1: Editorial: It is all-too common for establishment figures or their apologists to accuse ‘awkward customers’ of being ‘conspiracy theorists’, as an easy way of dismissing their arguments without examination or debate. Those subjected to this should take a look at http://www.onlinejournal.com/Commentary/011004Hasty/011004hasty.html
Corporate Watch has produced a new briefing paper on Corporate law and structures – exposing the roots of the problem. It examines how corporations are fundamentally unable to be socially responsible, and can be viewed/downloaded at www.corporatewatch.org.uk/publications/corporatestructures.htm
"Free Lunch" -- A New Book on Citizen Dividends
Charles Bazlinton has written an introduction to citizen dividends, called "The Free Lunch: Fairness With Freedom in the 21st Century." Just published; £9.99 ISBN 0-9544105-0-5
I have not seen this book, but the reviews make it sound interesting and challenging. If any reader has it and would care to review it, I would be pleased to publish the review. It is claimed:
”Be very careful – this book will amaze you – as you explore ideas supported by such people as:
Winston Churchill .... Adam Smith .... Thomas Jefferson ....John Stuart Mill .... Albert Einstein ........ and many others!”
— and that:
“This book is for YOU:
homeowner or tenant<Story::CGlyphBreak>
entrepreneur or employee<Story::CGlyphBreak>
student, parent or grandparent<Story::CGlyphBreak>
property developer or town planner <Story::CGlyphBreak>
banker or bankrupt <Story::CGlyphBreak>
religious or agnostic<Story::CGlyphBreak>
accountant or tax man <Story::CGlyphBreak>
green campaigner or road builder, politician or
voter<Story::CGlyphBreak>
game player... or everyone interested in fairer play
for all !
An original and lively thesis on the possibilities and potential for economic justice in the twenty first century – yet reading like a ‘who dunnit’!”<Story::CGlyphBreak>For full information, visit the web site at http://www.the-free-lunch.com
The editorial in Freedom on 24 January is very perceptive of the economic realities of present-day Capitalism and the escalating levels of debt, missing only the cause-and-effect relationship of the way modern money is created as interest-bearing debts, and those growing debts:
“The British economy is a debt economy. Household debt is rising by a staggering £1.7 billion a month. Every family on this island has unsecured debts averaging £4,426 (the 1998 average was £2,231).
Mortgages aside, over half this borrowing has been done on credit cards. But even on these figures, personal debt is nothing compared to the amount chancellor Gordon Brown plans to borrow. Lower than expected tax receipts, plus the small matter of the £2.5 billion cost of an on-going war, means the government is going to have to borrow £10 billion more this year than ministers had planned.
Government and consumers alike are borrowing more and more. A fifth of people who borrow do so to get out of existing financial difficulties. For others, though, low interest rates, low unemployment and house price inflation have encouraged a spending spree which can only be storing up serious problems for the future. Even a slight increase in interest rates could make debt repayments unsustainable for a lot of us.
Inevitably, clouds are gathering. The rapid rise in house prices is slackening and retail sales over Christmas fell compared to last year. In his November pre-Budget report Brown reduced his estimates for economic growth in 2004.
If harder times are on the way, the government will have to raise taxes or cut back expenditure on things like the NHS. No wonder Blair and Brown are worried.
The chancellor has written to the Pay Review Bodies, telling them to peg pay rises for public service workers to just 2%. In fact, an assault on worker's wages has already begun. Many government departments have offered below-inflation increases, leading the PCS trade union to ballot its 114,000 civil service members.
Britain's future economic prospects are likely to be determined by exchange markets, currency dealers and money traders. The problem is that exchange rate volatility could force the Bank of England to raise interest rates. That would make all the debt much more expensive.
The government would cut back spending, so reducing demand, as well as sitting on public servants' pay, thereby reducing the amount they have to spend.
Consumers struggling to make interest rate payments also cut back on their own expenditure. Recession is the predictable result. Capitalism is characterised by periods of boom and bust. It's a crazy way to organise things. If capitalism didn't exist, nobody would invent it. The economy has been relatively quiet in recent years. Expect a change some time soon.”