"So What, Now What!?"
"Or Where Will We Take The Economy From Here?"
by Charles L. Riccillo
Yes, of course, it's the economy, stupic!All around us we hear: "Bail me out, bail me out, BAIL ME OUT!"
But, tell me please, although my mortgage creditor, Citi-group, seem to be off the hook, who the hell is going to remove the damn fishing hook out of my mouth!?
As a high school debater, way back in the stone age of the 1960s, I vividly recall that the man we quoted most often was John Kenneth Galbraith. It seems he had something apropos to say about nearly everything!
So we assiduously copied his quotations onto cards before entering the arena of debate.
When you read the edited page of commentary below, courtesy of Facts.com, please consider that condensing Galbraith is like the play Waiting For Godot in the theater - or directing traffic of rich folks at a Pueblo Symphony fund-raiser. It's akin to trying to herd cats - an absurdity!
So, follow along, and you will surely understand just why it was that gentleman to whom we so oft alluded. Since he early on in our lives took up so much of our time in preparation and presentation, bear with me awhile...
The question to now be debated, as we watch an economy in ruin seeking help and bail-outs: "Resolved, that the current capitalistic American state of affairs should or shout not be allowed to be continued as it has been in the past?"
These days we survive however we can in the midst of economic upheaval and uncertainty, such that Galbraith has once again become very topically apropos: (I've freely condensed the information below from Facts.com. Note, in light of the subject, and its quite current relevance - and take heed, please!)
John Kenneth Galbraith (born 1908) was a leading scholar of the American Institutionalist school and arguably the most famous economist in the post World War II world. His views were a stinging indictment of the modern materialistic society that championed personal achievement and material well-being over public interest and needs. In spite of these views, he served as an advisor in both the American and Canadian governments from the 1930s onward.John Kenneth Galbraith...born...(in Canada) to a farming family of Scotch ancestry...studied agricultural economics at Ontario Agricultural College (then...University of Toronto; now...University of Guelph) graduated with distinction in 1931. Went on to..agricultural economics at University of California, (with) Ph.D. 1934 after... dissertation on public expenditures in California counties. (Same) year... began...long...frequently interrupted, tenure Harvard University, where he became an emeritus professor. Galbraith's academic career frequently gave way to public service....worked in the Department of Agriculture during the New Deal...Office of Price Administration and Civilian Supply during World War II, where, according to John S. Gambs, he was "virtually the economic czar of the United States until he left in 1943" From his wartime work emerged a monograph, The Theory of Price Control (1952)...which contained...seminal ideas of his major works.
After...war in Europe, Galbraith worked with...Office of Strategic Services directing research on the effectiveness of the Allies' strategic bombing of Germany. In 1947 he was one of the liberal founders of the Americans for Democratic Action.,..working prominently as a speechwriter in ...presidential campaigns of... Adlai Stevenson....(then) chair(ed) the Democratic Advisory Council during...Eisenhower...administration. 1956...visited India...(inspiring) later works...campaigned for President John F. Kennedy... after Kennedy's victory ... was named U.S. ambassador to India...early 1960s...outspoken critic of U.S....in Vietnam, he campaigned on behalf of...Senators Eugene McCarthy (1968) and George McGovern (1972). Later he worked in the campaigns of Congressman Morris Udall (1976) and Senator Edward Kennedy (1980).
Galbraith's...intellectual contributions...(in) trilogy The Affluent Society (1958), The New Industrial State (1967), and Economics and the Public Purpose (1973). Along the way...20 other books...two novels, a co-authored book on Indian painting, memoirs, travelogues, political tracts, and...on economic and intellectual history...collaborated on and narrated a Public Broadcasting System television series, "The Age of Uncertainty."
Other than (these)...Galbraith's American Capitalism: The Concept of Countervailing Power (1952) stands out...(with the)...central argument...that the growth of economic power in one economic sector tends to induce countervailing power from those who must bargain with...power... Hence, unionized labor...politically organized farmers rose (to oppose)... powerful manufacturers (with the)...government...often involved...supporting...rise of...countervailing power and, in Galbraith's view, should be (so).
(later)...emphasis...reality of economic concentration and... microeconomics background of stabilization issues (which)...solidified Galbraith's position as... spokesperson ...(of) the New Deal perspective.... Galbraith coupled the new economics of John Maynard Keynes with the New Deal corporatist view, as did other Institutionalists of the time... (Then came)...Galbraith's interest in power and ...strong dissent from...neoclassical synthessis... The competitive modes...often used in economics textbooks...had then been resurrected in...neoclassical synthesis...combin(ing) neoclassical microeconomics with Keynesian macroeconomics (such that:) good...follow(s) from certain assumptions about....economy...(And he) argued...such assumptions...not met in...actual economy (but not)...likely to ever be met...(and)...probably should not be. Recognized power... essential element of economic life and argued... only by examining...power of corporations, unions, and others could economists address...vital issues of social control and economic policy.
