often times the people that the government gives the land to do not know how to take care of it and agriculture suffers.  This could lead to starvation and violence in South Africa.
          As I've mentioned in an earlier blog, Mummer Qaddafi was named chairman of the African Union.  He immediately proposed the formation of a unified state with a single currency.  In March 2009 the African Union released a document about running a central bank under an African gold standard for a single currency for the whole continent of Africa.  This idea may have brought peace and prosperity to the continent of Africa.  However, there are problems with a gold back currency.  Under a gold back currency the government is limited in the amount of money it can issue by the gold supply.  Also, inflation tends to be higher under a gold standard.
   

References

"Why South Africa's Gov't Plans to Strip Land From White Farmers"

https://www.rt.com/news/420181-south-africa-land-redistribution-explained/

Of The Fall of The US Dollar Empire

                    As I've mentioned in previous blogs, America has used its military to ensure the dominance of the U.S dollar and has used sanctions against countries that threaten its interest.  However, in recent years there have been several to the U.S dollars dominance and this time the U.S military will not be used for reasons I will mention later.  In 2015 when the Ukraine was in a civil war between pro Russian sepratist in the east and pro Europeans in the west Russia was falsely accused of supporting pro Russian seperatist.  Also, when Crimea held a referendum and voted to join Russia, this referendum was called a farce by both then President Obama and European technocrats.  The U.S used these events as an excuse to impose sanctions on Russia.  These sanctions have resulted in Russia using Japan's financial clearing system to conduct finacial transactions.  Also, trade between Russia and China has been reaching record highs in recent years.  It is important to note that Russia and China have been selling off U.S treasury bonds to decrease their U.S dollar holdings.  Indeed, Russia and China are far too powerful for the U.S military to punish them for challenging the dominance of the U.S dollar. 
                Trump scraped a deal that Obama negotiated with Iran that would have gradually removed the sanctions on the Middle Eastern country given progress on de-nuclearization.  Europe however has remained a party to this deal despite the U.S pulling out.  European companies cannot do business with Iran without risking sanctions from the U.S.  As a result, Europe is working on its own financial clearing system independent of America's financial clearing system, called SWIFT.  This act would further challenge the dominance of the U.S dollar.  It is important to note that countries such as India are still buying oil from Iran in Indian Rupee's despite the U.S imposed sanctions.  Traditionally, oil has been traded using the U.S dollar.  The U.S has yet to impose sanctions on countries buying oil from Iran.  It is likely that the U.S will refrain from doing this.  Its clear that in the next few decades the U.S dollar will continue to lose dominance as currencies such as the Indian Rupee and Chinese Yen gain ground.  It is important to note that historically the reserve currency has been the country that is the greatest sea power.  This was the case in the late middle ages when Venice then Portugal then the Netherlands then Spain then Great Britain then finally after World War 2 the U.S dollar become the global reserve currency.  However, the days of the largest sea power being the reserve currency is coming to an end.  In the coming decades as space technology becomes more adavance the biggest space power will be the reserve currency.  Time will tell which country achieves this feat.

