Towards Creating a New Economy

February 27, 2009 · Posted in Financial Stability · Comments Off 

Green my Apple Amsterdam
Creative Commons License photo credit: Capitan Giona

For the purposes of analysis, “the economy” can be simplistically divided into 2 segments: that which creates economic activity of wealth and the opportunity for taxation; and that which is felt to diminish wealth and spend taxation. An example of the former is making luxury cars. Examples of the latter are caring for the elderly, healthcare in general and tackling global warming. At the root of this division is another concept; that of values. Buying a nice shiny new BMW has high value, bestowing prestige and a sense of being marked out as special. High wages are given to those involved in manufacture, service and sales. High wages (or indebtedness) are needed to buy one and maintain the tax, insurance and fuel duty.

Caring for disadvantaged people on the other hand is felt to have low value, low prestige, low wages. Public services go to great length to avoid paying for it at all, taking and making every opportunity to offload the cost onto someone else; ultimately the poor themselves. Politicians devise ever more sophisticated reasons to persuade us that they can actually reduce the “burden” of having to pay for this at all. The net result is that those who need social care or work within the sector grow progressively poorer, more oppressed and disadvantaged, while the economic infrastructure surrounding oil-based motor transport grows ever wealthier, or if in recession, deemed more worthy of protection and safeguarding. Read more

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