What Next?
Posted: January 21, 2011 Filed under: Team Obama, U.S. Economy | Tags: General Electric CEO Jeffrey Immelt, President’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board, Robert Skidelsky 37 CommentsThe more I read the news, the more I’m convinced that the powers that be are purposefully trying NOT to get it. I don’t
think they realize that the Great Recession was not just the normal little business adjustment that comes from a hiccup in markets. It wasn’t just some short run misalignment of Aggregate Demand and Aggregate Supply. There are serious systemic problems in the financial system and the way we do things. Politicians in the United States are hellbent on repeating the same damned mistakes. We’re seeing massive presidential appointments of the people that created the problems to positions that recommend future policy. Companies like General Electric have been part and parcel of our problem, and yet, who does the President want to ‘reboot’ jobs and competitiveness?
Signaling a shift to a new phase of the administration’s response to the nation’s economic woes, President Barack Obama will sign an executive order Friday establishing a new Council on Jobs and Competitiveness that will be led by General Electric CEO Jeffrey Immelt. The signing coincides with a visit to a GE branch in Schenectady, N.Y., the birthplace of the company.
The new panel will replace the President’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board, and will have a new mission: to find “new ways to promote growth by investing in American business to encourage hiring, to educate and train our workers to compete globally, and to attract the best jobs and businesses to the United States,” according to the White House.
You don’t promote competitiveness by hiring the head of a monopoly that feeds on no bid contracts and promotion of military adventurism. It’s like putting Count Dracula in charge of your blood banks. Again and again, I see this President do something I would expect a mainstream Republican to do while the current crop of Republicans are hammering out which crazed creationist will lead the country back to the third century. What fresh hell is this?
There’s people asking those questions over at Project Syndicate. Brit economist and member of the House of Lords Robert Skidelsky who wrote the book ‘Life after Communism’ has written a new article. It’s called ‘Life after Capitalism’. I guess I’m not the only one thinking that this current house of cards is about to collapse. While the running dog congressional lackeys of multinational corporate interests here are trying to keep the mess afloat, a few folks realize that there are economies out there in the greater world about ready to clean our clock. They are not all doing it by selling their souls to multinational corporations, believe me.
The funny thing about the Skidelsky column is that it’s not motivated by the near collapse of our financial system. He’s motivated by the deeply disturbing fact that our economy right now is motivated by enriching a plutocracy more than anything else. That seems to be the goal. Oddly enough, I was talking to one of the corporate finance professors at UNO yesterday about this same thing. I told him that I really would rather move to some place like Chile and work for a government and a system that is trying to develop their country rather than one that seems hellbent on developing its corporate aristocracy at the expense of the rest of us. If I’m going to live in a third world country–and increasingly that’s what I feel like I’m living in–then, I’d just as soon go to a developing nation on the way up that an empire rotting from the top down. I’m not saying this as a Marxist either, believe me. I’m not some teabot Rand/Palin cultist either. I frankly find the tea party and libertarians trotting about the Republican party these days to be as comical as the Marxists I met in the 197os. They both have no real answers. So, here’s Skidelsky waxing philosophical.
Rather, it comes from the feeling that Western civilization is increasingly unsatisfying, saddled with a system of incentives that are essential for accumulating wealth, but that undermine our capacity to enjoy it. Capitalism may be close to exhausting its potential to create a better life – at least in the world’s rich countries.By “better,” I mean better ethically, not materially. Material gains may continue, though evidence shows that they no longer make people happier. My discontent is with the quality of a civilization in which the production and consumption of unnecessary goods has become most people’s main occupation.
This is not to denigrate capitalism. It was, and is, a superb system for overcoming scarcity. By organising production efficiently, and directing it to the pursuit of welfare rather than power, it has lifted a large part of the world out of poverty.
Yet what happens to such a system when scarcity has been turned to plenty? Does it just go on producing more of the same, stimulating jaded appetites with new gadgets, thrills, and excitements? How much longer can this continue? Do we spend the next century wallowing in triviality?
These are really good questions. I’d rather be part of a country pulling every one up by their bootstraps rather than one big plantation where the richest folks can’t seem to get enough stuff and nonsense. I’d rather accumulate well being and peace of mind. At what point do you say, I won’t work for you cretins if you won’t pay taxes for things like roads, schools, and fire fighters? You may have second houses, but I can’t even drive on the roads here with out having to replace the rear end of my car every 3 years.