Of Tech Bubble 2.0

                   In the 1990s companies such as Google and Microsoft were experiencing success that made investors euphoric.  Also, computers allowed financial companies to engage in high frequency trading of securities such as stocks and bonds.  This means that the financial began to fail to reflect genuine human activity.  By the late 1990s, the stock prices of most tech companies was overvalued and jobs were going overseas due to outsourcing.  Furthermore, automation was destroying many working class jobs.  It is important to note that during this era the Clinton administration repealed important regulations intended to ensure the stability of the financial system.  One of these regulations being the Glass-Steagal Act which seperated commercial banking from risky investment banks.  Investment banks tend to make risky trades.  While commercial banks if kept seperated from investment banks would not engage in risky trading.  In the late 1990s the stock market collapse as investors realized tech stocks were overvalued and sold of shares of tech stock en mass.  The economy fell into a brief reccession.  Also, on the eve of this recession manufacturing companies had trouble keeping up with the demand for cars as a growing number of consumers borrowed money to buy cars.  This caused automobile companies and their suppliers to suffer as a great deal of revenue was lost.  A few years later the events of 9/11 caused the economy to suffer once again.  The U.S entered into a war in Afganistan that would cost over a trillion dollars in the following decade with little results to show for it. 
            Currently, companies such as Amazon and Apple are having unprecendented success.  Apple is selling Iphones like hot cakes and Amazon is the gold standard for online retail.  Also, Amazon brought Wholefoods which means that the corporate giant will have a great deal of control of the food supply.  Financial firms are using articial intellingence (AI) to engage in high frequency trading and using algorithms to determine trading decisions.  Indeed, financial markets no longer reflects genuine human activity.  There have been a number of flash crashes in recent years in which a stock market will crash then go right back up.  Also, globalization has accelerated as countries such as China flood the market of western countries with cheap manufactured goods.  It is important to note that cost of production in developing countries such as China is far lower because of low labor costs and a loose environmental regulations.  Furthermore, even more jobs are being lost to automtation and self driving cars are being developed by Google that could eventually replace truck drivers.  Tech stocks are once again greatly overvalued and this is the second major tech bubble.  This has major economic and cultural implications.  For when the tech bubble collapses, a minor recession could result. This reccession would be world wide and those burdened with debt would be the most impacted.  Economist, business leaders, and government officials need to admit to the economic risks posed by Tech Bubble 2.0.  Also, individuals need to save a greater percentage of their disposable income.  As I've mentioned in previous blogs buying local and using credit unions can counter balance the power of the globalists.  It would also revive the local economy.       

Of Federalist and Anit-Federalist

                    In early American history when the constitution was being written there was a massive debate about whether the federal government should be weak as to allow for strong state governments or to have a strong federal government and relatively weak state government.  This debate led to many articles being published by both sides with the anti-federalist being against a powerful government and the federalist being for a powerful government.  These articles would eventually become known as the Federalist Papers and the Anti-Federalist Papers and they are were written during the first few years after the Constitution was ratified in 1787.  Many of America's founding fathers took part in this debate.  Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay led the charge on the federalist side writing many articles anonymously for various publications.  It is important to note that shortly after the constitution was implemented Alexander Hamilton helped found the country's first central bank in New York City.  Patrick Henry, James Monroe, and Samuel Adams among others were the main authors of the Anti-Federalist Papers.  Ultimately, the federalist got there way as the federal government is relatively powerful compared to the state government.  However, there was comprise between the two sides that resulted in the concept of "states rights" and the idea federal law always trumps state and local law.  This means that well states have the right to write their own constitutions and laws, they are still restricted by the Constitution and federal law.  

