At almost any time in any nation's history, the issue of the economy is in the forefront. A vibrant economy creates jobs, brings prosperity, & enriches the nation. It provides a broader tax base for infrastructure, & can become a juggernaut of growth & affluence. And conversely, a weak economy brings poverty, austerity, & decline. The wealth of a nation is tied DIRECTLY to several factors: 1. The Industry of the Citizens. A small nation like the early US & more modern examples of Germany & Japan show that an industrious people with a strong work ethic can work their way to prosperity, even with limited natural resources. Minimal dependency, minimal collective demands, and a culture of industry, opportunity, & growth all work together to bring prosperity to the nation. 2. Natural Resources. The more resources a nation has, the more they can harvest the bounty from the earth & convert it to national wealth. The US has abundant natural resources, & they used them to build the most prosperous economy in the history of man. Conversely, some nations with abundant resources seem unable to overcome the lack of industry from the people, or the corruption in the governmental system. Mexico is an example of this malady, as is Haiti & many African nations. 3. Minimal demands from the collective organizational system, AKA, Government. Some nations have an industrious people, but are hampered by an oppressive collective organization. Corruption & an elite ruling class burden the producers, & sap their motivation to excel. The more the working man is able to keep the fruits of his labors, & reinvest them in HIMSELF, the more industrious he is, & it snowballs the entire national economy. This one is the most crucial, as it can kill the other 2. Those are the 3 basic factors needed for a prosperous society. As they decline, so does the national economy. All other 'fixes' are smoke & mirrors, & do not address the fundamentals. If we want a vigorous, vibrant economy, we have to encourage & stimulate these 3 things. With this as a foundation, here are a few basic Truths in any human economic system: 1. Wealth comes through production. It is not declared, & it cannot be printed. Only intelligent, industrious LABOR produces what is needed for human survival. All wealth begins with food production, as it is the most basic need. After the food needs are met, whatever is left goes toward shelter, protection, play, & luxuries. 2. All of society DEPENDS on the producers. Food, housing, energy, protection, clothing.. anything necessary for existence has to be WORKED for & created. The very young, the old, & the infirm all depend on the PRODUCTION of the working people around them. The more people there are in productive, useful labor, the richer & more prosperous the society is. And conversely, the more people there are in dependency, the poorer the society, & the greater burden on the working producers. The producing worker can have too many dependents, & be unable to overcome that financial drain on his resources. 3. Govt can do little to promote a healthy economy, but it can do a great deal to kill it. Too much govt interference, red tape, & bureaucracy only increases corruption, crony deals, & is a hindrance to a prosperous society. Govt is the Great Fiction, that deludes people into thinking that everybody can live off of everybody else. It is a lie. It has NEVER worked, & has been attempted numerous times in human history. Too much collective dependency, with too many leeches on the working man take too much of his increase & discourage industry. Govt is an expense of the working producers, & needs to be kept in check, or it will become infested with looting moochers who will plunder the treasury & fleece the producers of the nation. National economics is much simpler than it is presented. It is just simple human economics on a larger scale. But the same principles are in play. To have a vibrant, prosperous economy, you need the above dynamics. Industrious citizens, abundant natural resources, & minimal demands from govt are the 3 key factors for a growing, healthy economy. There are no short cuts. There are no magic pills or beans. It takes intelligent work from a majority of the citizens, with minimal govt, to bring prosperity to a nation. Govt does not help this process with energetic intrusion into the collective. The economy grows best when govt is unnoticed & minimal.
Only problem with your assertion is that in real life, countries with weak central governments are all condemned to third world status. So while it's fun to make textbook claims, real world applications trump them every time.
How many nations with strong central governments are also condemned to third world status? You draw a correlation,but provide no proof except a lame appeal.
There is a tendency for weak governments to exist in third world countries. I think what we want are strong, enduring governmental institutions that do not intrude into our lives any more than is absolutely necessary.
The three points leave out the effect of monopolistic corporations, but I suppose that could be classed in with their governmental influence through bribery.
