Economics is the study of production. In every economy, there are markets where there are two main players; producers and consumers. There are also different players that assist either producers or consumers in their market. The goal of each participant in these markets, and hence, the economy, is the derivation of utmost utility; utility being the benefit the participant receives through their participation in their market. The basis and foundation of all economics is that production is based on utility, and the desire for each participant to realize the utmost utility by engaging in the activity that offers them the most utility and under circumstances that enhances it; whether it be profit, leisure, experience, or joy. The medium of achieving utility is via production.
The purpose of the creation is for us to connect to God.
Oil back up to $50 a barrel
Approximately 9.7% unemployment by end of year
US real GDP around 0%(+-0.5%)
The lock-downs have severely hurt the local economies where one was enacted. It is not a good idea to impose a lock-down because the damage from covid-19, if left untreated, is less worse than after imposing a lock-down. Now millions out of work, thousands of bankrupt and permanently shuttered businesses, and governments even more in debt thereby devaluing their currency. By the time a vaccine will be administered, herd immunity or virus begone. Inflation will be rampant, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. China is posing a great international threat in debasing the US as the world's big brother. Open up economies, offer cheap loans to citizens to help them get back on their feet, and enough of the corruption and robbery of government funds.
The economy still offers significant opportunities in the following areas; online sales, some tech companies(stay away from illogical valuations for unprofitable co's), hard assets, real estate, energy, ai, quantum computing, banking, alternative energy, small caps, and some others. You need to know what you're getting when investing in something. Ideally, you want an investment that has the ability to double itself from profits in a certain time-frame. The faster it can match the initial investment, the better the investment is.
Is production. If a country wants to have an exceptional economy, they must focus their efforts to foster production of goods and their export. Anything that increases the production of goods, the improvement of quality; will generate demand and cause the economy of a country to succeed.
Is to foster and protect the health and well-being of it's citizens. It's goal is to protect it's citizens through defense, just laws promoting fairness & peace, enable economic opportunity within it's borders, and protect the well-being of citizens through healthy practices, food & diet, education, and mental/emotional health.
In my opinion, logic is an absolute method of deriving the truth of anything and everything.
A government employee's salary should be capped at $100,000(excepting the president); don't go into public service expecting to get rich. The level of corruption in the US government(and almost all other governments) exists because it enables public workers to profit from their services outside of their governmental salary, thereby taking advantage of their positions at the cost of citizens. Not only that, but they should be subject to audits reviewing their income to ensure no illicit funding takes place. On the same note, lobbying should be outlawed. I fail to see how it is legal for a company to be able to expend funds in order to sway public policy or law; how doesn't this play into the hand of corruption?
Judaism is reality. It is the facts of life and way of understanding the creation, and accepting something for what it is. It identifies what's right & wrong. If you want to know what life's about, look no further than Judaism.
Due to low interest rates, the dollar will weaken; observable over the past few months. Gold will rise, inflation will rise, and the economy should be getting better. However, there is not much growth in the US and I think the days of 5%+ GDP growth per year are over for the US. Much of the world's growth and economic spring is coming out of China & India. The dollar is still the strongest currency(in terms of reserve status) because of the prominence of American goods in the world, but the dollar will be devalued and I don't know how much this will increase the demand for US goods; which doesn't bode well. One solution is for the US to ban Chinese trade and to move production to the US or India, and this can be done on political grounds or human rights grounds due to the poor ideology of the Chinese government. This will increase domestic demand for US labor, dollar, and goods; thus increasing the GDP and demand for domestic goods. While profits may fall at certain corporations, it will be for the greater good of the American economy by bringing demand back to the US. Also, when inflation goes up, the purchasing power of dollar holders goes down, and this hurts the standing of American people when demand for goods doesn't go up in hand.
Non-gold-backed currencies are forms of debt. Debt can be satisfied only when the debt holder receives something of value. Gold is a universal store of value due to it's rarity and it's because God made it that way. It has been the wealth of kings since the beginning of creation. Therefore, fiat currencies have no value in and of themselves except that they can mediate transfer of ownership of goods so long as the issuing government says so and is accepted between buyer & seller. Should one of these variable be missing, the finalization of the transaction is questionable. With gold, however, every locale will accept gold as a medium to transfer ownership because the acceptance and value of gold as a store of wealth is accepted universally and untied to the existence of any government. Therefore, if a currency's underlying economy doesn't produce enough goods or have the requisite demand to warrant the currency's distribution(and hence it's necessity to effect transfer of ownership), it's need/value will be diminished. With gold, it is not so this way.
