tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13593902.post3557723119147198730..comments2024-02-11T09:55:50.468-08:00Comments on The Eastside View: Social capitalismCharles Sherehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10480432901356490235noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13593902.post-77667876868465721192013-10-28T22:47:09.994-07:002013-10-28T22:47:09.994-07:00he essence of social capitalism is that private ma...he essence of social capitalism is that private markets are the most effective allocation mechanism, and output is maximized through sound state macroeconomic management of the economy.<br /><a href="http://www.krochetkids.org" rel="nofollow">social capitalism</a>Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06138037916324640366noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13593902.post-57103243464987672382010-09-20T07:52:55.345-07:002010-09-20T07:52:55.345-07:00Population control is where it all starts. Whethe...Population control is where it all starts. Whether that will come as a consequence of deliberate moderation, or catastrophic natural curbs to increase, I can't predict. But it will come.<br /><br />China's current prosperity was the result of a carefully strategized seizure of the industrial initiative from America. And America simply stood by and watched it happen. There was no reason why Americans needed to buy Chinese goods instead of American ones. In the short run, they're "cheaper" but in the long run we all pay many times over for the illusion of cheap goods made abroad. Our manufacturing economy didn't spontaneously "collapse"--it was sold, given away. <br /><br />A Toyota may seem a cheap alternative to a Ford, but the hidden cost of the Toyota on America means that the Toyota actually costs (us) twice as much as the Ford, once the balance of payments, lost jobs, taxes and capital are factored in. If we had a tariff that actually took that cost into consideration, those Toyotas wouldn't look half so attractive. "Free trade"--nonsense!Curtis Favillehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06213075853354387634noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13593902.post-15689198147021752012010-09-18T12:45:31.181-07:002010-09-18T12:45:31.181-07:00Much of what you write seems persuasive to me, but...<i>Much of what you write seems persuasive to me, but what items do you ask more Americans to manufacture? I think one of the reasons for the collapse of the American economy was the very dependence on the sale of manufactured items. After a certain point, any reasonable person has just about everything he needs. Then advertising becomes a significant driver of the economy. When even it can no longer succeed, the idea of planned obsolescence takes over. <br /><br />The present economic crisis, certainly to the extent that it derives from unemployment caused by lost manufacturing jobs, has to do with the crisis of sustainability. We can no longer depend on constant growth -- in consumer demand, manufacturing, sales -- because of the constant decline of resources, including human resources. We have to find a way of making fewer </i>things<i>, working fewer hours, wanting less.</i>Charles Sherehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10480432901356490235noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13593902.post-20731011307285139522010-09-17T08:50:08.655-07:002010-09-17T08:50:08.655-07:00Charles:
My theory--which is not original--is tha...Charles:<br /><br />My theory--which is not original--is that social welfare and unionization were on the ascendancy for about 30 years after WWII. But the tide began to change--as early as the 1950's (and McCarthyism), gaining traction during the Reagan years, and flowering under Bush II. Fueled by corporate greed and general selfishness (and ignorance), capital was able to beat back the gains of the 1930's and 1940's and 1960's, and now we find ourselves on the verge of a second great depression, brought on by banking and investment malfeasance. <br /><br />Europe has been the crucible for enlightened social pograms since the 1950's. Workers in France and Germany and Great Britain get more vacation time, better working conditions, better schools, better health care, than we do in the U.S. Meanwhile, we've been slogging on alone (long after the collapse of the Soviet Union) with a quasi-war economy ever since the War. That's expensive. Now we've even thrown half a trillion dollars at corporate and financial institutions as "bail-out." <br /><br />How about bailing out the American middle class? We've given up well over 60% of all our manufacturing jobs in the last 40 years. Those were the backbone of our prosperity, our tax base, our industrial might. It's gone. And you hear people saying everyone needs a master's degree to meet the needs of the new sophisticated technical infrastructure that's coming. Nonsense! We need the manufacturing jobs that middle and lower middle class people can do. Those jobs--which have been shifted to the "Third World"--are the key drivers of any successful capitalist economy. Why do hamburger-flippers need master's degrees?Curtis Favillehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06213075853354387634noreply@blogger.com