Who's economy? / "Wem sein Volkswirtschaft?" Ronald John Bartle Newsgroups: uk.politics.economics, de.soc.wirtschaft Date: Sat, 15 Oct 2005 17:34:14 +0200 Local: Sat, Oct 15 2005 11:34 am Subject: Who's economy? / Betreff auf Deutsch "Wem sein Volkswirtschaft?" In much of the mainstream media, one get's the impression that the definition of a "good economy" that is being used is basically: "a good economy is one that allows maximum return with a wide choice of investments." They would appear to totally ignore that, even in the industrial nations - it is often only 4-6% of the population who are in a position to hold any significant investments. Even less attention goes to the (for me quite apparent-) fact that high/excessive profit-taking can mean that the mass of the population is suffering from the exploitative aspects of such relationships. When those quoted in the media call for a "reduction in the massive unemployment" but pay no attention to the fact that often a major reduction in unemployment simply means creating an army of the "working poor" this is quite transparently disingenuous. Surely the goal of a national/regional economy should be that a maximum percentage of the total population should be living as well as is possible. Calls for economic reforms that are thinly disguised calls for "more exploitability" and/or further transfers of the wealth from the less well-off into the pockets of the relatively few rich individuals sitting at the top tables of society, need to be recognised for the sham that they are. Am I one of a small minority who sees things this way (especially since 1989?) Alternatively - can you explain to me why my - perhaps rather _jaundiced_ - assessment of things is fundamentally flawed? ron b. ----------------------------------