A Rant about Economics

A serious post because the world as we know it is ending. I promise to be funny tomorrow, but today, no.
A quick economics primer
Stop it!!! Economics is not a difficult subject. Really. It has nothing to do with the fact that the Econ 101 class I took many years ago was taught by the world's most boring man, the subject is incredibly interesting, and not that difficult to understand. About the only thing I remember is that I learned the name of the Secretary of Agriculture at the time, Earl Butz.
Mr. Butz went on to become the most famous Secretary of Agriculture since who knows when as he told inappropriate, highly offensive jokes that eventually wound up in skits on Saturday Night Live back when it was funny.


Anyway, pay attention, economics requires just that...pay attention.
I'm reading all this nonsense about what needs to be done right away because of the rise in energy costs. Now, if anyone was paying attention, the following facts would immediately come to the forefront: back in the 1970's, the OPECer's put the squeeze on us, gas was in short supply and tripled in price.

We lined up for gas

We saw what happened, and for 30 years, did nothing, and then we act surprised. We didn't pay attention. It was more important to worry about Brittney and Lindsey and Miley.

The banking industry is in the crapper because back around 1977, Jimmy Carter and others decided it would be swell to make it easy for Americans to buy a house, whether they could afford it or not. A home is the American dream, and who are we to expect anyone to wait to have a dream come true? So, the government looked the other way as crazy schemes to get the money to individuals were put in place. And surprise, they couldn't pay their bills. And fat cat investors and CEOs made a boatload of cash. And we let it happen because we didn't pay attention.

We send too much money overseas. We have become a service economy, and that is a formula for disaster. Jobs go overseas, and so does a vast amount of cash. Brilliant planning, huh?

And the last part of this economic primer is this: it's not Bush's fault. Yes, he isn't going to go down as a great President, not even a good President. But he did not do all this on his own. This perfect economic firestorm has been 35 years in the making. We have had several Congresses (17 I believe) and 6 different Presidents since the first energy crisis. There is plenty of blame to go around for the shit stew we have simmering here.

Is it too late? I hope not. But it requires an overhaul of our economy, not slapping a patch here and there.


Don't forget Deb needs fees for her blog. Help a blogger out. It's good karma, and helps the economy.

They are stocking up on toilet paper at:
www.humorbloggers.com

Tying up some loose ends

I woke up this morning at 3 a.m. again. But this time I decided not to run with it. I did have an idea for the greatest blog entry ever. It would have won the Pulitzer, Peabody, Emmy, Tony, or whatever award goes to the best blog entry ever. But I chose to go back to bed, and when I git up around 7, I realized I had forgotten. I spent the next 2 hours thinking and hoping, but still--nothing. So, I was going to go with a Larry King-esque series of nonsequiters, but that was even worse than just not blogging at all.

So I have done the next best thing; just a few random observations. Things not worthy of an entire blog entry, but they are annoying me anyway.

As I listened to the radio, it was announced that one of the Freeloaders Freeholders had been given some county administration position. His pledge was to make the department more efficient. This tagline by every politician has become rather hackneyed. It's along the lines of "I'm Myron Ketchup, and I approve of this message" that follows every political commercial, or at least the ones from Myron for Mayor. I would think that after 20 years of eliminating the waste in government, we'd have none left. Could all those polticos have lied?

Say it ain't so, Joe.

I also heard them talk about the economic impact on us of the earthquake in China. In no way am I saying anything against those hurt or killed, for I am greiving for any pain they are now enduring. I'm talking just about the economic impact on us, only. It's time we do something about our dependence on Chinese goods. After all the contaminated food products, and the dangerous toys



it's time to make some changes.

And it's easy enough to do, really. Our government needs to support American manufacturing. Support, rather than handouts. I know a guy who used to be a health inspector. His goal was to protect the consumer, and to help the business he was inspecting. For example, one store used raw wood storage racks in their back room. He failed them for this. The store owner was very upset as he envisioned the cost for all new shelving. My buddy explained to him that to be in compliance, all that was needed was for the wood to be painted. Support. It cost the store owner almost nothing, made the consumer safer, and became win-win. I'm positive many such situations exist in the manufacturing sector. We have safety and other rules that are obtrusive, and border on ridiculous. We don't need business to run roughshod over the environment, nor do we need workers at risk, but we do need sensible solutions. I've heard that one of the biggest costs facing US manufacturing is in environmental compliance. Perhaps this is where government financial aid could be used? I find it abhorrent that we are destroying the environment in other countries so we can get cheaper goods.

Lastly, it's nice to see Britney Spears seems to be getting her life back on track. For the sake of her, and her kids, I hope she keeps it together.