A Critique of Keynesian Economics...

Can I just say right now that I adore John Nash?

I'm embarrassed to say that before I watched "A Beautiful Mind" I had no idea who Nash was. And, until our current recessionary woes, I also had never heard of Keynesian Economics. Well, I have now...

The following is an excerpt from a piece (presentation, class materials, etc.) Nash has on file via his faculty website at Princeton:

"Keynesians"

The thinking of J. M. Keynes was actually multidimensional and consequently there are quite different varieties of persons at the present time who follow, in one way or another, some of the thinking of Keynes. And of course SOME of his thinking was scientifically accurate and thus not disputable. For example, an early book written by Keynes was the mathematical text "A Treatise on Probability".

The label "Keynesian" is convenient, but to be safe we should have a defined meaning for this as a party that can be criticized and contrasted with other parties.

So let us define "Keynesian" to be descriptive of a "school of thought" that originated at the time of the devaluations of the pound and the dollar in the early 30's of the 20th century. Then, more specifically, a "Keynesian" would favor the existence of a "manipulative" state establishment of central bank and treasury which would contin-uously seek to achieve "economic welfare" object-ives with comparatively little regard for the long term reputation of the national currency and the associated effects of that on the reputation
of financial enterprises domestic to the state.

And indeed a very famous saying of Keynes was "...in the long run we will all be dead ...".

A Critique of the Science of the Keynesians

It is difficult to make a criticism here because so much of the scientific research work, particularly of American economists, in the years since, say, "the thirties", has been in the area of the study of the topic called "macroeconomics" and most or almost all of this work has a "Keynes-ian" orientation.

I think there is a good analogy to mathematical theories like, for example, "class field theory". In mathematics a set of axioms can be taken as a foundation and then an area for theoretical study is brought into being. For example, if one set of axioms is specified and accepted we have the theory of rings while if another set of axioms is the foundation we have the theory of Moufang loops.

So, from a critical point of view, the theory of macroeconomics of the Keynesians is like the theory of plane geometry without the axiom of Euclid that was classically called the "parallel postulate". (It is an interesting fact in the history of science that there was a time, before the nineteenth century, when mathematicians were speculating that this axiom or postulate was not necessary, that it should be derivable from the others.)

So I feel that the macroeconomics of the Keynesians is comparable to a scientific study of a mathematical area which is carried out with an insufficient set of axioms. And the result is analogous to the situation in plane geometry, the plane does not need to be really flat and the area within a circle can expand hyperbolically as a function of the radius rather than merely with the square of the radius. (This picture suggests the pattern of inflation that can result in a country, over extended time periods, when there is contin-ually a certain amount of gradual inflation.)

Full Version (Click Here)

John F. Nash currently teaches at Princeton University

So you want someone to blame?

The current economic crisis has created a lot of armchair quarterbacks all pointing accusing fingers at precieved culprits. The banks, the Republicans, Democrats, Credit Card companies, your mother in law. Well, here are some folks that I think have an accurate bead on the situation:

Fred on the Economy
(Click here for a link to the site with discussion board stream.

Be sure to spend a bit of time reading through the discussion Fred's video clip fueled. It's an excellent economics primer and philosophical debate.

Here are two of my favorites posts:

just me - bob said:
It's good that this video inspired all of you to voice your opinion and think about the issue. I'm afraid some of you are too hard headed to learn anything from the discussion....The problem is that we don't have enough people creating wealth and you don't do that by flipping houses and selling worthless investments.

Our economy is strong when people focus on making things that other people need and providing services that other people need. It is weakened when schemers suck all the wealth out and spend it on imported consumable goods. The value flows out and is not replaced.

Because of the credit involved, the damage can be done over a period of years before anyone notices. Just circulating more money can stave off the effects for a while longer but at the end of the day we all need to roll up our sleeves and do a good day's work, and repeat that over and over.

And another by Boatman:

boatman said:
I will pretty much bet that those of you who think Fred is full of it has not a dime saved in the bank.

I own a company, one of the last domestic toy manufacturers that manufacturers high dollar products that caters to a male audience in the 30 to 50 year old range. I have been in business for over 25 years and have been through three of these so called "blips", except this one is not a normal blip in the economy. I have watched my business go from no charge cards to some charge cards to 100% charge cards, and now to using two and three charge cards to buy our products, and even, "try this one and if it doesn't go through put so much on this one and so on" There are many people who enjoy our products that under normal circumstances should of either saved for them or simply looked to an alternative lesser hobby, or better yet spent the money on more important things like their family needs.

As a business owner I have been watching this pattern develop slowly since the mid 80's knowing that one day this would lead to the situation we are in today. I also saved money during these times, and that was very hard for a guy like me who loves sports cars and could of pretty much purchased what ever I liked. Instead I would purchase what I thought I could afford, maybe a lesser model, not always what I wanted. Now for today, I did manage to put a good amount of savings away, lost a little bit in the market, but saw that coming last year and moved to what used to be called, constant depreciation accounts. I'll bet my brokers aren't calling them that these days.

