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However, what he DOESNT address is any mention of the underlying causes of this inevitable cycle!
Krugman predicted a recession if Trump was elected. All this just leads me to believe that economists don’t understand their own subject!
Basically, his argument is that capitalist systems go through boom and bust cycles, and they happen inevitably, and usually on a schedule.
This much is true.
However, what he DOESNT address is any mention of the underlying causes of this inevitable cycle! You’d think that an old ass economist would have a LITTLE bit of insight on this.
I watched a TEDx lecture a few months ago about a warning for capitalists and oligarchs. It went like this: capitalism is a great system for creating wealth, but it is inherently unstable and prone to driving itself into ruin on a regular basis. What the great machine of capitalism needs is regular maintenance, to make sure the parts don’t get out of balance and tear the whole engine apart in a mad spin.
One of the primary ways it gets unbalanced is unfair worker compensation. When the oligarchs get their way, wages go down, worker’s rights are eliminated, and CEO compensation goes through the roof. Production rises to epic levels and profits are high... BUT!!!! Consumption drops steadily, as the general workforce has less money to spend. And general unrest grows and grows until it becomes unsustainable. Crime rises, as the disaffected and the disenfranchised rebel against the system which is making their lives irrelevant. And the economy becomes anemic, and then turns South. Then we have a recession.
Or if it is bad enough, a Depression, or even a populist revolt!
This is when people turn to socialist ideas and communism rises to ideological supremacy.
This explains how an old socialist with communist tendencies rises to national prominence on the DNC stage, vying hard for the Presidency.
The solution is to provide protections for the working class against the excesses of capitalist thinking. Make sure people have jobs that pay enough to live on, an opportunity to advance. This keeps people on the treadmill and happy as they can be. And the economy does well with more economic participation!
This is what Trump has been trying to do. At Davos yesterday, he touted a massive 47% rise in the net worth of the bottom half of America as a sign that things are getting better here. Wage gains have been concentrated at the low end, lifting people out of poverty and into the consumer class. This has made our economy stronger and more resilient!
All this MAGA is correcting the imbalance in the great engine of capitalism. Those at the top don’t like it, because it decreases their personal power and control, and they control the press so they make their wishes known. The Democrats have thrown their lot in with the slavers as usual, and are actively trying to stop our President from fixing the system. Their last ditch effort to stop him is impeachment.
I think we all should consider impeachment as a sign that Trump is doing something right! We sent him to the Oval Office to break the corrupt and constrictive system and make things right. There is bound to be push back from the people who benefitted from the corruption.
And isn’t it fitting that their last desperate effort revolves around a corrupt politician who Trump exposed for what he is, just as the Democrats were grooming him to be our next President?
https://thehill.com/hilltv/rising/479073-economist-predicts-recession-by-2020