What Happens When Work Doesn’t Pay

Posted on August 5, 2022 by MN Gordon

Now there comes a time
In every man’s life,
Where decisions have to be made
Whether to toil, to labor,
Or just plain piss
Your days away, away, away!

– Caught in a Jar, Dropkick Murphys

Flat Out Wrong

Jobs data reported this week by the Bureau of Labor Statistics show that, as of the last business day of June, there are 10.7 million job openings.  Hence, according to the numbers, there are many more available jobs than willing workers.

At the same time, the U.S. unemployment rate’s just 3.6 percent – near a five-decade low.  So, by the numbers, the economy is at full employment and still overflowing with jobs to be filled.

The U.S. economy couldn’t possibly be in a recession, given this robust and healthy jobs market, could it?

Not in the eyes of Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who recently stated the economy isn’t in a recession because, “job creation is continuing, household finances remain strong, consumers are spending and businesses are growing.” Continue reading →

Posted in Economy, MN Gordon | Tagged , , , , | 17 Comments

Paying the Price for Krugman’s Terrible Mistake

Posted on July 29, 2022 by MN Gordon

Clear economic thinking and lucid communication via the written word tumbled out of fashion nearly 100 years ago.  The fall from grace was triggered by the 1936 publication of John Maynard Keynes’ The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money.

Not only is the book rigorously indecipherable.  It also has the ill-effect of making those who read it dumber.  Unfortunately, Keynes’ drivel became the standard for foolish economic thinking, which still infects economic discourse to this day.

Many politicians and establishment economists remain enamored with Keynes’ gibberish.  They love what it offers.  In short, it provides academic rationale for governments to do what they love to do most – borrow money and spend it on ridiculous programs.

For example, Keynes advocated filling bottles with money and burying them in coalmines for people to dig up as a way to end unemployment.  According to Keynes, this would provide jobs and money for the unemployed.  Somehow, these public works egg hunts would create an economic boom and make everyone rich. Continue reading →

Posted in Inflation, MN Gordon | Tagged , , , , | 22 Comments

How Central Planners Sow Seeds of Economic Ruin

Posted on July 22, 2022 by MN Gordon

Today, in the form of a Sunday preacher, we begin with several lines from the Good Book.  The King James Version is used for added rhetoric.

“And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow; And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up: Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth: And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them: But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.” (Matthew 13:3-9)

For our purposes, the meaning derived from the parable is adjusted from what Jesus intended.  With honest intentions we acknowledge this upfront.  And we proceed with careful thought and humility.

Land, no doubt, offers a powerful metaphor.  We intend to use it to better understand the destructive money madness that has occurred over the last 50-years. Continue reading →

Posted in Economy, MN Gordon | Tagged , , , , | 24 Comments

Modern Monetary Theory Bites the Dust

Posted on July 15, 2022 by MN Gordon

Fashion changes from one year to the next so fast it’s best to ignore it.  Not only will you save money by not chasing the latest shiny object.  You’ll also retain more of the most valuable commodity of all.  Your time.

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs), for example, were the popular new movement just a year or two ago.  Digital art, made by hipsters with names like Beeple, was going to make the world a richer, more stylish place.  Now only dorks and dweebs collect NFTs…and they do so in secret.

Similarly, just a couple of years ago Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) was all the rage.  But that was before rampant money printing triggered an official consumer price inflation rate, as measured by the consumer price index (CPI), of 9.1 percent.

Hindsight is always 20/20.  Yet, sometimes, foresight is 20/20 too.  In the case of MMT, practically everyone could see there would be hell to pay…even through broken spectacles.

The future consequences were crystal clear.  Printing up money and passing it out around town, thus entitling people to claims on goods and services without commensurate production, is fundamentally foolish, reckless, and outright suicidal.  Only academics and central bankers were blind to the arrival of today’s inflation. Continue reading →

Posted in Inflation, MN Gordon | Tagged , , , , | 22 Comments