What if everything we think we knew about the economy were wrong? What if we could sense it but we didn't have the right language, the right mental construct, the right image to speak to? What if....???
Well, we know there is a financial crisis about to bring us to the brink of ruin. We know this because we're constantly told this. Something doesn't seem right about it though, because if it were a crisis it seems we'd end the wars (Iraq, Afghanistan, AND Libya) and reverse the Bsuh tax cuts. Intuitively it seems like this can't be that big of a finanical crisis because we haven't done that....
Well, we know unemplyment is bad. Wages are down, there is a growing unemployable class, this economy SUCKS! Except, the US has hardly ever been a richer nation. Inflation-adjusted per-capita GDP has never been higher. This chart about says it all. Yeah, per-capita gpd peaked in 2008 and is down a hair, but it is much higher than when Clinton left office and we were running SURPLUSES (such a strange concept it deserves caps).
Well, if we're so rich, why is unemployment so high? Lets put those people to work! Well, before you can put someone to work, you have to have something for them to do. What if there simply was nothing for them to do? What if we had more than enough policemen, firefighters, and teachers, so many that we thought it would be a great idea to fire a bunch of them. What if we had more than enough auto workers, so much so that we shut down a bunch of their plants and shipped them overseas. What if we had more than enough doctors, lawyers, and business executives.
What would the american economy look like if it had 240 million members of the workforce, but only needed 200 million to make everything anyone needs and most of what anyone wants? If you're not sure, imagine a more extreme example - imagine an america with 240 million workers available, but was so productive that 120 million workers were all that was required. In theory, that is nirvahna! Work weeks get cut in 1/2 and life is great for everyone.
Of course, that is just one possible outcome. Another possible outcome is that 1% of the population puts 50% to work. The 1% keeps half of the output, 25% get a full share, and 74% get screwed. All of the screwed people have no recourse because there is no need for them to be employed. There is nothing they can make, no service they can provide, that isn't already being made or provided. Anything they could do is already being done and is simply redundant. All they can do is slug it out against others in the 74% screwed portion.
So, what do you think we have? Are we really flat broke? Is there a ton of work to do but no-one able to do it? Are people going hungry because our fields are maxed out and we can't plant more? Are any crops rotting in the field because there is no-one to harvet them? Or, do we have a ton of people available, but nothing for them to do?
Is it all just an illusion? What if we're just rich and bored and don't kow how to handle the situation because it is something we've never conceived?