Richard Wolff - Has the Fed Created a "False Economy?"

[thomhartmann]

[Bernardo de La Paz]

1. No. Low rates are stimulatory. The GOP is starving the government -- austerity, which is a false eco

[Warpy]

2. I disagree with Dr Wolff about the death of capitalism

What it needs is not a complete retooling as much as a return to what has worked in the past: high minimum wages and nearly confiscatory taxes at the very top. I'd add a new wrinkle to the taxes: the only way to avoid them would be to invest in domestic industry. Rebuilding our industry is a national security issue. All the nukes in the world won't save us if we don't have shoes or spare parts for our cars or a thousand other things we rely on but don't make.

I can't believe no one at the top has figured out that unless there is demand, an economy won't function. They tried substituting debt for wages and got the crash of 2008. You'd think they'd realize that maybe they need to raise the wages.

Fully discrediting the neoliberal hacks at universities would also help a bit. However, it's mostly wages.

[Festivito]

3. Where is the disagreement when the rest does agree?

Raise wages, i.e. take money from the rich/capitalists and give to workers via minimum wage.
Raise tax rates, i.e. take money from the rich/capitalists and give to government via high end taxes.
Regulate domestic/international investing, i.e. take control from rich/capitalists and give control to government by demanding domestic investment.

These are not a total socialism, but a mitigated socialism, which could be a democratic socialism. And that agrees with Dr. Wolff, not disagrees.

[Warpy]

4. More people would still call it heavily regulated capitalism

as it was in the New Deal era.

The biggest mistake the New Dealers made was not indexing taxes and minimum wages to inflation, something they didn't realize was built into the system.

[Festivito]

5. More call any step toward the general welfare socialism by socialists.

Have slavery, feudalism died? They are still present in our current system. Perhaps, nothing has died and so capitalism will never die.

But, if those have died, so can capitalism be relegated to the death heap along with them. Only to be present is small doses. Small doses where it may be valuable.

Purer and purer capitalism will fail -- in my view -- so will pure socialism. And, a democratic socialist is just called a socialist to MOST people in this country. They do not call it regulated capitalism.

[suzanner]

7. I completely agree.

Today's news says wages went up the past year unlike anything since 1969. I can only think they're trying to fool someone because I recall that late 60's and up to late 70's, better than living wage jobs were not hard to find even without a college education (as public school education was pretty good then). And much, much better than today. So I agree, wages go up from the bottom and down from the top. A lot of things would be solved if more people had enough income to actually have a life and enough education to know what a good life is.

[geek tragedy]

6. that's Donald Trump's theory on low interest rates, why is it being posted at DU?

Oh wait, Putin-TV employee posting a Putin-TV video.

Makes sense.