So you are claiming that human production does not increase wealth, but govt does? I do not understand what points you are rebutting, other than a general deflection to distract from the points. I also agree with Ken, that you have no support for your claim, but it is a non correlating assertion. 'Weak' and 'Strong' terms for govt is undefined & meaningless. You will have to clarify what you mean with these terms, which could be construed to mean different things to different people. It is also abundantly clear that many, if not most, '3rd world govts' are very strong, & lay heavy burdens on the citizens. So you will need to clarify what you mean, if this is an attempted rebuttal of the OP. You are talking about corruption within govt, a common malady in any system, but especially within a very energetic, intrusive govt. Point 3 above covered this, imo. If there are individuals or groups that manipulate the policies in govt to enrich themselves, they can only do so if they control the force of govt by corrupting the justice process. govt is no longer a regulator, providing a level playing field in business, but showing favoritism to cronies who pander to the moneyed elite. The sole purpose of govt is to provide justice.. that is, to protect the rights of everyone, & not give preference to any. And inasmuch as most good things are produced by labour, it follows that all such things of right belong to those whose labour has produced them. But it has so happened in all ages of the world, that some have labored, and others have, without labour, enjoyed a large proportion of the fruits. This is wrong, and should not continue. To secure to each laborer the whole product of his labour, or as nearly as possible, is a most worthy object of any good government. ~Abraham Lincoln
Bears repeating: If there are individuals or groups that manipulate the policies in govt to enrich themselves, they can only do so if they control the force of govt by corrupting the justice process. govt is no longer a regulator, providing a level playing field in business, but showing favoritism to cronies who pander to the moneyed elite. The sole purpose of govt is to provide justice.. that is, to protect the rights of everyone, & not give preference to any.
..bears ignoring, too, it seems. I find it very interesting that plain, simple truth is almost always drowned out by the shouts of lies. Propaganda is the goal, not enlightenment. Instead of analyzing the real issues, we are distracted with smoke screens & razzle dazzle. You cannot have a rational conversation about economics, or really anything these days without partisan shouts of deflection & obfuscation muddying the waters. Discussions about minimum wage, or wealth distribution, or other peripheral issues dominate the narrative, while the core issues of wealth CREATION & production are ignored. This will only doom us to control by fast talking manipulators, whose only goal is to fleece the working man.
And now they have the ideal disease to spread amongst us to seal our servitude foever: Zika, the disease which makes you have a child with a small, retarded brain. Soon they won't have to troll discussion forums to disrupt progress; everyone will literally be too stupid to understand core points anyway.
This is not true. The United States had a weak central government up to the Civil war and was very prosperous.
Actually, you are wrong about that too. GDP growth in the US was hampered more than helped by slavery. You see the problem with slavery is that the slave will only do enough so that they will not be beaten. They will not be innovative, and have no interest in the prosperity of the plantation. US GDP growth struggled below 1.5% for most of the period of slavery.
Free labor seemed to work out well for the slave owners. You should look at some of their houses some time. GDP was low because we were mostly an agrarian society still giving away land just to get people on it. There is further a methodology problem with estimating pre-civil war GDP--the border states were functionally but not technically part of America. Do you include them or not?
Seamed is a vague standard and being able to build a house is a poor measure of the growth of an economy. The fact is that you cannot have substantial growth in an economy unless the workers have confidence that they are going to prosper as a result of their efforts. Communism and capitalism only prospered during the times when the common workers had faith in the system and were willing to buy into the system. When it becomes clear that they are being exploited and that they do not have a chance of prospering, they will curtail their efforts and only do enough to keep their jobs. In addition they will subvert the employer for revenge when ever they get the opportunity.
Off topic, but Babies born with microcephaly are too retarded to even be in servitude. The Zika virus is an interesting phenomena. I like to study ancient art work, and some of the pictures I have seen of work from South and Central America and Mexico depict figurines that look like they have microcephaly. Maybe this isn't the first epidemic they have had of Zika. Maybe it is an old disease on the rise again.
It is an excellent standard. The county courthouse down the road from us 1 county over is a spectacular slave era mansion converted to modern use. The old slave houses are now 1 room lawyer offices. I am fairly sure housing just wrecked the global economy so you may want to rethink that. Certainly explains why the blacks fled to detroit, chicago, DC, and philadelphia where they became billionaires after the civil war. Prosperity only comes with macroinvention. What the workers making the new crap think or feel is irrelevant. Economics has no room for Oprah. Advancements in technology change things. Whether or not your daddy loves you only creates jobs for shrinks.
Your reply's are nonsensical and childish, do not bother to answer any more of my posts as I am placing you on my ignore list.