The part I didn't count on was my two sons coming back and wanting to work in now our family business. You see I couldn't save enough to carry them through these tough times so I am doing everything in my power to make this business continue for their sake. I have also explained to them how no matter how bad you want something you can't live day by day fullfilling all your whims living on spending credit, because there will come a day that you have to pay the piper. I feel that day is here and now. It's time to stop passing the blame, our government is not at fault for our lack of control, no one from Washington has a firm grip on your hand forcing you to swipe your credit cards, or sign your name on the bottom line. I am 48 years old, and never had a major credit card out side of an AMEX corporate card, (you have to pay those kind in full monthly). They make it too easy and lessen your thought and reasoning process. Quick decisions usually come back and bite you in the ass. So I think we should all listen to Freds warning and take it serious, maybe cool it for a bit and get back on track to what is really important in life. If we all would realize our personal limitations and live within them "our means" we can and will get out of this mess. It's quality of life that matters not quantity.

So, there you go...Economics for the Layman. And this is why social media and the internet provide an opportunity to learn and communicate - and yes - even debate ad nauseum - about things that really matter. The real test comes when we see who uses new information to change the way they do things (hopefully, for the better.)

Spending? Stimulus? I prefer Suzy Orman's "Save Yourself" philosophy, thank you very much.

The Edge of the Envelope...

Ted.com

Where do you go for exposure to cutting edge thought?

...Ted.com...

When you think that your world has been hopelessly and completely overrun with the Walking Dead, Ted.com is here to show us that we still have Quasars among us.

The best Ted.com has offered up over the past two years can be found here ~ The Top Ten most popular presentations. Go get 'em buckaroos...

I suggest you start with "Jill Bolte Taylor's Powerful Stroke of Insight."

Oh, yea...I'm here!

Winter is setting in. It's time to get kindling for the fire split and stock piled so I don't have to go hunting for it at dusk in my slippers. And it's definitely time to pour meaningful thought into my blogs. I've been negligent not because of a lack of potential content, but because I needed to implement some efficiency maneuvers and strategies in my life. Fact is, I've been getting TOO MUCH DONE.

I'm not just making this up. I've been pretty good over the past few years at gathering up tools, ideas, strategies, excellent little gems of advice from mentors, etc. to enable me to GET MORE DONE! Unfortunately, in my naivete - though I was getting SO MUCH MORE DONE - I filled up those glorious new time slots by frenetically committing myself to do even more things. And thus...an explanation for my absence here. Also an explanation for my dismal (and needless) exhaustion. Damn efficiency! (Right?) No. Damn hyper, obsessive productivity. My bad.

If you drape thirty-nine iron chains around your arms and shoulders and then do a dance, the whole point of the dance will be to seem light and effortless. (Robert Francis)

I'm coming back at this efficiency and productivity issue from an entirely different perspective...working smarter, not harder, while keeping an emphasis on balance. Or, to put it in designer terms (as in "Life Designer")...I've committed myself to protecting my personal White Space.

I just returned from visiting with my daughters and while resting on a bench in the womb of a steamy Japanese Communal Women's bath it occurred to me how whole I felt when I nurtured my body. At that moment, with my thighs becoming one with the slats of the bench, epiphanies erupted like blue fireworks. Not about nurturing my body, but bringing effortless answers to some of the heaviest burdens I'd been carrying around on my shoulders.

There, dripping wet, no capture tools, just me dripping wet on a wooden bench...and epiphanies were illuminating the way forward. Finally, what I consider the most profound epiphany emerged ~ When I take time to physically take care of my body, my mind has the freedom to soar. Simple.

And I realized a simple response was called for...

"Thank you"...

Spring on the Rogue...

Emily and I created a video documentary. This is our first collaborative project and we think we did an exceedingly fine job of it...The title of this mini documentary is Spring on the Rogue (View video here).

Short Writing...

Shorts versus Features...
I've tried my hand at short writing and have found that I prefer features. I want to have the ability to thoroughly explain a subject and then add my own images. Yes, I am a photojournalist and an experienced reporter.

I supposed I was "spoiled" at the beginning of my professional career because I had the opportunity to work as a general assignment reporter for small rural papers where "general" meant I did just about everything, but definitely both writing and shooting my own pieces. When I did a stint at the Medford Mail Tribune I was confined to writing exclusively and I often ground my teeth to see the images the photog assigned to my pieces came up with. Why? Because I thought I could do better. I saw things differently as the writer of the piece. And I had an image portfolio to prove I could shoot. I don't know why they wouldn't let me shoot my own images other than maybe it was some kind of union issue.

So, about writing "shorts" versus features - I choose features and book length projects. I think I'll leave the "short writing" to those organizational writing "whiz kids" who have the patience for it. I don't. I supposed I better get my ass in gear and do that then, eh?