Skidelsky talks about how the only counter point to the society of more! more! more! used to be a centrally planned economy. It’s really obvious that you don’t need public provision of all goods. It doesn’t take a genius to pick apart the serious deficiencies of any soviet style system. It was big. It was bureaucratic. It only served the interests of the very few. The weird thing is, that’s basically the deal with every huge corporation. They are their own ‘soviet style system’ of central planning, bureaucracy, and dictator CEOs. The only difference is that the soviet system ran the justice system and the press for its own purposes, while here, the corporate system buys those up for its own purposes and pretends that the government is still in charge and oppressing them. They just hire various spokesmodels to give every body the idea that we still have some kind of choice.
The same huge inefficiencies present in a Soviet Style government are present in a Soviet Style corporate governance. That’s why I wouldn’t put the head of GE in charge of anything. I’d rather put my friends Jenny and Pete that opened up a BBQ joint on the corner and have kept it going for a few years there instead. They’ve created jobs and it wasn’t based on no bid government contracts and unnecessary wars in Iraq. This appointment today is just another example of handing an Apparatchik a job because that’s exactly what one is when they have a successfully come up in a huge corporate environment. For all intents and purposes, that person is just another type of ingrained politician. If they were actually good at doing the work they probably stopped a shop foreman.
While Skidelsky does a good job of bringing up the shortcomings of capitalism with out being a Marxist which is an equally ridiculous philosophy, he really doesn’t offer up any solutions. You can’t really say we have markets these days when so many of those markets are dominated completely by suppliers who are no more efficient that the old soviet style planners. The financial system is just the most obvious example. Has any one forgotten the energy industry or say the automobile manufacturing industry? GM was about as dynamic of a entity as those old style soviet farms. Most US businesses don’t innovate, they lobby for market and competition killing laws like patents, licensing, and other things that prevent other business from entering their markets. Oh, and don’t forget they want to block anything resembling unions or organizations that give consumers information on their shoddy products.
Skidelsky retreats to judging the ethos of greed and the advisability of more more more, bigger bigger bigger. I don’t think he needed to retreat there, but he did.
Capitalism’s defenders sometimes argue that the spirit of acquisitiveness is so deeply ingrained in human nature that nothing can dislodge it. But human nature is a bundle of conflicting passions and possibilities. It has always been the function of culture (including religion) to encourage some and limit the expression of others.
Indeed, the “spirit of capitalism” entered human affairs rather late in history. Before then, markets for buying and selling were hedged with legal and moral restrictions. A person who devoted his life to making money was not regarded as a good role model. Greed, avarice, and envy were among the deadly sins. Usury (making money from money) was an offense against God.
It was only in the eighteenth century that greed became morally respectable. It was now considered healthily Promethean to turn wealth into money and put it to work to make more money, because by doing this one was benefiting humanity.
This inspired the American way of life, where money always talks. The end of capitalism means simply the end of the urge to listen to it. People would start to enjoy what they have, instead of always wanting more. One can imagine a society of private wealth holders, whose main objective is to lead good lives, not to turn their wealth into “capital.”
See, this is what I don’t understand. Why is there a connection between living a good life and living reruns of Dynasty? Is it advertising? Is it the American form of Protestantism put forth by the creeps in the Family where wealth shows that God has blessed you above others? Is the dick size thing? The short guy thing?
Are the blessings of freedom really just an excuse to be greedy?
And, wtf is wrong with us? We need to retreat to the place where corporations aren’t people and markets aren’t dominated by a few big inefficient corporations. Some how, we have to get it across to consumers in America that they don’t need to buy every crappy little trinket on sale at Wall to the World Market. Can we get them to give up National Crass Consumerism Season? Can we get them to speak up when corporate apparatchiks are put in charge of things like job creation? That’s like putting Strom Thurmond’s ghost in charge of race relations. This won’t end well. It basically means more WalMarts run out the mom and pops and we all wind up working like serfs to pay off credit cards. All they want are customers and cheap labor. We have to–at some point–just say no to it.
When does this craziness end and what’s an alternative? I don’t want to see our system collapse on itself, but frankly, I don’t see that not happening. The same rot that brought the Soviet Union down is the same rot that should’ve tanked BOA and GM. The deal is that the people weren’t forced to bail out the Soviet system of corruption and we’ve being bailing our corporate versions out now for some time. When and how does this end?