Of the Problems with Political Parties

                     Historically, American politics have been divided into two political parties with a third party consisting of a small minority.  Usually, the two parties are willing to compromise to accomplish legislation that is necessary for the federal government to operate smoothly.  However, over the last decade the two parties have become increasingly polarized.  Thus, making it more difficult for them to get anything productive done.  Traditionally, democrats have been for increasing domestic spending and decreasing defense spending.  While republicans have been for cutting domestic spending and increasing defense spending.  Indeed, both parties have proven their willingness to prolong limited wars while allowing America's infrastructure to decay.  Also, the middle ground is being lost on many issues as both sides move to extreme ends.  Political parties homogenize political thought.  When people vote some will look at the political party rather than evaluate the candidate.  The last time congress passed a brand new budget the I phone had not even been invented yet.  In other words, it was been over ten years since real fiscal reform has been implemented.  Meanwhile, the national debt is over $20 trillion and interest payments on public debt will reach a trillion dollars a year within the next decade.  Also, the federal government is gradually losing sovereignty to countries such as China, Argentina, and the U.K.  It is important to note that China is using the interest payments it receives from the U.S to fund major infrastructure projects including the One Belt, One Road project.
                Recently, a failure for democrats and republics to compromise on a spending bill that would have secured America's border and ensured that the government would be funded for another year caused the government to shut down.  This has been the longest government shutdown in American history, so far it has lasted about 34 days.  Trump recently indicated that he would accept a bill that would appropriate $5.7 for a wall at the southern border and temporarily extend DACA.  It has yet to be seen whether Democrats will accept this offer.  Although at first some Democrats rejected the offer, its possible other Democrats will change their mind and accept Trump's proposal.  This is not to say that building a wall is absolutely necessary to secure America's border.  Hundreds of thousands of federal employees are either at home without pay or working without pay.  Its likely that by now many of these people are struggling to pay bills.  Many of these unpaid employees have filed unemployment claims for unemployment benefits and have gotten help from local charities.  It is important to note that about 26% of the government is shutdown and the other 74% is up and running.  Government shutdowns have happened and they did not do any notable harm to the economy.
                There are several possible solutions to the impasse in Washington and probably more than what I will mention in this blog.  One is that when it becomes evident to congress that legislation needs to passed have the leaders of both legislative caucus meet and negotiate on legislation that would pass both the house and the senate.  Also, take steps to ensure that the president would sign the legislation into law once it passes both the house and senate.  Another solution is to diminish the role of political parties in policy formation and this is a more difficult task.  Political parties would still play a big role in elections.  Political parties have a platform that are intended to be guidelines for policy making in government.  In other words, since political parties function to try and get certain public policies in place it would be almost impossible to separate them from their role in policy making.  An easier option may be to elect more third party and independent candidates in office especially at the state and local levels.  Indeed, it would be difficult to replace a powerful democrat or republican representative with an independent or third party candidate.  This is not to say that there not good government officials that are republicans or democrats.  Indeed, there are many wonderful, hard working government officials that are republicans and democrats.  Too much focus is put on the federal level in politics.  People need to get to know their mayor and city council men and women.  Also, getting good local government officials elected is a wonderful starting point for reducing corruption.   

Of The Culture of The Breakaway Civilization

                    In yesterday's blog I discussed how the body politic of the Breakaway Civilization resembles the structure of a secret society.  This has profound implications for the culture of the Breakaway Civilization.  If the Breakaway Civilization is to operate in complete secrecy it would have to be killing or ensuring silence from members that leave the group or threaten its secrecy.  This means that these Breakaway groups have claimed the same sovereignty as a nation state because these groups have power over the life and death of its members.  While it is possible that some members of the Breakaway Civilization are incoherent, narcissistic socio-paths.  It is evident that some of the members could be part of an ancient esoteric tradition that has been passed down for many thousands of years.  In other words, its possible that some members of the Breakaway Civilization are alchemist or magicians that see the world and human beings as having both spiritual and materials qualities.  These alchemist and magicians ,if they exist, do not separate the spiritual from the material and its possible these members are part of secret societies outside of the Breakaway Civilization.  These secret societies outside of the Breakaway Civilization may include esoteric lodges that appeared in Europe and North America in the early 1900s.  Also, some of these secret societies may have been groups of alchemist and magicians that carrying on esoteric traditions going back to ancient times.  While it is uncertain whether or not such groups exist, there is evidence that secret societies may have been carrying on ancient esoteric doctrine.
              Western Esotericism is a movement that has its origins back to the Hellenistic Eastern Mediterranean, then it continued into the middle ages and the renaissance period as the works of ancient Greek and Roman philosophers were translated before its emergence from the enlightenment as a "modernist occult" movement, and finally in the early 20th century it became a multi-disciplinary subject in America that encompasses theology, alchemy, and the arts used primarily to study the impact of esotericism on Western culture and religion.  It is important to note the medieval Greeks and Byzantines of South Eastern Europe never lost ancient Greek and Roman tradition, so they would have indeed been able to carry on the esoteric traditions of the ancient Greeks and Romans.  Also, Western Esotericism includes the tribal religions that most of ancient Europe had before the spread of Christianity throughout the early Middle Ages.  Indeed, these esoteric traditions combined with those of ancient of ancient Greece and Rome had a profound impact on Christianity and Western culture.  This subject is often refered to as Western Esotericism and few scholars still study it to this day.  In my view, the "modernist occult movement" is evidence that these ancient esoteric traditions were indeed passed down and perhaps even practiced by secret societies.  While it is unknown whether or not these secret societies influenced or even infiltrated the Breakaway Civilization.  It is safe to hypothesize that at the very least ancient esoteric doctrine may have had an influence on the Breakaway Civilization at one point in time.