Archiving...
I'm in the process of creating an archive for my writing over the past 24 years. I have an image gallery set up (link to the right). Need to spend some time populating that an my writing archive.

What do we do? We swim, swim, swim...

Dory on Persistence...(Listen)

Okay, today Dory is my hero...

Dory's on edge today!

What? The ocean isn't big enough for ya? Huh? Huh? Huh?(Listen)

John Kao is my new hero (I have many.) Kao is an innovation maverick and writes and speaks eloquently about innovati0n on a global scale in Innovation Nation. Here is an excellent Q&A with Kao. I also have to say he is so darn cute as he's waiting to speak at an engagement in Finland. By cute, I mean...polite and gracious. I suppose that's just so very refreshing these days.

Beyond the “Pen”…

Most of us define who we are by what we do. That makes sense to me since that’s the interface we have with others and the world. However, I also realize the two aren’t inextricably linked. “What we do” is only a descriptor, an onramp, an invitation to others to “come into our parlor” and get acquainted with us.

So, welcome to my parlor…

I just love that term. It reminds of the old bordellos of the past with rich velvet drapery, lanterns, a fireplace … and lots of lace. Look closer and there are tears in the lace, stains on the old furniture, burns in the carpet and everyone ends of disappearing down the hallway somewhere to “do their business.” Hmmm, business intrigues me. So does that hallway. There are so many doors.

I’m not suggesting that I’ve made a career out of visiting old whore houses. It’s an apt metaphor for what has plagued me my whole life…I just can’t stop wondering what’s down that hallway, around that corner, across that ocean, …what’s happening in that boardroom, behind that desk, behind that brain.

What I do…

I have almost completed my task of raising four wonderful, beautiful, incredibly challenging, and sometimes maddeningly difficult children. That was my first and most important job.
Okay, my first job was actually dusting hardware in the lumberyard my father managed while I was growing up in Idaho. But, obviously - beyond introducing me to work ethic - that wasn’t as important as raising children.

My journalism career started in 5th grade at Heyburn Elementary when I launched the school’s first student run newspaper. It was one page, typed on a typewriter (remember those?) and duplicated using an antiquated carbon copy process in the principal’s office. Its main focus was a feature on the school’s librarian – my heroine. The school newspaper archive includes exactly one issue and it lived just long enough for the copies to be distributed to my classmates and thrown in those dull grey garbage cans by the teachers’ desks. Seeing that first issue in the trash was crushing for me. I wanted to know that people actually read it. I think that was where I first added “apathy” to my knowledge base. It’s also when I started getting tough psychologically when it came to journalism.

The last time I remember shedding tears in front of a keyboard was in my “Beginning Reporting” class at Humboldt State University. Howard Seamann put an end to those tears. “What the hell you cryin’ about?” I looked up to see Howard looking down at me with a half grin, half good natured scowl. That’s where I learned to separate criticism of my journalistic work from personal criticism aimed to hurt me. That’s also where I started to understand that, if “they” can make me cry and run away because of hurt feelings, that elusive hallway stays a mystery and I would never get to peek (sometimes gawk) through those doorways. Howard Seamann’s Beginning Reporting class is where I learned to stand firm and keep asking questions when politicians and people in power turn on the attack mode and suggest that I’m an imbecile for asking such probing and “stupid” questions.

“Yes, sir. I understand your frustration, sir. But, if you could just be patient with me, I would really like to understand…(etc. etc. etc.).”

…Excuse me sir, I’m headed down that hall now…so, if you’ll kindly step aside…

I am a scribe.

Scribe: (or Scrivener) is an ancient profession, a person who could read and write. This usually indicated secretarial and administrative duties such as dictation and keeping business, judicial, and history records for rulers such as kings, nobility, temples, and cities.

I don’t write fiction, though I’ve tried. I see what is out in the world…or inside myself…and I write about it. I’ve always seen my role as a scribe and journalist as creating a bridge from one place of understanding to another. And it has never failed that, in the process of writing, I emerge on the other side with a new understanding of my world and my relationship to it.
Writing has taken me to some phenomenal places geographically and definitely some disconcerting places socially, psychologically and emotionally. Human Interest stories are my particular area of interest, though I’ve spent most of more than two decades of a journalistic career covering what my industry calls “General Assignment Reporting.”

The stories that get me riled (and so…get me engaged) have tended to be those involving abuse of government power, invasion of personal and property rights, environmental abuses, human and animal abuses and financial ignorance and stupidity. Well, stupidity has always interested me, since it seems to be a source of great suffering for many, especially when it’s combined with greed. However, the stories that have touched my heart the deepest and in the most lasting way have been the Human Interest stories.

I’ll be sharing some of those stories with you here. Because they’re good. And because a good story deserves to be retold. And last…because I’m a scribe and the best history needs to be kept alive. And that’s my job…