The Affluent Society examined...continuing urgency (attached) to higher consumption and production. (General) explanation for this paradox, familiar to students of Veblen...obsolete ideas... held over from one historical period to another (but) persist not by inertia alone but also (as convenience) to powerful vested interests.(In it he) argued... outmoded mentality of more-is-better impeded... economic progress... possible if contemporary affluence... put to more reasonable use. Advertising (etc.,) create artificially high demand for...commodities (from) private businesses (leading)... to a concomitant neglect of public sector goods and services that would (otherwise) contribute...to... quality of life.
(His) breakthrough as...best-selling author (with) The Affluent Society (with) widespread attention guaranteed some, albeit reluctant, hearing of his dissenting ideas... Indeed...eventually honored with the American Economic Association's prestigious presidency over...objections of some... With...emphasis on the role of culture and history in economic life, and...review of... debilitating effects of an invidious pecuniary culture (with no other apparent)...higher social purpose than expanding material welfare, The Affluent Society...(awakened)...the American Institutionalist school of economics..(and also)influenced both the Great Society program and the rise of the American "counterculture" in the 1960s (It)... expanded his analysis of the role of power in economic life...(with)...conventional wisdom (economically portraying fiscal)...life as a set of competitive markets governed...by the decisions of sovereign consumers...(a process flowing from)...control of the production process (by)...consumers of commodities...(And including)...advertising and related salesmanship...
(Therein he stressed)...manufacturing core of the economy (controlled by only a)...handful of powerful corporations. (He asserted a)...Galbraithian dual economy (wherein the)...majority of business organizations, price competition (etc.,remains)...dominant form of social control...(Galbraith's view:)...principal function of market relations in this industrial system is not to constrain... power of the corporate behemoths but...serve as an instrument for implementation of their power...(Such a state of affairs allows)...considerable influence upon popular social attitudes and value(s)...(with this)...power exercised in shortsighted interest...(He found that)..the status of the few...(was) inconsistent with democracy...a barrier to...(true) quality of life which (we could otherwise in society)...provide.
The New Industrial State...another best-selling book...extended once again the currency of Institutionalist economic thought. (It)...filled a pressing need in late 1960s..(when)..conventional theory of monopoly power in economic life maintains that the monopolist attempt(s) to restrict supply...to maintain price above its competitive level...(with a)...social cost of... decreas(ing)...efficiency and...equity of income distribution. (Since) this...economic analysis...did not adequately address popular concern about...large corporation(s) in the late 1960s (his) growing concern focused on...the corporation in politics (with)...damage to...environment by unmitigated.... economic growth, (perverting)... advertising and (all else)... pecuniary...(in)... culture. (His book gave)... plausible explanation of the power structure ... generating...problems and...found a very receptive audience among the rising American counterculture and political activists.
(In the third Book of the Trilogy, Economics and the Public Purpose, the last in his major trilogy, he)...continued the characteristic insistence on the role of power in economic life and the inability of conventional economic thought to deal adequately with...power. Conventional economic thought, with its competitive model and presumptions of scarcity and consumer sovereignty - what Galbraith called the "imagery of choice" - serves to hide the power structure that actually governs the American economy. This obscurantism prevents economists from coming to grips with this governing structure and its untoward effects on the quality of life...(employing)...what he called "the test of anxiety" in this attack on conventional economics. He argued...any system of economic ideas should be evaluated by the test of anxiety - that is, by its ability to relate to popular concern about the economic system and to resolve or allay this anxiety. (His contention:)...conventional economic thought failed the test of anxiety and again...
After...years...American and Canadian governments...(he) returned to scholarly activity...travel...writing, using Harvard University as home base. Although "conventional economic wisdom" has remained firmly entrenched....In January 1997 Galbraith...at the University of Toronto...espoused his views that governments should create jobs by direct intervention in the economy. Although he represented the obscure Institutionalist school of economic thought, he nonetheless continued to convey his message that "there must be, most of all an effective safety net (of) individual and family support for those who live on the lower edges of the system. This is humanely essential. It is also necessary for human freedom. Nothing sets such stern limits on the liberty of the citizen as the total absence of money."... Nonetheless, Galbraith's influence on the structure of the American economy will be felt for decades to come."
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