Bad Economic Policies In Eurozone Stalled Recovery And Local Politics Blocks Solutions

The financial crisis in the EZ triggered a deep recession.  The austerity policies demanded by the EZ leadership were designed to reduce the debt to GDP ratios in the nations that were hit hardest by the recession.  That strategy has not worked.  Government spending has been reduced, but consumer spending and business investment, has not grown fast enough to compensate for the reduction in government spending.  Debt to GDP ratios are still high in the most distressed economies.  That has led to a political dilemma.  Left wing political movements have been spawned by the failure of the austerity measures that have been imposed by the EZ leadership. However, it would be difficult for nations like Germany and The Netherlands to alter policies that are politically popular in their own countries.  That would stimulate support for right wing parties in the North.  The ECB has been left with the task of using monetary policies to stimulate growth when interest rates in EZ are already at historically low levels.

A Description Of Think Tank Operations In Eastern Europe

There are thousands of think tanks around the world.  CASE Poland and CASE Ukraine have an historical relationship with one of the Harvard sponsored academics who prospered from the transition of Russia from Communism to a market economy.  In any case, this article provides information about the think tanks and some of their key personnel in Eastern Europe.  Ideas are often as important as military weapons.  Think tanks operate in the background.  This article provides some visibility their operation that may be of interest to Eastern Europeans and some who are interested in their relationships with Washington and other governments in Europe.

The $6 Billion Market For Snakeoil

Hucksters used to travel from town to town selling remedies for common ailments.  Snakeoil was one of their favorite natural remedies.  Of course, snakeoil was not present in any of the products, and it would not have helped consumers if it were present.  The FDA was created to regulate the market for medicines.  Congress decided to limit the authority of the FDA to prescription medicine.  That set the stage for the $6 billion unregulated food supplement business which provides snakeoil for many common ailments.  The NY State Attorney General's office tested many of these products and found that most of them did not contain the magic natural ingredient that was promoted on the product labels.  Gullible consumers have been being bilked for $6 billion per year by an industry that sells "snakeoil" but does not put any of it their products.

Many of our "reputable" chains like Walmart, CVS, Walgreens, Target and GNC have been selling private labeled products at retail.  They are also being sold online by criminal enterprises that offer them at a reverse discount.  That is, they are sold online for a much higher price than they are sold at retail.  For example, Somnapure, (marketed by peaklife.com) sells a supplement online that is supposed to help individuals with sleeping problems.  They sell a months supply of the supplement for $30; it can be purchased at Walmart for $11.88.  They get the higher price online by deceptive marketing.  They offer a "free sample" to hook the customer into trying the product.  The consumer uses a credit card to pay for shipping and handling.  Somnapure will bill the credit card for $30 unless the consumer calls the company to cancel a "contract" that is buried in the terms and conditions of the "free sample".  The contract enables Somnapure to charge $30 for the free sample unless the consumer calls the company to cancel the contract within a short time period.  The contract also commits the consumer to a monthly purchase of the product forever unless the consumer calls to cancel the order.  This is a perfectly acceptable transaction that is honored by Visa and Master Card if the consumer disputes the charges without canceling the "contract"within the trial period.

This $6 billion criminal industry has many supporters in Congress who consider themselves to be "libertarians".  They have resisted efforts to regulate this market and the deceptive practices that are commonly used to sell the products online.  The don't believe that government should interfere with transactions between snakeoil merchants and consumers.  They use the same argument to prevent the EPA from regulating the energy market.

Surviving The 21st Century

Noam Chomsky gave a speech at an English university that identified global warming, and the potential misuse of nuclear energy, as the major threats to our survival in the 21st century.  He compared this threat to the devastation to our planet from an asteroid many centuries ago.  He argues that we have become the asteroid which has the potential for species destruction in the modern era.  His speech goes well beyond the issues of global warming and nuclear energy.  He argues that we have the ability to prevent species destruction, but he raises questions about our system of governance in which the maintenance of state power takes precedence over the security of the population. Most of his speech is devoted to his analysis of the state.  He is a critic of the Communist state and the Democratic state.  He argues that both are used to maintain systems of social hierarchy which he opposes.  He has spent much of his time searching for more democratic forms of hierarchy. 

Chomsky disrupted the field of linguistics which tended to study the differences between languages.  He argued that all languages are similar in their deep structure which is determined by human genetics which enables children to acquire a language at a very early age without instruction.  He was also a critic of behaviorism and learning theory which were the dominant forces in academic psychology.  His critiques helped to shape the development of cognitive psychology which attempts to describe the "deep structure" of human psychology. Much of what he argues in this article will be disruptive to much of what many of us believe about the ways in which the world works.  He is an enemy of the plutocratic state which he regards as the enemy of the people.

The Republican Party Has A Branch In the UK

Climate change denial has been a key platform of the Republican Party in the US.  Many conservatives in the UK regard the Tea Party inspired US Republican Party as a bit mad.  However, the conservative government has proposed legislation which would enable the oil industry to extract every bit of oil that it can.  The press in the UK, which is primarily right leaning, has been very supportive.  It has provided a platform for climate change deniers.  It looks like conservatives in the UK are becoming a mirror image of the party that it regards as a bit mad.  Politics encourages strange bed fellows.

The President's Budget Proposal Provides Details For A More Inclusive Economy

The best way to evaluate any government is to examine its budget.  A government defines itself by tax policies which provide details about how much money it intends to raise;  where the money will come from, and where the money will be spent.  The Obama budget does exactly that.  It tax policies are more progressive and more of the spending will benefit families that have been left behind.  The budget provides the framework that focus the 2016 elections on issues that are important to middle class households.  The Republican Party will not like the Obama budget but they will be forced to come up with a better proposal for a more inclusive economy.  They will do their best to obscure the issues but the public will have an opportunity to compare its proposals with a very clear plan which provides details on how the Democratic Party plans to increase the inclusiveness of the economy.

A Balanced Diagnosis Of The US Economy

The US economy grew at 2.4% which is better than most Western economies have been growing.  Ordinarily, the economy would grow much faster coming out of a recession.  This editorial describes some of the factors that have been inhibiting growth and it proposes some changes that might return the economy to the way it had been functioning prior to the Great Recession.