Mr. Beat: The 2020s are the 1890s

 

[VIDEO] This was sort discussed in a previous video shared here on this blog by Spectacles. The common thread is basically the unrest and the inequalities of wealth. 

Do you agree or disagree with the assertions of Mr. Beat & Spectacles?

Spectacles: How did Companies get Bigger than Countries?

 I found this video on Sunday, and before that I saw the collab with Mr. Beat. Well both videos are actually collabs, however, the Mr. Beat video will be shared here at a later time.

[VIDEO] The above video (duration 32 mins.) from the YouTube channel Spectacles talks about the parallels between the 1890s to the 2020s. The comparison between the business trusts of the late 19th to early 20th century to the multinational corporations of today.

When we talk about trusts think about for example Standard Oil - owned by John D. Rockefeller - which owned pretroleum production. That's not the only company or sector we need to be concerned about in this discussion, however, for the United States in the 19th & 20th century it's when a company or an industry grows larger than a state gov't and the federal gov't is enjoined from regulating large business interests.

In the 21st century, corporations are beginning to become bigger than national gov'ts. If one wants to regulate these corporations they have the option to moving to a more favorable environment.

And another issue that's being argued here in both time periods, the inequities become pronounced for workers & consumers.

Mr. Beat: The Truth About Tariffs

 

[VIDEO] While I did a poor job of really getting at the issues of this election other than perhaps how I believed the Biden/Harris administration was running America and perhaps the economic and crime issues that many Americans are concerned about. Also the immigration issue which President-elect Donald Trump pledged to take on day one. The one thing Trump was on record discussing were on tariffs which is a tax on exports/imports.

We'd have to go back to the 2016 election on which 45th President Trump successfully ran on the idea of America first. Bringing back manufacturing jobs to America as opposed to allowing those jobs to be sent to those nations that offer cheaper labor. And Trump wasn't the only one who had some "protectionist" rhetoric and proved to say some of the same things that President Trump is talking about today.

"Edu-tuber" Mr. Beat looks at what is a tariff and the times they have been used and why tariffs generally aren't beneficial to those nations that issues them. One thing I could see with tariffs is that other countries - as noted in this video - could retaliate with their own tariffs. Also the idea that while goods for consumers are cheaper than ever before the concern could be how expensive these goods could become once a tariff could become issues.

Do you think President-elect Trump's usage of tariffs are a great idea or do you think they may prove problematic in the future?

Prager U: What is inflation?

 

[VIDEO] My knowledge of economics is weak. The only thing about inflation I do understand is that if you print lots of money then you get inflation. The price of food and other goods tend to rise if the US Gov't prints lots of money.

That's something Steve Forbes discuss in the above video. Monetary inflation is the term he uses and it's caused by a number of things not just printing money. He further discussion historical inflation say for example Forbes discusses when Rome switched their currency from being backed by silver to something less valuable such as copper. Throughout history other than invasions when gov'ts play with their monetary system that leads to ruin for nations. 

As far as the dollar currently printing money leads to the issue of too much money chasing too few goods. Also the dollar is only backed by the full faith and credit of the US Gov't, besides we're supposed to use the dollar anyway. Also in our most recent history Richard Nixon when he was POTUS took the US dollar off of the gold standard. Now why would he do that?

So anyway, inflation is a current issue right now. Perhaps you're hearing about it on your local cable news channels. And you might be upset about gas prices though it's a bit separate from the issue of inflation. For now pay attention to how much money you spend on groceries.

What is Georgism?

 

[VIDEO] So that you might understand what Mr. Beat is discussing here, a man named Henry George essentially created an economic ideal called Georgism from Wiki:

Georgism, also called in modern times geoism and known historically as the single tax movement, is an economic ideology holding that, although people should own the value they produce themselves, the economic rent derived from land—including from all natural resources, the commons, and urban locations—should belong equally to all members of society. Developed from the writings of American economist and social reformer Henry George, the Georgist paradigm seeks solutions to social and ecological problems, based on principles of land rights and public finance which attempt to integrate economic efficiency with social justice.

Economics is a weak subject of mine, it just goes over my head. However this theory is about land, even now in a time of cryptocurrencies or even NFTs, is one way to measure a person's wealth. So I suppose this theory suggests that this same land should belong to everyone as it's an important resource and it should be put to productive use.

Now this is where I could go over your head. You might drive in a depressed neighborhood and ride past vacant lots or an abandoned building. Well in a city like Chicago, it would be best to put those lots and buildings to use so that at the very least we can charge property tax on them. To put them to productive use for people to live or even to provide a product or service is beneficial.

At the same time it would be nice to eliminate the idea of an income tax and having a land value tax seems like a great idea if it can ever be implemented. After watching this video what do you think of this? Any economists in the house? 

Against All Odds: The Fight for the Black Middle Class

Crossposted from The Sixth Ward

[VIDEO] One of the main reasons why I started The Sixth Ward was to in some way highlight the middle-class aspects of the 6th Ward as it was drawn between 2002 to roughly 2015. Chatham isn't the only community with a solidly Black middle-class population, but it has often been considered a bastion of the Black middle-class.

This documentary was mentioned on the ig profile for the new owners of the former Seaway National Bank - Self-Help FCU - doing a quick mention of this documentary Against All Odds: The Fight for the Black Middle Class. It's available for viewing either on pbs.org or you can watch it through the PBS app available on iPhones & iPads and likely Android also.

Capitol Fax: Today's number 63%

Go Falcons!

Rich Miller of the Capitol Fax talks about the increase of students in our high schools and increase the number of high schools. In addition he makes these comments as far as the policy over neighborhood schools and retaining the middle class in our city:

Neighborhood schools weren’t working in many neighborhoods at the bottom of the economic ladder. So, Chicago embraced public school choice. But that isn’t working either for kids on the lowest economic rungs. Charters can kick kids out for low performance, behavioral problems, etc. and they do that a lot.

I happen to think charters can be a great thing. But, man, the costs sure are high to run all those new schools. And innovators like Kansas City are also having some very real problems.

I wonder if some of these issues involved with the neighborhood schools include Harlan. I'm very sure that they might and it also have some undeserved reputation for violence. I say it's undeserved because over the years they attempt to emphasize the students who got something going for themselves with college and the scholarships for example.

BTW, I would suggest you read the full post at Capitol Fax and read The Atlantic article he quotes from. It deserves a read from me regardless.