Subject: At long last...
...on this morning's NPR in an interview with a 5th generation Taft - John Taft - an accurate analysis of our current U.S. situation: We are in an era of zero growth - following decades of 3%/y growth - brought on by resource shortages and environmental degradation; therefore gains anywhere in the economy must come at the expense of everywhere else in the economy. Taft also translated that to be the cause of fruitless negotiations between Obama and Boehner as heads of the 2 major parties - in the past during growth, compromise meant that both sides could benefit (grow), but now it translates to one side losing if the other gains. While skeptical of that translation, I suppose it might follow in our age of corporatocracy, with the two sides actually representing different moneyed interests rather than 'dear fellow americans.'
The reason for the interview was a Taft op-ed in the NYT by Taft flaming the current republican party:
You can listen to the NPR interview here, and the zero growth analysis is near the end.
If Taft is aware of the causes & implications he mentioned concerning a zero-growth economy, he almost surely is also aware of the other major corollary - that the current situation is but a way-point on a trend line that will take us into increasingly negative growth territory - again because of more severe resource shortfalls (peak oil etc.) and environmental degradation (climate change) to come.
This is the first time I've heard an NPR story related to peak everything, and hearing it from a coherent, 'genetic' republican was stunning. Who knows, maybe a 'genetic' democrat somewhere will pick up on it? And, how long before Wall Street muzzles this guy?
cheers,
Tooj
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