It should be illegal because it creates debt that is unable to be satisfied in certain conditions. For example, in a national banking system where total deposits are $1t; if 90% of that gets loaned out, you now have a $1.9t national debt($1t from deposits by banks to depositors, and another $900b by borrowers to banks). That $900b can get deposited elsewhere, thus leaving a $900b hole. If the borrowers do not repay the $900b, the bank still owes $1t to depositors and the borrowers still owe the $900b to banks; but no one has all the money. In this case, the central bank(or national government) must step in to satisfy the debts. Now, this is a very unlikely case, but it is possible and no worse than a national emergency. However, if the central bank is strong enough to satisfy the debts(by having enough gold or assets), then it may engage in such a practice. However, should the lenders be unwilling to accept the fiat currency, it would be entitled to *seize* assets, even by force, to protect itself. This is a situation that must be considered. Nevertheless, fractional reserve banking is a working system, albeit a somewhat reckless one, that may be used as long as the dynamics of the participating economy are managed responsibly by the central bank behind it. A 10% reserve ratio is a safe one, because in the case of a crisis, the central bank can most likely cover near-term shortfalls in cash requirements to prevent insolvency. In a widespread situation of insolvency, the central bank may most likely find itself unable to avert disaster when it cannot cover the losses under the fractional reserve banking system.
It's interesting to note, that almost every nation is in debt. While it can be understood that expenses outweigh incomes occasionally, it is astounding that this seems to be the norm with almost *every* country. What are governments doing wrong? Spending too much? Inhibiting maximum production or utility? Corruption? Not fully known. But the standard that a nation is indebted, should be a joke. Where is the wealth of a nation going to? If a nation's government is in debt, it is because taxes and revenue doesn't cover costs to run it or it's investing in it's economy. Here, there are two options: increase revenue or lower expenses. To increase taxes, citizens must be doing well enough to cover the taxes without harming their ability to achieve maximum utility. Therefore,it is in government's best interest that citizens are in the best place for them because they will be most productive and successful, and most likely happy, thereby appreciative of their government and willing to contribute and support it's continuation. Other ways to increase revenue include utilities, defense, government investment in private corporations, public/private partnerships in exchange for use of land with percentage of profits as dividends, land sales, investments in businesses as loans, investments in education in return for a portion of income for a certain amount of time, sales of excess goods, and others. In regards to lowering expenses, this is very doable simply by negotiating government salaries, operational efficiency and the use of resources, accountability, sourcing, purchase negotiations, personnel management, and others. When a nation is not indebted, the benefits outweigh the efforts.
Central banks influence the economy through the setting of interest rates. When a central bank wants to facilitate growth, they lower rates to encourage borrowing and investment. If they wish to slow growth due to high inflation or imbalances in the growth, they raise rates to discourage borrowing. When rates are low, things cost more because there's more money in the system.
Should be implemented in every single country guaranteeing every citizen working a full-time job(at least 35 hours a week), enough income to support a family of four, as a supplement to a monthly income below a certain amount. For example, in Israel, a family of four will live sufficiently on an income of 7,000 shekels per month, albeit tight. Minimum wage, however, is 5,300 shekels a month. In such a case, where a family's income is 5,300 shekels a month and the UBI level is 7,000, the family would receive a supplemental 1,700 shekels to meet the basic income level. It serves as an incentive for people to hold full-time jobs and thus increases their skills and participation in the long run. Not only that, but studies have shown that people are happier and more productive under this arrangement.
If a family needed more income, there could be a second breadwinner, or hopefully the primary breadwinner receives enough due to skill increase over time and won't need UBI. Most of the country won't need supplements and most people will want/need to earn more than just the basic income, so it won't become a lifelong habit for most. Also, it won't be available unless a person actually works a full-time job, so it's not a handout enabling people to be lazy and live off the government(and this is a crucial condition for UBI to be tested successfully).
Wealth caps should be instituted in order to preserve the well-being of society and to maintain cash flow in an economy. If money flows yet gets held someplace for too long without producing anything, it weighs down the economy and keeps food out of the mouths of citizens. Not only that, but it eases function of money supply to maintain liquidity without putting pressure on the government to print currency or intervene. A proper wealth cap should limit one's cash holdings to $2m in today's value(tashap). Any excess funds over that amount must be disbursed by the end of one full year either by investing, purchasing goods, donations, or exemption for certain purchases for up to five years; like a home, where real estate prices should also be capped at $10m. A business will not have wealth caps and may hold as much money as needed to support it's business for up to five years. Any person holding over $2m after one year(or five years for businesses), without an exemption, will have the excess funds moved to the government account for public use and be credited with tax exemptions(without interest) to the end of their lifetime with credits outlasting their lifetime, expiring as tax credits. These types of caps ensure that currency keeps flowing and strongly encourages economic activity, while minimizing the greed and hoarding prevalent among many who enjoy excess wealth. Of course, special exemptions exist to provide for those who need it for special acquisitions or activities. While wealth definitely has it's benefits, it's acquisition shouldn't be a source of pride and wealth caps help prevent such.
