Entries in the 'Economy' Category

Agreement Is The Key

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: You claim that if we come to an agreement, we will be provided with all necessities, and everyone will have enough. But where are we going to get what people living below the poverty line lack?

Answer: For example, let me cite some information from “Calcalist“: “In the days of protest caused by the shortage of housing, 46,855 apartments are vacant.

“In Israel, there are 46,855 vacant apartments (4700 in Tel Aviv, 3400 in Haifa, 6% of empty apartments are in Jerusalem, 1423 in Petach Tikva, 1122 in Ramat Gan, 1114 in Holon, 902 in Rishon Le Zion).”

If we were to wish it so, we could get the owners’ consent to rent the apartments out at discount prices and receive high public appreciation.
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Economics Has Ceased To Be A Science

Dr. Michael LaitmanOpinion: (Joseph Stiglitz, Economist, Professor at Columbia University, recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences (2001), from calcalist.co.il): “’Economic models used by central banks caused the crisis.’

“’Three years ago, in August 2008, we gathered here in Lindau, and amazingly, there was not a single discussion prior to the giant crisis that came less than a month later. How could a group of leading economists who were supposed to think carefully about the main problems in the global economy have missed the biggest financial crisis in 75 years?’

“According to Stiglitz, ‘there is a serious crisis not only in economy, but also in the science of economics.’

“The macro-economic models, which were used by central banks until now, have created methods of work and thinking that are at the center of the crisis, and the chief among them is deregulation and the claim that if monetary policy will only worry about low inflation, it would be enough to keep steady growth. If we look back, these ideas seem almost absurd.”

My Comment: Economy reflects our egoistic connections. We have created this “science,” and it changes according to the growth and expansion of our egoism. Economy is its reflection, copy.

So today, when our ego has finished its development and formed a closed integral global system, different relations, typical of closed, rather than individual systems are manifested in it. But, as economists remained egoists and individualists, they cannot create a new economy—the economy of an integral global community.

Thus, their old tools are not suitable for our time. That is what the crisis is: the crisis of our outdated economic thinking. We must rebuild ourselves “from within,” become different, and match the new system of communication between us, which became manifested today.

To do this, we must create the environment around ourselves that will impose on us a new global integral relationship of interdependence through education, media, and so forth. Otherwise, we will not be able to see the crisis even a month in advance!
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Shifting To The Economy Of The Future

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: What economic concept does the idea of mutual guarantee offer?

Answer: It’s difficult to say something about the current transitional period. We have to work together with specialists. There is the economy that worked until now, and there is the economy of the next phase, built upon fair distribution and the provision of basic needs. A person will work to provide himself with the vital necessities in the commonly accepted sense, while investing all the rest of his efforts into inner growth because there he experiences fulfillment, which will eventually become infinite.

Together we decide how to provide for our vital necessities, and then, as we advance, we will see how they get reduced to the basic ones.

But for the time being, the world has to live normally. A person needs a home, a washing machine, a refrigerator, a vacuum cleaner, a bed, furniture, a school for his children, a pension, a vacation, health insurance, and so on. However, all of this is required to the degree necessary for existence, considering that all of our intentions aspire to mutual guarantee. This is the surest guarantee in and of itself: When I am sure that everyone takes care of me, I get rid of my egoistic worries. We have to help every person so he would be able to not think about himself.

For that we need an economy, banks, trade, and mutual calculations—everything that’s necessary for providing for seven billion people and for solving problems and compensating for unforeseen accidents and failures. In short, we need large scale systems, but ones that work on the principle of complementarity rather than competition.

Accordingly, we will give up excesses. Say, we won’t exchange our cars for new ones as often if the old ones are still fit for use. Or we will cancel expensive scientific projects that are pointless.

The problem is the transition, which is possible only on the condition that we work together, showing economists, sociologists, and political scientists the next state of the world. Then they’ll understand that there is no other choice but to shift from opposition to unification, and to discuss the ways to come out of the crisis in order to be saved from the threat of annihilation. They have to become aware of this problem, and then they will be able to compile a mutual, therapeutic program.

On our part, we have to influence the world as much as possible so the transitional phase won’t be so painful. This depends mainly on us. After all, everyone else is acting automatically, by the orders of egoism, which can only be budged by troubles and to some extent, our influence. And we are not addressing people’s minds, but are bringing our unity into human society, which will become a favorable ground.

Then they will suddenly feel, “There is something worth listening to here.” Even if they did not know anything before, on the inside they will admit that we are right.
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From the 5th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/25/11, “The Nation”

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Kids, Don’t Quarrel, Play Nicely!

