ECONOMICS IS EASY, FINANCE IS COMPLICATED

Economics is always and only about life support. It starts with the pre-existing cosmic or natural materials, energy and processes of the universe and solar system and includes all human life support activities. The ingredients of the human developed part of the economic system are materials, time, labor, energy and know-how. These are relatively easy to come to grips with. It does not take any great smarts or lengthy education to understand the basics. It’s because the economic system has a simplicity about it. There is common sense to it. Placing seeds in the ground, in springtime and keeping them watered is one example. Mixing certain metal ores together and heating them to a specific melting temperature to make steel for car bodies is another.

On the other hand, all financial systems become ridiculously complex. The rules keep changing. They require lots of study and effort. They lead to things like: making money with money; credit scoring; insurance and reinsurance companies; hedge funds; derivatives; stock values and profits going up when people lose their jobs through increased efficiency, but those people lose rather than share in the benefits; and the contamination of the air, land and seas. Financial systems become arbitrary, increasingly dysfunctional and irrational. They produce situations wherein we can build lots of cars and homes for people who need transportation and shelter, then within a few years they get repo’d, or foreclosed and evicted. People who raise and teach children are not well compensated. It is common for people to do anything they can to “make money” and “pay the bills” and never find what they really love to do and are really good at. These are clear failures of the financial system. All the “economist’s” supercomputer analyses have not and will not solve these problems. It’s telling that we don’t know for sure if we’re in a recession until after the fact.

How is the economy doing? This is the ever-present question. The economy is a rich source of material for all of us, for politicians, analysts, scholars, writers, TV shows, and talks at the water cooler and the kitchen table. It’s a question that could only be asked after we’ve confused a financial system with economics. It’s a question that could only be asked in a condition where people serve the system instead of the system serving the people.

How are the people doing? Does Everyone have food, shelter and health care, and to the highest standard? Is education available freely, and to Anyone? Is world around communication technology available to All? Are there fewer restrictions on moving around the planet today than there were last year? Is Everyone getting all the recreation they desire? How are All living beings doing? How is the environment doing? These are the questions that economics actually and appropriately addresses. The answers are usually straightforward and obvious. They are easy to comprehend.

William Daniels...... Copyright. Please distribute this freely for non-commercial purposes.

503-314-6902 ......I am available to speak, write on specific topics, etc.

wdinpdx@yahoo.com......See: BillionsofBillionaires.blogspot.com; BFI.org; “Critical Path” by
R. Buckminster Fuller

ECONOMICS IS BASED ON FACTS / MONETARY SYSTEMS ARE BASED ON CONFIDENCE

9/16/2008 10:18 A.M. PDT

The economy of the universe is based on discoverable facts and principles. Sunlight is beamed aboard planet earth continuously. It is a direct energy source, supports the growth of plants, powers the wind and rain, lights our way, etc. It is measurable. It is relatively consistent. Don’t know about you, but I’ve never heard a report that the sun coming into view in the morning was dependent on how confident humans were that day.

True, fundamental, cosmic, natural economics is about life support, purely, simply. Humans have chanced upon, and intentionally sought out ways to accelerate nature’s processes. For example, we found out that clearing a field and planting only one type of plant will produce a much higher yield than just finding a random patch of the desired plant; using fertilizer again upped the yield; we developed tools to still further up the yield; etc. All of this is measurable and relatively predictable. Although weather patterns change continuously, it is a fact that as a planet we have been producing enough food to feed everyone, and have been doing it for decades, at least.

Buckminster Fuller identified 7 facets of life support: food; shelter; health care; education; communication; transportation and recreation. Goods and services are produced in these 7 areas by combining materials, time, labor, energy and know-how in measurable amounts. The recipe for building and flying airplanes has no entry titled: confidence. “We have no confidence that the laws of physics are working today, therefore all flights are cancelled” is a laughable idea.

The one true economic system has no requirement for money, exchange rates, credit scores, stocks, deeds, etc., etc. This is all fascinating, stimulating stuff that grabs and holds our attention. They are also un-natural, wasteful impediments to life support.

It is only after we have misunderstood the essential character of economics and have built up complex monetary systems and theories, that are ever changing, that we could be in a position where our life support delivery system could be in so much turmoil in such a short period of time. It’s time to withdraw confidence in all monetary systems, and place confidence where it belongs: in the basic, super-abundant economy of nature, which includes and is augmented by human know-how.

William Daniels

THE TRAGEDY OF MONETARY SYSTEMS

AND THE GOOD NEWS WE’RE MISSING

9/15/2008 9:23 A.M. PDT

The big news today is the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers and the buyout of Merrill Lynch.Thousands of people will lose their jobs. Markets around the world are in turmoil. The emotional toll is already great. The fear is that things could get worse. And yet the actual cause of the problem is unrecognized and the benefits are difficult to see. This is the greater tragedy.

Human inventors have been working for centuries to develop more and better labor saving products and services. They, we, have been very successful. Isn’t it ironic that we are not laboring less?

The foundational principle of monetary systems (We live in a condition of scarcity) blinds us to the benefits that become available due to our know-how. Know-how allows us to do-more-with-less. In practical terms, everyday reality, this means that it is good news whenever we can lay people off. We don’t need as much labor to produce the same or greater results. We won! We accomplished the result!

Uh-oh, we’ve got to “earn a living”. The good news, that we don’t need all those folks who are losing their jobs, actually looks like bad news. It certainly is bad news for them. They are going to be denied full access to the life support they enjoyed when they were “gainfully employed”. Heaven forbid, that these folks have the same, full access to life support. (Actually we’re doing a great job here, on our own, we don’t require ANY heavenly help.) The potential for these folks to develop even more efficient production and delivery systems to free up (lay off) even more people will be lost. We are still blinded and enslaved by monetary systems with their inaccurate premises.The image of the dog chasing it’s own tail is apt here.

However, all is not lost, Intelligence (love) will win out. Enough people all over the planet are intuitively (lovingly) recognizing, that all of us deserve to prosper. They are freely giving of their resources, time and know-how, so that all of us may benefit. I am optimistic that the incredibly good news that we are mostly unaware of, will get out, we will recognize it, we will simply drop these cumbersome, self defeating monetary systems.

William Daniels