What Can We Learn From the Ruins of Gary, Indiana?
Exploring deindustrialization by Matthew Christopher May 3, 2024
"...To understand the root of Gary’s problems, we have to understand why it was built in the first place. Gary was founded in 1906 by United States Steel on approximately 10,000 acres of swampland it had covertly purchased. Unlike other American cities that had a more organic evolution, Gary’s sole purpose was to manufacture steel at Gary Works. ...Gary was a metropolis born of the ruthless pragmatism of railway lines and shipping routes—not quality of life...
...In 1973, a recession in the global steel market led to drastic decreases in steel prices and mill closures across the country. The effects were severe and long-lasting, and steel towns were among the hardest hit...
...It’s a warning, a monument to loss....It’s really a shame to see everything that you grew up with gone.”
A Shareable explainer: What is the Solidarity Economy?
By Emily Kawano, originally published by Shareable May 9, 2024
"...Here are some key differences between the sharing economy and the solidarity economy:
Profit orientation: ...the solidarity economy actively seeks to downplay or redistribute profits to stakeholders and community members...
Community engagement: The solidarity economy is deeply rooted in community engagement and empowerment, aiming to improve local resilience and economic democracy...
Governance: Solidarity economy initiatives typically involve democratic or participatory governance, with stakeholders involved in decision-making...
Sustainability and equity goals: The solidarity economy explicitly aims for social and environmental sustainability and equity. While sharing economy platforms might contribute to resource efficiency, these outcomes are not always the primary goal..."
So if a free market works to optimize stuff by maximizing efficiency, and people are perfectly clairvoyant utility maximizing beings people would have gone vegan in order to maximize agricultural output, defined as max caloric return for humans.
But instead the lion’s share of output goes to maximizing calories for cows, pigs and chickens. Despite the fact they can convert non edible (for people) organic matter into human calories.
Remember folks, mainstream economists assert that 3C warming is OKEY-DOKEY. They also put universities on a commerce footing and lobbied for debt based higher education.
They also say they are a scientific discipline, because they believe that humans operate on a rational basis. Of course, they demonstrate highest evidence regarding that assertion & their rationale attainment. ;)
There’s a surprising connection between super-competitive workplaces and gender inequality at work. Two behavioral economists looked at the differences between men and women in how they respond to the chance of getting a bonus.
They found that women are less willing to persist in high-stakes tournaments, although they’re equally motivated to start in hopes of a bonus.
Just read @pluralistic's latest and now I'm angry all over again about how I can no longer call myself a Realist or a Rationalist because assholes have appropriated those terms to justify their bigotry and greed.
FWIW? A true Realist believes in full equality and rights for all without favor – because, realistically, any alternative system might get applied to YOU. It's irrational to think you are special.
Trickle down is literally a religion for economists. There is always a few professors of economics that SWEARS that if implemented correctly it will work THIS time.
The National Institute for Economic & Social Research has joined a growing clamour for the UK fiscal rules to be reformed as they are no longe fit for purpose;
the fiscal straightjacket that policy makers have imposed and/or accepted is aimed at an audience in financial services, whose interests are in no way in line with what the country now needs.
Deloitte has underestimated the risk. The global economy is already headed for extinction. It’s not fit to handle an extreme weather world. Climate change is not a future.
Millions of people are priced out of internet already, and it's only going to get worse.
"...Given how essential the internet now is to modern life, America remains worryingly uneven in its adoption of home broadband. According to a set of surveys that Pew Research Center has been running for the last 23 years, just 1% of American adults had a home broadband subscription in 2000; last year, 80% said the same. However, that growth hasn’t been mirrored across all income groups, with only 57% of adults in households where annual income is below $30K reporting a subscription to broadband at home late last year… and that was with the ACP in place..."
Kids can't do homework on Mom's phone, class. Internet should be regulated as a utility and available to everyone regardless of ability to pay. You literally can't function in modern society without it. You can't pay bills, and you can't find work.
This is what I think is a basic question. When a bank sells a home loan it's selling the total value of the loan, which is principal and expected total interest paid minus payments so far, right?
Used car prices coming down in the USA. This isn't great for new car buying as dealers will offer less on a trade. Dealers still aren't moving much on new car pricing (yet).
tcomes allow companies to stay ahead of the competition. They can cater to new wants and needs in the market. This theoretical description states the importance of economics in predicting changes in the global economy that can affect the supply chain. If you are a PhD research student who has embarked on the journey of ... Read...
“Cash subsidies provide more flexible housing support at a lower cost. The
current dominant model entails considerable overhead to pay for
government employees and contractors to manage relationships between
landlords and people in need."
File this under the heading economics is not even a dismal science, because mainstream economics isn’t even science. Economics could actually be a rigorous discipline, if orthodoxy can be kicked out.
“ In contrast to its attitude to private debt, which it ignores, mainstream economics obsesses about government debt. But this volte-face doesn't besmirch its record of being 100% wrong.”
I have to wonder about standard political talking points.
Dems crow of their budget cutting prowess to explain why the economy does better under them while hissing at Republican’s raising the deficit as an explanation of why the economy does less well. But MMT explains the opposite and I have to ponder that the reason is there’s a lag of a couple years.
Top 8 Tips for Successfully Completing Your Economics PHD Dissertation - Education Buffer (educationbuffer.com)
tcomes allow companies to stay ahead of the competition. They can cater to new wants and needs in the market. This theoretical description states the importance of economics in predicting changes in the global economy that can affect the supply chain. If you are a PhD research student who has embarked on the journey of ... Read...