It ought to be clear to just about everyone who had hoped for “change we can believe in,” that very little of significance will likely emerge from the Obama Presidency in its final years. Whatever the outcomes of the mid-term elections, the political commitments of the president, as well as the Democrats in Congress, are … More After Obama: Apocalypse or What?
In recent memory at least, Americans have been uncomfortable with the idea of class. That somehow has caused a retreat to the middle. In the context of the myth of universal opportunity for mobility through achievement, it’s almost like Garrison Keeler’s Lake Woebegone, where “all the children are above average.” The “lower class” is not … More What Middle Class?
Most of us tend to see the world in fairly stable terms. Our own daily routines, as well as those of the world around us have a consistency that is predictable and thus comfortable. Yet over extended periods of time, human history has been punctuated by many major upheavals, revolutions, and transformations of the way … More The Next Great Transformation
The media response to the revelations of NSA whistle blower Edward Snowden has been, well, interesting. At first, he was either vilified as a ‘traitor’ or as a fake or incompetent fool. Then, as more embarrassing information on the unconstitutional surveillance of Americans was made public, and James Clapper, Director of National Intelligence, was revealed … More Sometimes a Cigar is Just a Cigar, and Sometimes a Spy is Just a Citizen
The inevitability of climate chaos leading to species extinction of humans, along with many other species, now seems assured without massive mobilization and collective action on a scale never before achieved by humans. Necessary but seemingly impossible – that is not a comforting thought. Yet, here we are, contemplating whether or not the president will … More Necessary but Unlikely Total Mobilization to Curtail Climate Chaos
We humans are both rational and emotional beings. The mix between the two can produce some strange and amusing results. Conventional economics assumes that all human behavior is rational in the sense that everyone chooses only actions that serve their best economic interests and the result is the best overall outcome for everyone. Yet all … More Errors, Mistakes, and Stupidity: Why Magical Thinking Can Be Deadly
The pervasive acceptance of conventional economic theory as a “natural science” that gives us guidance for dealing with our economic lives is one of the biggest obstacles to understanding and making rational choices about the converging crises of our time. Simply put, the fundamental flaw in conventional economics is that the economic system it promotes … More The Great Jobs Myth and the Transformation of the Growth Economy, Part II
A lot of congressional politicians and media pundits of both Republican and Democratic persuasion are jabbering these days about “job creation.” The 2014 mid-term elections are fast approaching and nobody wants to be caught looking indifferent to the lack of jobs for an increasingly large numbers of Americans. Their approaches are different, of course. The … More The Great Jobs Myth and the Transformation of the Growth Economy, Part I
Martin Luther King referred several times to the need for “a revolution of values,” in his speech, “Beyond Viet Nam,” April 4th, 1967, at Riverside Church in New York, a year before he was assassinated,. I listened again as it was replayed on Martin Luther King Day, 2014, forty-seven years later. That speech had been … More “A Revolution of Values” is What It Will Take to Humanize the Coming Great Transformation
The economics profession provides the ideology, the corporations fund the politicians and their lobbyists write the legislation, the congress formalizes the legal cover and the stacked courts confirm it, the Federal Reserve provides the “fractional reserve” lending authority, and the Wall Street “Masters of the Universe” direct capital to drive the endless-growth economy that is … More What It Will Take: Living in a World We Made But Never Expected to See, Part III
Robert MacNeil Christie, Author 