Banks are an extension of an economy's central bank, and it is their role to provide funding and liquidity to it's citizens so they may engage in production. In a lesser role, they offer payment systems, storage, and occasionally, advice. They also serve the purpose of safeguarding deposits, excess funds the depositor has no immediate use for. An alternative to interest rates, which provides more force on a bank to lend money, is to take equity and dividends from a borrower/invested company during the time of a loan until the loan is paid back or the equity bought out by the borrower, instead of loan with interest. This setup requires more investment by the bank because the loan becomes an investment, and in the case the business doesn't succeed, the bank seizes the business; similar to mortgages. This arrangement increases the chances of success for two reasons; lower interest payments and support by the bank for the business to succeed. It benefits the banks also in that if the business is successful, the equity value of the loan/investment increases and allows for more profits. It also takes a longer-term outlook to lending and a personal investment by the bank's management, since it's in their interest for the business to succeed because then the equity goes up in value. It is also better for the economy by offering funding as an investment instead of an interest-bearing loan, encouraging entrepreneurship and innovation by access to credit from a stable business partner(banks), fueling production by banks deploying assets only where they see value, lower interest fees due to higher equity, a wider range of opportunities due to higher access to credit, lower debt due to more investment, and more.
It doesn't work. It only enriches the rich because we see that they much more rather keep money in their own pockets than hiring people. Not only that, but it doesn't do much for the economy because the money stays where it's not used; as opposed to bubble-up where money gets used almost immediately to feed households of the working class and tax revenues. The working class is the engine of the economy, and a shiny exterior without a well-oiled engine can only go so far. Strengthen the hands of the working-class/the majority, and you have a healthy economy and happy citizens.
In my opinion, the purpose of life is being connected to God. What other reason for living would you have if God wasn't in everything you do?
Real estate prices have been greatly affected by the availability of mortgages to fund their possession. Mortgages unjustly raise the prices of real estate because seller's know that higher prices can be had when banks will fund them. Home prices shouldn't be higher than their current build/material value and a function of the median income of the area translating to 1/5 of yearly income times ten or no more than 30% of build value, like retail goods. A home buyer shouldn't indebted for too long because it drags down the economy for the sake of artificially inflating value. An average home shouldn't take more than 10 years to pay off on an average income, nor should rent be more 1/10th of a home's build value.
When inflation is high, prices go up while purchasing power goes down. Inflation is *not* good. While a certain amount is tolerable and helps spur investment, it isn't good because it makes no real difference except to technically inflate(or make seem higher) actual production. So under high inflation, while gdp goes up, actual production may have stayed the same. It is best to have a static currency that maintains it's value in order to properly measure production levels. The way to achieve this is for central banks to enact policies that maintain a certain purchasing power for the currency for a basket of goods, by rate increases/decreases, taxation by the government, increasing reserve ratios, calling loans, purchasing loans, selling loans, etc; in other words, controlling or manipulating money supply and/or moving it where needed to support the market. On the other hand, when inflation goes up in a country, it devalues the currency and makes their goods cheaper for other countries to buy their goods, thus increasing their production; the downside is that the local country can buy less of foreign goods and thus become relatively poorer. To maintain a static currency relative to foreign countries, the central bank may buy/sell the foreign currency to maintain a purchasing power of a certain basket of goods in relation to the domestic currency. While traders can front run the central banks when they know they wish to maintain a static currency, the actual level desired should be secret only for the central bankers, leaving traders only to speculate.
It exists. Countries and governments around the world have been founded and supported by third parties for the purpose of profit and control of populations. They maintain a certain degree of control and influence of politicians, the financial systems, the media, and law to fit their systems of profit. They exert their influence in the media to attain a certain mindset among the general population so as to keep them unaware of their agenda to subjugate people to their systems of financial servitude by way of interest and consumerism. They will use religion, values, and false perceptions to maintain their system of control. They bribe and compromise politicians, actors, sports professionals, judges, lawyers, and any other person that could prove an asset to them at some point in the future. They have killed and are willing to destroy the lives of many for their purposes, and will use proxies to avoid punishment and prosecution. The ones at the top are mostly bankers and very wealthy families that use their power and influence to benefit themselves at the expense of a country's citizens. Their interests are fueled by greed and most of the world's corruption is funded and perpetrated by them. Pretty much anyone(although not everyone) holding a high position in government, media, business, law, and education has been put there by them and dangled in front of people to maintain their perceptions.