Dr. Michael LaitmanOpinion: (Former German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder): “‘The current crisis makes it relentlessly clear that we cannot have a common currency zone without a common fiscal, economic, and social policy,’ Schroeder said.

“He added: ‘We will have to give up national sovereignty.’

“‘From the European Commission, we should make a government which would be supervised by the European Parliament. And that means the United States of Europe.’

“‘In the crisis lies a real opportunity to achieve a political union in Europe,’ he said.

“Schroeder, who says the EU can only respond to growing competition with the United States and Asia by being fully united, has long pointed to Britain as a hurdle to further EU integration.

“‘Great Britain causes the greatest problems. (It is) not in the euro but the British nevertheless always want to participate when it comes to designing a European economic area,’ he said. ‘That doesn’t work.'”

My Comment: The world will face the choice between integration and rebirth by suppressing its individual egoistic interests, or disintegration into separate parts and preservation of “unique identity.” And although disintegration will be obviously disadvantageous, it will egoistically confront unity, which requires rising above personal egoism. And thus, in the birth pangs, humanity will come to the realization of the plan of nature, to its full unity.
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Germany: The EU Rescue Plan

Dr. Michael LaitmanIn the News (from Spiegel Online International): “The head of Europe’s banking watchdog has called for the euro rescue fund to provide direct aid to ailing banks to help calm markets.

“The European Banking Authority, a supervisory body for banks in the European Union, wants the €440 billion ($635 billion) European Financial Stability Facility to provide direct capital injections to ailing banks.”

My Comment: This will not help! We will soon witness the collapse of the EU unless they take emergency measures towards true unification. We should treat not the consequence, but the cause pointing to the goal: We must become integrally interconnected by mutual guarantee throughout the world.

This is the direction of our development, and if our steps correspond to it, we do well in life and develop comfortably. But if we do not evolve in the direction of our evolution, the force of our development will continue to work on us and move us towards the goal, while we will feel it as a continuous source of suffering and problems in the environment, society, and everyone of us. And after much suffering, we will be wiser and agree to unite!
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Nazarbayev: World Drew No Conclusions From Financial Crisis

Dr. Michael LaitmanOpinion: (President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev): “Proper conclusions have not been drawn from the world crisis, while a transition to a new global economic model is only a subject for discussion, President Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan believes. ‘The world has not drawn the needed conclusions from the past crisis years, and now nobody can make a reliable forecast even for the coming few months….,’ he said.

“He suggested to adopt new bank regulation laws as soon as possible. ‘Three years ago we all saw what happened to our absolutely liberal banking system that was not controlled by anybody. Banks have turned into the gangs of swindlers and thieves,’ he continued.

“’Discussions around the law on project financing have been going on since the end of 2010, and I call your attention once again to the alarming situation in the world financial system. Those draft laws include legal guarantees to all the consumers of financial services. I suggest to proceed with their adoption,’ he stressed in conclusion.”

My Comment: However, nobody has a plan for exiting the current situation. It’s because they do not take into account the fact that this situation is a natural state of our evolution or rather, of our incompatibility with the global interconnected system of nature.
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A Trial Or A Farce?

Dr. Michael LaitmanIn the news (From BBC News): Former Icelandic Prime Minister Geir Haarde has appeared at a special court on charges of ‘failures of ministerial responsibility’ in his handling of the 2008 financial crisis.

“The country’s three main banks collapsed amid economic turmoil.

“Mr Haarde has called the case a ‘farce’ and says he wants it to be thrown out.

“Mr Haarde, who pleaded not guilty, said as he left the courthouse: ‘My conscience is clear….’

“Public opinion is divided, with some people seeing the trial of Mr Haarde as scapegoating, and others arguing that public accountability is essential following the country’s financial collapse.”

My Comment: All the economists and banks behaved in this way and continue to do so today because they cannot function differently even if they were honest in everything and put politics and personal interests aside. They do not know how to act in the world of new integral economic relationships that are becoming increasingly binding.
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Italy’s General Strike Over Austerity

Dr. Michael LaitmanIn the News (from guardian.co.uk): “Italy’s largest trade union confederation on Tuesday called a one-day general strike for Sept. 6 in protest against a government austerity plan it described as ‘unfair and wrong.’

“The strike call, though widely expected, is another blow for Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, whose popularity has plunged in recent months and who was forced by the European Central Bank to adopt the 45 billion euro austerity package.

“The left-wing union criticised the package over cuts to local and central government, plans to liberalise labour contracts and a lack of measures to tackle tax evasion.”