References

European Society For The Study of Western Esotericism

https://www.esswe.org/

Western Esotericism (Theology and Religious Studies)

http://www.uva.nl/en/shared-content/subsites/graduate-school-of-humanities/en/masters/western-esotericism-theology-and-religious-studies/western-esotericism.html?origin=5BOaRAofTjCccATraJp2XA

"An Analyses of The Breakaway Civilization" by Dr. Joseph p Farrell

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1svGIBKaE_0&t=3s

Of The Political Economy of The Breakaway Civilization

                     I've written at least two blogs concerning the Breakaway Civilization and it may be helpful for the reader to read those blogs before continuing.  As I mentioned in previous blogs, the Breakaway Civilization relies on stealing money from federal government in the form of the off the books spending on secret space programs and other scientific research.  Also, the Breakaway Civilization uses derivative trading, bailout money, and other means to obtain funds.  However, in order for the Breakaway Civilization to become self sufficient enough to break away from our civilization entirely it will need to generate returns on their secret research projects.  This means that their secret space program would have to become so successful that our civilization would become a multi planet civilization.  Also, the other scientific research the Breakaway Civilization does would become profitable.  It is unknown what this scientific research is or what the agenda is behind it.  It is important to note that the leaders of the Breakaway Civilization may be middle managers for off world executives.  If this is indeed the case it would have profound implications that would explain some of their hidden motives behind their secret projects.  It is difficult to describe the political structure of the Breakaway Civilization due to a lack of information.  One can hypothesize that it is being run like a secret society such as the Illuminati.  I've mentioned in a past blog that it is possible the Breakaway Civilization has been around for hundreds of thousands of years.  If we are dealing with a continuity of these ancient groups and secret societies than one can grasp the possible governance structures of the Breakaway Civilization.  Indeed, much of the body politic would focus on the agendas and testaments of the Cosmic War passed down for thousands of generations. 

References

"The Black Budget" by Catherine Austin Fits 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0mimIp8mr8&t=4s

Of The End of Monetized Debt as a Currency

                     In yesterday's blog I highlighted the problems with monetized debt as money.  Monetized debt as a currency is coming to an end.  The system of monetized debt as money is not going to crash, rather it will slow burn.  Indeed, it is far more profitable for the elites to have the economy in a prolonged cycle of debt than to simply allow a debt crises to occur.  As the economy becomes crippled with debt even the wealth and power of the elites could begin to suffer.  This may force the elites to slowly phase out the idea of monetized debt as a currency.  Debt free money would be difficult to obtain in this economy.  There are several different methods that this feat could be accomplished.  Historically, one of the most succesful ways to increase the supply of debt free money is to establish a mercantilist system in which a country tries to maximize its stores of commodities by exporting more goods and importing less goods.  In the case of America that commodity is the U.S dollar.  The U.S has been the reserve currency since the end of World War 2.  Oil and many other goods are traded between countries using the U.S dollar.  As I pointed out in a previous blog, the U.S dollar is a military backed currency.  In other words, the U.S government is able and willing to send the U.S military to any unprepared nation that challenges the U.S dollars dominance.  Indeed, there are many wealthy countries the U.S government would not dare to invade. 
                The second possibility for debt free money is for a central bank to print money.  This could increase inflation.  A central could issue the currency in two ways.  One is to buy government bonds with currency the central bank prints.  The other is to lend money to some of the largest banks in the country and this money would ultimately not be debt free.  It is important to note that if a central bank prints money to buy government bonds, the interest rate would decrease.  This would result in more lending and maybe speed economic growth.  A central bank may not be able to put an end to monetized debt as a currency. 
               The option for debt free money is simply for ordinary citizens to save money and borrow less.  This does not mean that everyone has to stop borrowing money altogether.  Rather, that saving and investing money productively would result in a return that may counter balance to effects of being burdened with debt.  I will explain more in depth how to do this in later blogs.  Also, I would encourage the readers to use local credit unions to met your banking needs and buy local when possible.  Also, go to a farmers market to meet food needs when it is available.   