I have very few suggestions at this point other than live within your means and stay away from any thing that’s a big box anything. Use credit unions. Use mom and pop stores and farmer’s markets. Grow your own. Make your own. Do your own. Starve their Beast. Tear down their wall.
peej
Carissa
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Mona (aka Wonk the Vote)
Sky Dancing 
I think that people just need to get back to having fun. Being silly isn’t expensive and can eliminate stress and tension, two of the biggest problems we have. More, more, more is killing us as surely as I speak. I want to go being remembered for being a fun and silly person rather than a tense, stressed out old codger.
yup, unfortunately a lot of people are convinced you have to have WII and an Idiot Pad to have fun or a big screen tv or some combination of it all …
Yes! I hear this crap from my kids…about all their friends having phones…and able to text all the time. I keep telling them, “You never saw that TV show with the fat purple dinosaur when you were little kids and you are not getting a phone to text all the time.”
Yes, it seems like the cost of having fun is going up all the time. Not to sound like an old codger (can those be female?), but when I see the youngsters in my family, all the things they have which seem de rigeur are so expensive — cell phones and i-whatevers, video games at $50 a shot and so on. And the birthday party industry is starting to rival the bridal industry for costs, or would be, except the bridal industry is totally out of control. Kids don’t just run around the neighborhood playing kickball anymore, they play virtual kickball on their $600 iPad. TV was free when I was a kid! (ok so we only had 3 channels…).
I couldn’t believe my kid thinks she needs a WII now to do yoga, exercise, and play games. I kept telling her the scrabble board and monopoly board are still in the shelves here, come get them! And, I tell her people have been doing yoga for at least 3000 years before WIIs… wtf?
Yes, I just sent off the Wii Sports blah, blah, blah special for the gran kids after they were robbed of their Wii. So, I ordered one and it arrived and my sister took it up to them so they are now on their way to do yoga and lord knows what else on Wii…good thing they do regular dance or they would think that happens only with the Wii.
Wait until you have your gran kids load their avatars onto your Wii so that they can schedule exercise and play with you…I kid you not.
Any hoo, I am off to the real dance studio for my exercise. 😆
You’ve got a good point there.
Excellent rant! The system is crumbling under us, and all Obama can think of to do is put Jeffrey Immelt in charge. Talk about no new ideas.
Paul Rosenberg has a good post at Open Left on “Obama’s crack alternative universe economic team.”
http://www.openleft.com/diary/21465/obamas-crack-alternativeuniverse-economic-team
Thanks for that!!! I’m going to go read it now!!
ouch
I think they (the power elite) know the country is done – and they intend to wring every last cent out of the rest of us while they still can. They know it’s almost over. So the rest is all a charade, an attempt to keep us quiet and “hopeful” while they go about their business of ripping us off. Why, lookee here, we have a new council. Just the ticket. They’re even gonna funnel more of our hard-earned money to help businesses hire us. And if they fail? Well, let’s give them some more money, until there is no more. Or create another commission. Brilliant!
The country wouldn’t be “done” if it was managed properly.
Those treacherous Kidds!
I am so sick of hearing how Obama’s poll numbers are going up, and it is because he is moving towards the center. Makes me want to scream at the pundits, if I get it…and I am not an expert whatsoever, how can they keep acting like Obama’s GOP ideals are big news.
He’s obviously decided the new thing is to just go ahead and mimic Ronald Reagan’s script … no one pays attention to the results as long as the words sound good
I just read that AIG is going to pay back their “bail out” – so we’ve seen a good many of those bailouts paid back – what are they doing with that money?
AIG pays? It’s what the media says. Geithner says that he’s “optimistic” the government will be paid.
Jan. 14, 2011, 4:57 p.m. EST
AIG repays Fed; Treasury takes big stake
Insurer repays $21B to the Fed, but Treasury now owns 92% of company
I liked one of the comments from that MarketWatch story:
sorry, wrong link. 🙂
Here is the link to the MarketWatch AIG story
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/aig-plan-to-repay-government-moves-forward-2011-01-14
I worked for GE in Schenectady decades ago under Welch and then Bossidy. Welch had already decimated Schenectady the decade before and was starting to knock down the buildings so they wouldn’t have to pay local property taxes on them. I was just starting my career… but remember managers talking about how company and numbers were the only thing that mattered to Welch… not employees. It was still very much a boys club, so I didn’t stay long. Can’t imagine Immelt is cut too far from that cloth.
