Kategorie: general

Ownerless society – from Marx to neoliberalism

Marx wanted it – but neo-liberalism achieved it: societies without property and owners. The term is, however, inherently contradictory. Someone always exercises control over the physical environment, i.e. e. the houses, offices, workshops, factories, even rivers, lakes, and every square meter of forest. In other words, somebody always acts as the owner of property. In this sense, ownerless society is based on illusion. Ownerless society – from Marx to neoliberalism weiterlesen

Hannah Arendt versus Vladimir Putin

It is probably due to our biological origin as primates that our most intense feelings are so often associated with triumph over enemies. The Iliad is a hero song, where the bloodiest victories are celebrated with the utmost effort of poetical inspiration. No wonder, then, that the new Russian Czar invites his countrymen to indulge in these atavistic intoxication. More and more often, one can hear from his mouth how heroic the Russian people had fought against fascism and finally overcome it. Hannah Arendt versus Vladimir Putin weiterlesen

Donald Trump – the transatlantic ego-trumpet

What happens to a country with some of the best universities worldwide, where many of the most brilliant books about sociology, politics, economics appear, where, in other words, many of the world’s most influential intellectuals are still at home – what  happens to such a country when a man becomes president who seems to emerge right from a comics book where he would represent an American-style Obelix, but with an even more pompous self, a man who dares to  taunt the scientific community for its alleged ignorance in matters of climate change? Donald Trump – the transatlantic ego-trumpet weiterlesen

Positive Money – a theory built on sand and faulty logic

The following arguments represent a general criticism of various ideas asserting a creation of money out of nothing. Those who don’t know the work of professor Huber which the present article is meant to refute (Monetäre Modernisierung, 2016 Metropolis) need not be afraid. The following text may be read and fully understood without such knowledge. I will systematically contrast the view of orthodox money theory with the view proposed by the adherents of money ex nihilo (prefixed “N”). For further reading I recommend “Creating Money out of Nothing: The History of an Idea” by Mike King  – an excellent survey which, apart from providing a very useful historical summery, contains logical arguments supplementing those the reader will find in the following analysis.*1*

Positive Money – a theory built on sand and faulty logic weiterlesen

Good Governance: Let it be ecosocial!

To leave nature to our children and grandchildren undestroyed by the ever more weighty ecological footprint of present generations – within Europe, this demand meets with broad understanding. Nowadays there is little doubt that the steady increase in the consumption of resources wreaks havoc on the world’s natural resources, even as the residuals of industrial production tend to pollute air, water and soil to an ever-increasing worldwide scale. Good Governance: Let it be ecosocial! weiterlesen

Europe’s political madness

Wheat is still wheat, and pigs are pigs – that’s the difference with regard to computers, mobile phones or even cars, where every generation of products is subject to perpetual innovation. In essence, nature has created the pig (once this used to be God’s prerogative), since even the interferences of breeders are still rather limited. The so-called progress of agriculture is therefore almost exclusively due to the fact that pork, wheat, milk, and so on get cheaper. Europe’s political madness weiterlesen

On Money and Banks

Irving Fisher’s 100% Money – are banks criminal institutions?

Whoever tends to see the main evil of our time in the concentration of economic and ultimately political power in a few hands, will be skeptical as to promises of salvation based on mere technical modifications, be it in the sphere of money or anywhere else. Such promises were made more than half a century ago by the American economist Irving Fisher who proposed a reform of the monetary system. He wanted to introduce what he called 100% Money. At his time the proposal attracted some attention and does so again nowadays. It seems to offer a simple and seemingly plausible explanation for the current crisis as it is based on the assumption that banks act in a criminal way! On Money and Banks weiterlesen

The Money Multiplier – a dead end of economic theory

Regarding the extent of credit, supposedly „created“ by the commercial banking system, the most fantastic ideas present themselves to the public. I’m not talking about mere verbal inaccuracies, based on vague definitions. If I call commercial credits (or the corresponding savings deposits) by the name of “money” so as to make them undistinguishable from the coins or notes of a central bank, then commercial banks must in fact be considered the creators of vast sums of money, as they are the places were deposits and corresponding credits are to be found. Money properly speaking – the money created by central banks – will then represent nor more than an infinitesimal fraction of the total amount of „money“ to be found in the economy. The Money Multiplier – a dead end of economic theory weiterlesen

Europe’s Fiscal Pact – or how to make a deal with the devil

The euro area is struggling for survival. If you are still in doubt, listen to all those by now far less self-conscious, far less apodictic pronouncements of leading representatives from politics and economy. At the G20 summit in Los Cabos Jose Manuel Barroso even lost countenance!

„The euro is not in danger!“ How often did Wolfgang Schäuble, Minister of Finance, how often did the gurus of politics, economics and finance feign unshakable certainty! To no avail. By now, pure fear has spread to the Commission and the European Parliament. With the euro’s collapse not only the idea of European unity will be damaged – the Brussels Babel of Eurocrats will falter as well and with it thousand of its richly endowed sinecures. Europe’s Fiscal Pact – or how to make a deal with the devil weiterlesen