Of The Problems With Monetized Debt as a Currency

                      Over the last several decades, middle class citizens in western countries have been borrowing an increasing amount of money via credit cards.  While it makes sense to use credit cards to build up your credit score and buy nessities then pay off the balance once you recieve your paycheck.  Some people end up stuck in a cycle of credit card debt and they find it challenging to get out of it.  Most credit cards are revolving accounts.  Which means that a credit card user can pay off some but not all of the balance then use the credit card more.  This feature can be a good thing when credit cards are used wisely.  It is important to note that given the high interest rate on credit cards, it is ill advised to spend much more than two hundred dollars at a time and no less than fifty dollars.  Of course the maximum amount you should spend on a credit card could vary depending on your income. 
               Car loans and morgages have been available for a almost a century.  This has led to an increase in demand for houses and automobiles.  Also, most middle class Americans are in debt.  As the cost of college rises so does the demand for student loans.  The cost of college has risen dramatically in recent years.  Currently, there is over a trillion dollars of student loan debt outstanding in the U.S.  This trend could lead to a boom in human capital or yet another financial crises.  Theoretically, these types of debt can be a good thing given that the borrowers have a steady, middle class job.  As we saw in the 2008 crash people were unable to pay their mortgage due to being laid off in the wake of the reccession.  Forclosures increased dramatically and the big banks and automobile industries had to be bailed out.  Indeed, another debt crises would be disasterous.  This is not to say that debt is always a bad thing.  However, one should be cautious when borrowing.  One way to avoid default on a loan is to have six months of income saved if possible in case of being laid off.  Also, when taking out a student loan one should avoid borrowing more than what is expected to be earned in income the first year after graduation.  In other words, a college student's student loan debt should not exceed his or her yearly income the first year after graduation. 
           Monetized debt also has implications for governments and companies.  As I've mentioned in previous blogs, countries such as the U.S, France, Spain, Italy, and Greece has all burdened themselves with public debt.  This could lead to those countries losing some sovereignty to debtors.  As we saw in the 2012 European Debt Crises, Greece did give up some sovereignty when Germany bailed out Greece on the conditions that Greece's government cut social programs and other government expenditures.  Government borrow money by issuing debt.  Greece has experimented with negative interest rate bonds.  I will explain this more in dept in a later blog.  For the last seven years Itay has had trouble getting its bonds on the market as investors grow weary of high youth unemployment and a lack of fiscal restraint.  It is important to note that the America's debt, treasury bonds, has been considered by far the safest debt in the world with the interest rates on 30 year treasury bonds floating at around three percent.  I do not agree with this assesment by Wall Street.  I think the U.S federal government will soon find it difficult to repary its debt as the total interest the federal government pays on its debt reaches one trillion dollars in the next decade.  Not to mentioned most tax paying citizens are burdened with an increasing amount of debt.  Thus, ordinary citizens will be unable to pay higher taxes to service increasing public debt. 
             In the U.S alone corporations have $6.3 trillion dollars worth of debt on its balance sheets.  As I may have mentioned before, corporations borrow money by issuing bonds available to the general public for purchase.  Also, corporations have the option of issuing shares of stock to fund expansion or research and developement.  However, these corporations have $2.1 trillion dollars in cash available to service this debt.  In the decade since the end of the 2008 recession, corporate profits have risen to record highs while incomes of middle and working class people remain relatively stagnate.  Although, recent job reports suggests that the trend of stagnate wages is reversing as wages have increased by as much as three percent in some months.  These wage increases do not include the wages of executives or other well off individuals.