My Comment: Perhaps such pressures will force the government to look for a solution instead of a lame excuse and to consider our opinion: to see in what is happening a tendency toward mutual guarantee, which should be taught to the nation. Only such connection between us will re-build social and economic relationships, and we will not only come out of the crisis, but will rise to the form of a perfect society.
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EU On The Verge Of Disintegration?

Opinion: (Maxim Lopada, Financial Group BCS Express, from bcs-express.ru): “While politicians and economists discuss [financial] problems, the situation is quickly worsening. Banks lost trust in the ability of politicians and financial regulators to fix the situation.

“Bleak forecasts are becoming more real. Now the emphasis has shifted from the U.S. to Europe. Increasing often, the region is called “the trigger” of a new wave of problems in the world. Many talk about the disintegration of the European Union and controlled dismantlement of the European currency.”

1. Angela Dorothea Merkel, the current Chancellor of Germany: “‘The euro is in danger. If we do not avert this danger, then the consequences are incalculable and the consequences for the whole of Europe are also incalculable.'”

2. Herman Van Rompuy, President of the European Council: “The euro has never had the infrastructure that it requires.”

3. Josef Ackermann, Deutsche Bank AG (DBK) Chief Executive Officer: “‘All this reminds one of the fall of 2008….'”

4. Angela Dorothea Merkel, the current Chancellor of Germany: “… [ she is] warning of ‘incalculable consequences’ for the European Union if the euro were to fail.”

5. Christine Lagarde, the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF): “‘Developments this summer have indicated we are in a dangerous new phase. The stakes are clear. We risk seeing the fragile recovery derailed. So we must act now.'”

6. Herman Van Rompuy, President of the European Council: “‘We’re in a survival crisis.’…’We all have to work together in order to survive with the eurozone, because if we don’t survive with the euro zone we will not survive with the European Union.'”

7. Jean-Claude Trichet, President of the European Central Bank:”‘[We] have a very bumpy road ahead of us.'”

8. George Soros, Billionaire investor: “‘Let’s face it: we are on the verge of an economic collapse which starts, let’s say, in Greece but could easily spread. The financial system remains extremely vulnerable.'”

9. Gerhard Schröder, Ex-Chancellor of Germany: “‘And the crisis we are currently experiencing makes it abundantly clear that you can’t have a common currency without a common fiscal, economic and social policy.'”

10. Nouriel Roubini, co-founder and chairman of Roubini Global Economics LLC: “‘In the short term, we need to do massive stimulus, otherwise there’s going to be another Great Depression. Things are getting worse and the big difference between now and a few years ago is that this time around we’re running out of policy bullets.'”
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U.N. Study: Austerity Measures Pushing World Economy Toward Disaster

Dr. Michael LaitmanIn the News (From huffingtonpost.com): “The pursuit of austerity measures and deficit cuts is pushing the world economy toward disaster in a misguided attempt to please global financial markets, the annual report of the United Nations economic think tank UNCTAD said on Tuesday.

“‘The message here is very pragmatic: we need to reverse our course quickly,’ said UNCTAD Secretary General Supachai Panitchpakdi.

“The current policies were a disaster, said Flassbeck, head of the globalization and development strategies division at the U.N. Conference on Trade and Development, and a former deputy finance minister in Germany.

“‘If interests rates everywhere are zero, and if governments stick to the policy of not only keeping fiscal deficits where they are but retrenching, cutting public expenditure, then we will end up in permanent recession,’ he said.

“‘Unemployment depends very much on demand. And if you have no demand then you need government to step in with a huge program for stimulating the economy….’

“‘Let’s not fool ourselves. This is a realistic scenario for the whole developed world, if we do not understand the lessons now, and really quickly, because we do not have other instruments any more,’ Flassbeck told a news conference to launch this year’s report.”

My Comment: But nobody knows what we should learn from it, what conclusions we should draw, and what exactly we should do. Yet, they nevertheless do not want to listen….

Indeed, according to sound reason and the theory of egoistic capitalistic development of the past, one should save and think only of oneself. But on what theoretical basis should anyone listen to: Don’t save, think of all others?  We are approaching 2012, and judging from the letters I receive, many are panicking, fearing that the horrible predictions will come true.

But in reality, we only need to change our outlook to what is happening, to see that it is not a crisis, not cause for despair, but a thoughtful plan of nature to develop man. We need to accept what is happening now like a classroom exercise we must do to change ourselves in order to pass the high school examinations and enter adult life—new, harmonious, and good.
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