Steady State economics may save us - if the politicians dare!

Inflation in the economy is regarded as bad, but deflation is worse. This was seen during the 1930's Depression. Prices declined, but wages declined faster, and unemployment rose. The Center for Economic and Policy Research says that inflation is trending down, even when housing prices are factored in, but this really means that deflation is emerging again. I have been making strong arguments about deflation for years,but its effect is steadily growing. Private markets are running out of things to buy. Asset prices are peaking, with stocks trading at scary earnings multiples and homes have largely become unaffordable. Value is clearly dropping out of the world economy, and it's time for politicians and academic economists to address the seriousness of the situation and look at adopting Steady State economics in place of the current bid for constant growth which follows an unsustainable'boom and bust' mentality.A steady state economy is one with stable or mildly fluctuating size. An economy can reach a steady state after a period of growth or after a period of recession.

Comments

  1. freerangerAugust 18, 2017 at 8:30 PM

    Dick Smith's 'Fair Go' compaign is adding weight to the arguments about the stupidity of chasing constant economic growth

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Protection from Government propaganda?

  Attempts to prevent the spread of false information are long overdue. However the Australian Government’s Bill should only be supported if if it covers all the deceptive propaganda spewed out by Government. We all remember the nonsense peddled by Ministers and bureaucrats over Covid 19 and The Voice referendum – all designed to panic the community and force compliance with the official line. The Government says that its Communications Legislation Amendment (Combatting Misinformation and Disinformation) Bill 2024  aims  to reduce the spread of seriously harmful misinformation and disinformation on digital communications platforms. However, it is unclear if the Bill will operate in a manner compatible with Australia’s international human rights obligations related to freedom of expression. The definitions of misinformation and disinformation are not clear and create uncertainty. The Bill introduces transparency requirements for certain digital...
Read more

Bass Coast Councillors should be personally liable for their mistaken decision

  Bass Coast Shire councillors should be held personally liable for any costs resulting from their decision to reject an application by Heidelberg Materials to widen Stanley Road, Grantville, It seem likely that ratepayers will face a huge bill to defend Councillors’ decision at VCAT. The road widening has long been a requirement of the planning permit previously issued by the Shire and was approved by Shire planning staff as well as DEECA. Rather than make ratepayers foot the bill, councillors who refused the planning application should be personally liable. All councillors other than Jan Thompson, who had the sense to vote for the application should pay every cent.
Read more

God Save the King

 With King Charles III and Queen Camilla in Australia, it's time for some to take a reality check.It is tiresome of the ratbags in the Republican movement to persevere with their flawed campain.   In 1999, Australians went to the polls to decide in a referendum whether to become a republic or to retain the monarchy. The result was clear, On the question of being a republic Australia said NO. Here's a post I put on this blog onSeptember 28 2022 Rabid members of the Australian Rupublic Movement and some politicians keep trying to revive the flawed concept of dumping the monarchy and turning Australia into a republic. The Australian Government talks about holding a referendum to gauge popular support, but before that happens, proponents need to explain what type of republic and how this country will benefit – will it cut the waste of taxpayers dollars? Will it be more democratic? Unless the answer to both those questions in “YES” why spend money on a system that offers no be...
Read more