I was listening to the interview on NPR with James Wolfensohn and the most interesting part was when he was approached in the middle of the night and told I believe by Larry Summers (I could be mistaken) that they needed to bailout Russia and how it didn’t happen. Subsequently, he said they paid their debts off, and are doing quite well now. Go, figure… The other interesting thing James Wolfensohn said was how he began to do some debt forgiveness with some countries, because they would present some good projects, but never do them because they were paying the interest and of course the corruption was just unbelievable and he seems to think that it is just par for the course if you are going to do business in some of these countries.
I was most impressed with his concentration on Human Rights and Women Rights and how the latter was what hadn’t been a focus before. So, I might go out and get his book tonight.
Keith Olbermann is signing off his show for the last time. Did you guys know he was leaving MSNBC?
No, I did not know this, do dish, please, inquiring minds want to know. This is a shocker… 😯
I can’t find any news stories. He just said this was the last episode of Countdown and he’s leaving.
Olberman’s “contract will be terminated.” WTF?!
Here’s the announcement from Olbermann:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036677/vp/41201922#41201922
Could this have something to do with the Comcast merger?
Maybe it’s because of the Comcast merger, but I’m happy to see Olbermann go. I suspect Rachel Maddow is next.
The Top 5 Happiest countries in the World
1. Norway
2. Denmark
3. Finland
4. Australia
5. New Zealand
It’s clear all those in government care only what’s best for the plutocrats. It’s finished and there’s nothing we can do to save it.
I think Hurricane Katrina was my first indication that they are willing to let us die. Now, there’s the BP oil spill and its clear there are problems with chemicals in the seafood and oil around and they’re not doing anything. The first time they started flying all those black helicopters here–without telling us–preparing for ‘food riots’, it really sunk in. Now, I’m just waiting for them to mass produce the drone fleets and hand them out to homeland security offices. And they’re getting us nice and meek and mild with those TSA cavity searches. Pretty soon it’ll be Handmaid’s Tale.
First the bears, then the people.
Air National Guard Will Deploy Drones to Spy on Black Bears in Adirondack Park
My position is that if I need something I look for a made in America insignia. If I can’t find a made in America product I head to the thrift store. I’ll be darned if my dollar is just going to enrich some greedy slimeball too cheap to pay workers or be environmental. We just finished paying off our Mobile Home. Next up our Cobalt. This year hubby mcguyver will be looking into possibly converting some of our home to solar. Any money we have will go to taking us off a grid that seems determined to collapse upon itself.
Dakinikat, your rant here was righteous and goes to the very heart of the matter. We view our identities by how/what we consume. We teach our children to be uber-competitive so they can get into the very best school so they can make a ton of money so they can buy a bunch of stuff. There is no sense of what it means to be a good and successful person beyond your paycheck (or bank balance for the wealthy).
An anecdote from my foray into teaching: a classroom of high school students in a working class neighborhood. We started talking about friendship from a story I had them read (or read to them as most of them could not). So I asked them to define what makes a good friend, to which I got confused blank stares. Okay, let’s make it simpler, what makes a “good” person, someone you admire and with whom you would want to be friends. We made a list, had to drag it out of them. Okay, what makes a “bad” person? I was shocked as the class loudly blurted out “POOR”. I had to explain to them that you could still be a very good person and have a successful, happy life and not have money, that those two things were not equal. They had never heard that before in their lives. I wanted to cry that day.
So yes, we do have to take back our society and culture and the best way to do that is to stop being mindless consumers. I was hoping the environmental movement would lead to more reuse of items such as cwaltz was saying of going to thrift shops. Sadly, it’s become another yuppie marketing ploy.
I don’t know which genius came up with the idea that turning every one into mega consumers and then underpaying them was going to be sustainable in the long run, but it wasn’t very bright. My guess it was some adman on Madison Avenue post ww2/
I don’t think they ever thought that far. That’s why we now get Obama quotes such as “We want to sell you things.” They need new markets. ‘Merika is done worn out.
Just watch. Don’t be too surprised when Olberman is announced as the new White House spokesperson. There is an opening I believe. I’ll die.
I watched AC 360 last night. They think Olberman asked to get out of it because he’s been pissy since that donations suspension last fall. They think he didn’t want to work within the confines of comcast and its corporate environment.