Fiction Daily

The Economic Meltdown, part 3

So I’m watching the news last night out of sheer masochism, when Brian Williams made this stunning announcement: Marion, he said, there is good news for you and Greg. Your mortgage has been paid!! BY YOU!!

Yepper, a fat $25 million in tax money has gone to Bank of America! What luck, because they own our mortgage!!

Honestly, I guess you could say that lots of people now own my house, with me. But this is ridiculous.

Actually, it’s a step in the right direction in some ways, for this ol-time socialist thinker. We have nationalized our banks. I just never expected it to happen this way.

My issue with the whole system, and with this bailout business, is why haven’t we ever ever applied this kind of focus, commitment and dedication to social problems? Why are our schools struggling? Why does a little boy in Maryland die of an abscessed tooth because his family has no health insurance?

This country has always been first and foremost about money. In many ways, that has allowed democracy to actually work … people with money are happy and they won’t riot.

Once people become poor and hungry, they will riot. Once people realize they have power, they will try to claim it … and take it away from the government.

So just keep a little change in everyone’s pocket and they will go along with the program, whatever it is. Yet these days, the whole system is grinding down to a stop: We have to grease the wheels of the big money machine.

Why hasn’t this kind of national effort focused on people? We develop and buy billions in weapons; we now owe an unthinkable amount to our banks and Wall Street. So why are children uneducated? Why is a doctor’s visit unaffordable for many people? Why does an old man lose his foot to diabetes?

Or, the Emperor Has No Clothes, Part 2

Yesterday this dilettante writer risked reputation and self-esteem to go on a bit about the economic meltdown. Having survived, today will look at the other side of Supply-Side Economics. Giving to those who already have is the dominant economic policy of the past 25 years. (”God Bless the Child,” as Billie Holiday would sing.)

Here’s another way to run a nation: Why not put money where it will actually benefit people? (I know, it’s a crazy thought.) My good friend and neighbor who manages large construction contracts says supporting infrastructure improvements would generate scores of jobs, and flush millions through the economy. Goods, such as concrete, iron and other materials, would enjoy strong sales, local governments could improve their communities … and let’s not overlook this tiny benefit: PEOPLE WOULD HAVE JOBS.

Infrastructure is only one example. What about our schools? Why did the Pitt County government, to use only one example, have to eliminate its Gifted and Talented Program this year? Surely it’s not because there’s no money: Somehow, someone has come up with an unspeakable amount to purchase bank stock today.

Funding schools … building them, too … would also put people to work, not to mention this tiny benefit: OUR CHILDREN WOULD HAVE A STRONG EDUCATION.

My friend, Charlie, calls this Demand Side Economics. I say, Great idea.

TOMORROW: Get out of my House, or Why Aren’t Adjustable Rate Mortgages a Crime?

OK … today I risk another tongue lashing (Mouse lashing? Keyboard lashing?) for taking on a subject out of my field, but I’m a smart-enough cookie to know wrong-thinking when I come across it. (Full disclosure: I am a writer and not an economist.)

So this week, FD takes a look at … the economic crisis!! (Drum roll, please!)

First up is so-called Supply-Side Economics. Until recently, I never fully understood what these theories and policies really meant, except fuel the market and everything will take care of itself.

Well, the reality is more insidious … and is one of the reasons we’re in this pickle. Starting in the 1980s (Reagan anyone?) certain theories came to predominate this country’s economic policies. Top among them was “supply-side” or, as some of us would say, Trickle Down economic politics.

The theory of Supply-Side is to give more to those who already have it … give more where the supply already is. Favor those who have the supply … tax cuts for the richest and for the biggest companies.

Without getting too far into the workings of this theory, it’s not too hard to see what lies at the heart of it: Stimulate the economy by stoking the big dogs.

An interesting conversation yesterday on my front porch with a friend, who’s well-read and perceptive. He manages enormous construction contracts and bids. A big-picture thinker who’s also quite conversant in art and music.

He described to me an alternative of Demand-Side Economics that would favor people who work for a living by stimulating projects, such as much-needed infrastructure.

TOMORROW: More on the economic crisis, featuring Adjustable Rate Mortgages!!

TODAY: HAPPY BIRTHDAY NOAH WEBSTER