I've been reading this evening Economic Explained, by Robert Heilbrone & Lester Thurow, ISBN 0-671-88422-0, searching for answers to the stock crises.

There are answers.

The impoverished 3rd world nations that we want to export products too have to be forgiven their debts. It cannot be some eco-communist, June 18, "poor people are beautiful" nonsense. This has to be productive to the American economic national interest.

The only answer to the OPEC (cartel) when it fleeced the world was to economize. The nation purchased a lot less gas. The OPEC plot failed. This is the only response to a gold cartel trying to fleece the world. Don't buy any.

We are going to have to bail out some of the huge American companies that are productive to our own national productivity. We are going to have to invest outright in their Y2K remediation and difficulties experienced.

We can be a little miserable or we can be in vast festering ghetto's in a nation that breaks a part. We then to hold back inflation have to turn around and expand the global economy.

-- Paula (chowbabe@pacbell.net), October 18, 1999

Answers

Uh-huh.

-- jor-el (jor-el@krypton.uni), October 18, 1999.

We have proposed forgiving 3rd world debts because they were uncollectable anyway. So we have the opportunity of looking good for very little real cost. And in the cases where we were collecting, it was at horrible expense to the countries involved. They would be more worthwhile economically if they got out from under the debt. Kind of like personal bankruptcy, but for countries.

-- You Know... (notme@nothere.junk), October 18, 1999.

Paula: The mistake that the captive (establishment) economists promulgate (I say promulgate rather than necessarily believe) is that somehow the microeconomic realities do not apply to macroeconomics. In other words, by some magic, large entities, like governments, are somehow exempt from the realities that individuals and small entities are subject to.

TANSTAAFL -- There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch.

Take just the first quote:

The impoverished 3rd world nations that we want to export products too have to be forgiven their debts. It cannot be some eco-communist, June 18, "poor people are beautiful" nonsense. This has to be productive to the American economic national interest.

Would YOU, as an individual, gain or maintain any prosperity by producing stuff, or putting in some hours, and then got a rubber check? Then just saying, "Oh, OK", let's do it again?

You know how close-up (party) "magic" works? The magician distracts you with one hand (or a body movement) while the other hand produces the effect. In politics and establishment economics, you got to watch BOTH hands.

All I have time for, now. Beware establishment shills spouting bs.

If you are REALLY interested in economics -- try "Economics in One Lesson" by Henry Hazlitt. Probably cheaper, and a hell of a lot more valuable than what you're now reading. Try Amazon.com

-- A (A@AisA.com), October 18, 1999.

Wait a minute. Before you start suggesting that we invest in businesses that would otherwise go bankrupt, consider this. Who is responsible for them not fixing their computers... us? They are already raising our prices and fees and everything else so that they can pay for their own negligence. I say if they still cannot become compliant and remain competitive at the same time then they don't deserve to be in business. I don't want my money being used for these kinds of bailouts.

I've got a better idea to fix the economy and it will make a lot of these extremists happy too because we can re-design our government in the process. I do not use the banking system. I will ask you not to use the banking system since it's not doing you any good anyway. Now if you ask a couple friends to quit using the banking system, and each of them asks a few friends not to use the banking system, then eventually the entire system, including the Federal Reserve, will come crumbling down, and we will see that all of these power-hungry greedy bastards that keep pulling all of our strings are really no more powerful than we are. Then, the companies that have the assets and productivity to survive will do just fine, and those that are weak will die. Then, you can tell your employer that you want to be paid in real gold instead of phony monopoly money or some electronic digital number in your bank, and if they don't give you real money then you won't work for them. Then, believe it or not, the economy will actually take care of itself quite well, even without any help from the almighty Mr. Alan Greenspan.

You can't beat the government and the corporate establishment with guns. It's all actually quite simple if we just use our brains.

-- @ (@@@.@), October 18, 1999.

Just for the record, from someone who pretends to be an economist:

Heilbroner and Thurow are both communists. Yeah, they talk a good game about productivity and creative destruction of capital and how businesses can survive. They both live high off the fatted calf of higher education in this country. But they're both still communists.

I'm a doomer. I'm a wacko. But they're prescriptions have been tried and have all FAILED.

Do yourself a favor and give the book to someone you don't care about.

-- nothere nothere (notherethere@hotmail.com), October 18, 1999.