For quite awhile now I have had the feeling that something is very wrong with the World's Economy, but I could not exactly put my finger on what is wrong. It is like looking at a painting where the perspective is slightly out of balance, yet you cannot see why it is out of balance, but you know it does not look right
I am not talking about reoccurring up and down of the economy over the last 50-60 years, we have been an upswing for a while and is now seemingly going to a slowdown, with weird aspect to it, in some places many people is out of out work, wherein other places not enough workers. But, even working people do not have any money to spend and now both business and Government complains that they do not have any money; even very big Industrial companies are going broke. However, for most of the world's Unemployment seems to be on a record high and the ones that are working is doing so on very low wages. It seem like business and governments have not realized that in a mass consumer society the Economy depends on the middle and lower classes spending money, lots of money, after all they are the largest segment of the population. But, it seems that most Businessmen, Economists and Industrialists and Governments have not yet made the connection that a worker fired or working for low wages is a Consumer lost. It is however not the only thing wrong, but it is part of our present economic problems.
Another part is the un-equality between prices and wages. For example, since the 1960s there have been an enormous increase in prizes, but there have not been the same increase in wages. This is specially to be seen in Car and Houses. In Edmonton (Alberta, Canada), a small 3 bedroom House in the 1960s (925-1200 square feet, which was a normal size house at that time), could be bought for 13.000-16.000$. And, the average wage was between 24.000 to 30.000$ for a blue-color worker. The same type of house today (2008) cost from $250.000 to $350.000, if one can find one, most was built in the 1960-1970s. Now, they built houses up to 5000 square feet and over, and in a most unsuitable style for the climate. However, the yearly average wage is now around 34.800$ (2003 Statistics Canada) and it has not gone up much since 2003, thus it now takes two or more family wages to pay for the mortgage. House prizes have increased on the low end 15 times and on the high end 21 times since the 1960s and the average wages have barely moved, and in some cases only doubled. It no wonder people have problems with paying their Mortgages.
However, in spite of those high prizes and low wages, both Governments and Industry and Businesses claim they have no money and are more and more slashing expenses and firing workers (and out-sourcing), which in the long run is makes the Economy spiraling downward. And, this has gone on to firing worker across all economic classes, except for a few specific areas where there is a labor shortage. Remember a well paid worker is a consumer with money to spend.
Now, in 2008, the 'house of card' have started to fall, they all talk about the Mortgage Fraud in the USA, but I have a feeling that it is much more than fraud, I think that they realized that no one would qualify for a Mortgage because the wages earned was totally askew to the house prizes. So, they gave a mortgage to everybody who applied.
More and more over time, they went on firing and slashing workers and out-sourcing to 3rd world countries to save money, which caused even more unemployment at home; and then complaining that the same countries are polluting too much in making their goods for them. In spite of this going on, all seem to be unable to see that something is very wrong with the whole setup. When I tried to talk to people about the subject, the go blank, it is as they cannot hear or see that there is a problem.
I love the latest buss-word as the reason people are not spending any money; "the lack of consumer confidence in the Economy." They are not very bright, are they? Did it not occur to any of these Economists that most people are not buying because they do not have any money to spend, except for the bare necessities and even that is tight? A mass Consumer Society exist only as long as the middle and lower classes have money to spend and such a society cannot continue to exist with only the rich and the super rich have money to spend; they do not constitute a large enough percentage of the population to provide a base for a viable Mass Consumer Economy.
Are you beginning to get the sense of what I am seeing; that there is something seriously wrong with our economical System itself and up to now no one seem to notice that something is very amiss. The disparity between very highly paid people like sport figures, movie stars and other in technology field and the average wage. I will try to explain what have become clear to me. Since the 1960s prizes have gone up and up, not only for necessities, but for luxury items. For example, not long ago a very small and ugly painting of Van Gogh (not one of his best in my opinion) was sold at auction for between 80-90 million dollars and there have been many other high prize items since that painting. It you combine the total overall profit, including those luxury items, from the 1960s to the 2008, the numbers would be in the trillions. I cannot help asking: WHERE IS ALL THAT PROFIT MONEY?
The average man or woman certainly don't have it and neither does the Governments, they all have huge deficits (and that is world-wide). And, now the big Businesses, Banks and Industries are going bankrupt right and left and the ones that are surviving all have cash flow problems; and are busy downgrading, which makes more people out of work and less money to spend, so downward the spiral goes. You see, no economic system (and society) can continue to function without a constant re-distribution (circulation) of wealth, specially not a society where the Economy is based on Mass Consumption.
If all the World's Countries and Governments have huge deficits and the Industrial Complexes are going broke and the Military Powers are falling apart from the lack of money. Then it certainly appears that someone(s) has taken enormous amount of profit (currency, money, cash) out of the World Economic System and IT HAS NEVER BEEN PUT BACK.
If one wishes to destroy a World's Economic System, all they have to do is to systematic remove all type of currency from the system and it will at first slowly, but surely and with increasing momentum collapse upon itself, like the old Soviet System did.
Even if we infused a large amount of cash (our presumed missing currency) into our Mass Consumer Economic System would we be able to save the system. It may be too late, our present Economic System and Society is a very Time-Limited System since it is mostly based on none-renewable resources. The side effects from the Manufacturing of Goods Era (the Industrial and Information Era combined) will only last as long as it takes to make our Air, Water and Soil unlivable; we are drowning in our own waste, but that is another story; or maybe not? On the other hand destroying the world's economy is one way of stopping further industrial pollution. It would slow down many other forms of pollution produced by a Consumer Society. Maybe there is a connection between the projected destruction of the World's Environment and the downward spiraling of the World's Economy; even if the relationships not a linear one.
As far as our Economy is concerned, our collected World-wide Government and Industries like to blame our economic woes on deficits and high expenses cost, but who is behind those ridiculous high prized and low wages and do not tell me it is a the free market place, that is the dumbest answer anyone have ever come up with in our over-regulated reality. And, it still does not answer the question; WHERE DID THE MONEY GO IF EVERYBOBY IS SHORT OF CASH?
The profit of at least the last 40 years of increasing cost certainly did not go back into to the World's Economic System. Am I the only who noticed this discrepancy in the economic equation. Someone, or maybe that should be in plural, has made and enormous amount of money and removed it permanently from the system.
You think it would not be easy to do what I have proposed. Wrong, such a scheme is becoming easier and easier since world-wide link up of computer network. It would not take much of an organization; it could be done by one man/woman or a small group, with the talent and innovative use of plastic and Computers. The un-answers questions are who and why is behind all this, the good or the bad guys that are trying to destroy the Planet's Economy and control the planet and its population. I do believe we have Guardians, who watch over the Planet and Mankind, and a direct attack would not be allowed, but this is a FREE WILL PLANET and cannot be interfered with, unless the planet or the majority of the population ask for help; of course the bad guys do not follow the same rules. Moreover, I think we have been infiltrated by a fifth column many, many, many years ago, which has been working from within for a long time, trying to destroy Mankind by Starvation, by Disease, by War and stirring up Religious, Political and Racial groups against each other and by Greed. In the long run I do not think they will succeed, we have been living with and seeing a fight between the Dark and Light Forces for Eons, unaware of what is going on; we are a people who have been asleep for thousand of years.
Or maybe it is only a rotten economic system, which is imploding from within. Am I chasing a phantom by my speculations, and do you think this is just fiction by my vivid imagination. Are you sure, really sure?