My economic philosophy is based on readings from Schumpeter, Smith, Walrus, Hayek, and Say, among other old-school economists. The true value of time is determined by light and dark; not wages to pay for rent.
Posted by
Doug Wolkon on June 13, 2009 at 1:43 pm
What causes the prices to go up and real value to go down? To understand what causes inflation, visualize using only one economic variable - LAND; because ALL material things we buy or use originate from the land.
The land may change form, but the wooden floor you stand on (trees), the fork you hold (metals), the road you drive on (asphalt, derived from oil), the T-shirt you wear (cotton plant), the boat you sail (fiberglass, from sand or silica), and the food you eat are all originally derived from the land.
Continued »
Posted by
Genna Wolkon on March 1, 2009 at 12:20 am
Huh? Can someone please explain to me what all this gibberish means?
How does this explain where my food and energy comes from?
Economics today is based on a language very foreign to the average person’s dialect, myself included. The top Economists in the U.S. aren’t even speaking English. They are so smart that they have discovered an intellectual logarithmic formula to ascertain how you and I will live in this monopoly game we call life, and yet none of us understand what the heck it all means. Continued »
Posted by
Doug Wolkon on October 13, 2008 at 11:34 am
They say that believing and knowing are two different things. Believing may be exciting or hopeful, but it is without the logic of knowing. To figure out the difference, lets ask ourselves some questions about the economy?
Do you believe that our banks are lenders, or do you know that they are borrowers?
Do you believe that our money markets are risk-free, or do you know that funds were lent to Lehman Brothers and AIG?
Do you believe that solar energy is more expensive than “alternative” forms, or do you know that silicon, the natural resource used to make Solar Panels, is the second most abundant element on earth after oxygen? Continued »
Posted by
Doug Wolkon on October 2, 2008 at 6:32 am
My parents (Happy Birthday Mom!) used to always say it, “Money doesn’t solve anything”. But it never hit home more than this past week when our leaders proposed a strategy to solve this “Economic Crisis” with more borrowed money? As if borrowing $700B is the answer to all our economic problems. Print another…
Oh yes, and our leaders say it must be “invested” in reinvigorating the establishment of credit. The government itself to go on credit in order to provide the credit, so that it will eventually trickle (yes, trickle) down to provide credit for the “average” American to eat as well. What a lifestyle, with a time gun to our head saying “pay me or else” all the way through! I can’t wait to get that credit flowing again. Continued »
Posted by
Doug Wolkon on May 11, 2008 at 3:17 am
The larger the supply of a particular paper currency the more inefficient such trading capital inevitably becomes (i.e. trade regulations, bureaucracy, taxes, big goverment, armed forces, etc.). On the flip side, pure or liquid barter is the most efficient way of trade as the cost of “money” remains current with the actual trade, and debt levels remain linked to real assets (Schumpeter and Walrus describe such debt to asset links in their vision of Economic Equilibrium). As the Euro makes its way into Eastern European countries, those countries local economies will inevitably inflate and get more inefficeint; as rents and wages will increase proportionately as a function of the Euro’s relatively inflated value. Continued »
Posted by
Doug Wolkon on February 11, 2008 at 10:40 pm
Any derivatives of $1 as currency increases our financial service costs (i.e. in the form of complicated accounting and just plain time to figure out the math at time of purchase). Economically speaking and unfortunately to all you labor, it allows labor time to be denominated down as math, not value. Continued »
Posted by
Doug Wolkon on December 10, 2007 at 8:15 pm
Although there may be many reasons, there is no purely rational reason for ever taking out insurance. In other words, taking out insurance is a fear-based, irrational decision. Essentially, you are betting against yourself. That is how the insurance companies make money, they make you bet against yourself and they take the other side. Statistically, they make sure the odds are at least 51% - 49% in their favor. They are playing off your fear and statistically, they win you lose, the majority of the time. Continued »
