[p2p-research] Job Losses and Productivity

[Michel Bauwens]

Hi Ryan,

I agree there are obviously financial and debt issues, but it is not
immaterial that public money was used to bolster a predatory financial
system ... in fact, it is what suggests the answer, to stop and regulate
financial speculation in unproductive activities, tax financial gambling,
stop usury payments, and create credit commons ... as ellen woods (web of
debt) shows with many examples, sovereign credit is not inflationary when it
is used for productive investments,

so we could, using your language, agree with "no more debt" (for predatory
finance), but sovereign credit for public investments in productive
endeavours (can be done locally, does not need to be done by central nation
state), and mutual credit systems for civil society, and a pollen tax on
financial transactions

education is a priority funding issue, of course, I agree, it does not
necessarily have to go to buildings and centralized schools, and we can have
autonomous local schools that do not necessarily need 'buildings', but that
is a side issue for me

as for europe, yes of course we are in trouble, but have you noticed that it
is the least socialist countries, with the weakest social systems that are
in trouble, while the socialist countries, in american parlance, i.e.
scandinavia, are doing very well ..

china, apart from pushing debt, is also doing very interesting things, like
schemes with alternative currencies to stimulate consumption etc... I wonder
how much that is part of the success (this money is used in typically
gesellian fashion, as otherwise thrifty chinese would just put it under the
pillow ..)

as for my native country, my wife just informed me of the curfew in
chiangmai, where a bus was burning in front of the school of the children ..

sad and dangerous times, but the growth of democratic movements is not
necessarily a bad thing,

Michel




On Wed, May 19, 2010 at 10:30 PM, Ryan Lanham <rlanham1963 at gmail.com> wrote:

>  On Wed, May 19, 2010 at 9:58 AM, Michel Bauwens <michelsub2004 at gmail.com>wrote:
>
>> Hi Maria,
>>
>> I'm personally for strong  public education, which does not necessarily
>> mean dysfunctional ones, including in the rural areas,
>>
>> it's perfectly possible to subsidize and sustain a wide variety of
>> distributed schooling based on free choice, as long as equal opportunity is
>> protected at the same t ime,
>>
>> after the 10 trillion dollar (2 officially, the rest through other means)
>> bailout of the banks, the reasoning that there is no funding available has
>> no credence,
>>
>> as for farming, far from dying out, it's due for a big resurgence ...
>>
>> of course, Ryan's suggestion may come out if extreme neoliberalism
>> succeeds in destroying the rest of public infrastructure,
>>
>> michel
>>
>
> Hi Michel:
>
> Sorry you are having these intrigues with our Greek friends.  Sounds like
> typical research funding issues to me, but alas, politics is everywhere.
>
> The real global issue now is sovereign debt.  How governments use funds is
> the crux.  Regardless of how those funds have been used in past (for war,
> for paying old people, for paying doctors, or for bailing out banks), for
> most nations, we are at the end of the rope.  There is not future in more
> debt.  Therefore priorities need readjusting.  Schools will not be a
> priority.  First, the payback is not clear.  Second, they are hopelessly
> labour intensive for no good reason.  Computers can replace much if not most
> of it (I prefer Tony Bates' and Stephen Downes' arguments as my surrogates.)
>
> Regardless, the issue is labour and debt.  Employment cannot increase
> without market capacity.  Therefore, real wages are frozen, unemployment
> is rising, and traditional Keynesian stimulus is only adding to debts.
> There is now some evidence that the US has broken this cycle (it seems ahead
> of where Europe finds itself.)   But the politics are easier in the US where
> socialism is less entrenched.  Europe, I must say, appears to be in a
> very bad way...particularly the so called PIIGS.  (Portugal, Ireland,
> Italy, Greece and Spain.)  But France and some of the Nordic countries are
> not that far behind.  The UK as well.  It looks grave.
>
> The real question is what China does.  If China starts to consume, then
> Europe might be saved.  That seems unlikely.  China wants the US to go
> greater into debt so it can sustain its foreign currency funded growth.
> That too seems unlikely.  The net of all this is that capitalism, for the
> most part, will remain stegnant (especially in Europe) for a generation.  If
> that is true, Asia will grow, Europe will become poorer, and global
> environmental crises will worsen.  That is the outcome I predict.
> Regardless, it will be a terrible time to be poor.  That's what makes
> deploying co-ops all the more vital.
>
> I am very sorry, by the way, for what is happening in your adopted land.  I
> don't see any good outcomes emerging.  Sadly, it seems civil war is likely.
>
> R.
>
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