The Dollar, Gold and the World

The dollar, gold and the world

**part of the Global Economy 101 series**

by:  Tim Williamson
18 Nov 2010


Until now the dollar has been the gauge against which other currencies and economies are assessed and valued, but that situation is not tenable nor even desirable over the long-term. As other economies grow and mature, the strength and sustainability of other currencies matches, and in some cases exceeds, the metrics that define the overall palatability of the dollar as a hedge of stability, trade and finance for the rest of the world. It is only natural that as other economies mature, they would and should take their place as equal partners in sharing responsibility for protecting, promoting and insuring measured global economic growth and global governance. Either the dollar, and those who manage it, must accept this new multi-currency equality paradigm on the world stage, and the world continue to suffer wildly erratic economic cycles with multiple disjointed currencies, with their own separate fiscal and monetary policies, or we, as in the whole world, must pursue a new way to achieve sustainable, long-term, measured, and thus less volatile, global economic growth as a team through concerted and realistic global governance. Which will it be?

Tying a currency to a commodity is also not wise. All commodities are subject to price manipulation, bubbles, investor fears, supply, demand, institutional and personal avarice, state control of production, and so on, ad infinitum. These influences upon the commodity, no matter which commodity or basket of commodities is being discussed, are not manageable by any reasonable or rational system in the way that a single currency, and the amount of that currency in circulation, would be controllable. Why is control and manageability a requirement? The short answer is that we must manage inflation and deflation, and we must control the rate of growth, locally and globally, so that the economy does not burn up or melt down. Commodities, on the other hand, being subject to the fickle nature of the markets, and to the supply and demand of those commodities, will go up and down, and any currency tied to the commodities would likewise experience the same volatility. Whereas the volume of a single currency can be independently managed to give better and more efficient control of growth for the long-term. A commodity based currency is a proven invitation for chaotic economic volatility.

Gold is a commodity like any other. The only difference is that people unreasonably feel a need to possess gold in tough times. When people experience those tough times for extended periods beyond what they expect, then people rush to buy gold - like their fathers before them. This drives the price up, which in turn feeds more fear and 'onlooker' purchases, driving the price up again and again. This is the definition of a bubble - an unreasonable run-up in price. Gold is in a bubble now. We may not be at the peak yet. But it will fall and destroy lots of investors along the way when it crests the peak. It is a commodity. And thus subject to the whims of the market. By that very definition, gold is not even the best commodity to use to underpin a currency - its volatility is worse than using a less precious commodity. Which again strengthens the claim that commodities should not be used to 'back' a currency. Unless of course the entire world were willing to take that commodity out of all markets, restrict its supply, stop all prospecting, mining, and or production of that commodity, and give it a globally determined value between all states on the earth. Only then would it really work as a basis for defining the value of currency. But wait. If that is the case, then the commodity is not needed is it? Just a managed global currency would do the same without having to restrict a commodity or tie the currency to that commodity.

So the real solution is for the world to skip all the ancillary and intermediary explorations into ways that obviously will not resolve long-term economic issues and then create a strong global central bank and a single global currency for use by all peoples, states, businesses, and institutions worldwide. Some people, locally and globally, will not see long-term sustainable economic growth, nor a restoration of good jobs for themselves or their children, because apparently, by their actions or inaction, states would rather have their people continue to suffer, as they try to unilaterally adjust a complex and antiquated system that is not working, rather than give up a little of their supposed sovereignty on this issue for the sake of themselves and everyone else.

What steps should we pursue to encourage states to think outside their normal myopic self-interests when clearly a new way is demanded? While the real world grows smaller and smaller for all its people, the states and some people seem to be determined to turn inward in the face of facts. We either work together to form a better more unified and successful world or we will become squabbling isolated cavemen existing in insignificant tribes. Which do you prefer?

Challenge local - Solution globale

Challenge local - Solution Globalepar: Tim Williamson16 novembre 2010
QE2 est une tentative de court terme myope à résoudre un problème local. QE2 ne résout pas le plus important et beaucoup beaucoup plus importants défis à long terme qui se posent aux États-Unis et le monde - que de traiter équitablement et systématiquement et rapidement avec le fait incontournable que toutes nos économies distinctes sont étroitement liés et interdépendants. Si un État manipule sa monnaie directement, ou d'une autre le fait indirectement, par exemple en QE2, toute l'expérience des conséquences de ces actions à des degrés divers - certains gravement, et certains moins que d'autres.
Étant donné que nous n'allons pas revenir en arrière sur l'influence mondiale de l'Internet et l'informatique, que ce soit sur nos téléphones, ordinateurs de bureau ou ordinateurs portables, et que les entreprises vont se rendre dans les endroits où les coûts sont réduits, alors deux choses se feront sentir à au niveau local.
Tout d'abord, si les ressources humaines et naturelles ne sont pas facilement disponibles à un bon prix au niveau local, puis les entreprises, qui ne manqueront pas de suivre les principes du capitalisme, se déplacera à réduire leurs coûts afin qu'ils puissent vendre leurs marchandises à un prix compétitif localement et globalement, si elles veulent survivre. Dans le cours naturel des événements dans un état donné, une entreprise se déplace d'un endroit à l'autre que lorsque les coûts de production et de transport sont considérablement suffisamment faible pour justifier que déplacer et besoins de ses clients peut encore être atteint. Le monde est à ce point aujourd'hui. Et, ce mouvement ne fera que s'accélérer avec le temps. Il n'ira pas dans le sens inverse.
Un système de communication mondial, de réduire les coûts de transport, réduit les coûts de production dans différentes régions du monde, contribuent à cette évolution naturelle de la migration d'affaires autour de la terre. Nous n'allons pas être en mesure d'arrêter ce mouvement, nous devons donc œuvrer pour rendre les autres paramètres, sur lesquels nous avons certains disent, plus efficace et plus moderne. Cela m'amène à la deuxième.
Puisque nous ne sera pas en mesure d'arrêter le transfert des activités d'ici à là, et retour dans le temps, alors quelle partie du système local et mondial présente les plus grands défis à la stabilisation de l'ensemble de nos économies distinctes, offrant l'opportunité pour le développement durable et significative de l'emploi à long terme, et d'encourager la croissance des entreprises privées et d'entreprises et le développement? Y at-il une telle chose? Avec force, Oui! Mais seulement si nous avons le courage de le faire se rendre compte que d'un avenir stable et sûr pour chacun de nous, individuellement et collectivement est beaucoup plus importante que le maintien des sens de l'isolement et le protectionnisme au sein de deux Etats distincts. La solution réside dans l'amélioration des systèmes mondiaux de la finance, l'économie, la monnaie, les banques, le commerce et la gouvernance. Oui! C'est un défi de taille, mais pas celui qui n'est pas insurmontable.
Qu'est-ce que ça veut dire de chercher à améliorer les systèmes mondiaux? Le système actuel de réglementation massive et complexe entre les Etats est la rupture à cause de sa complexité, et parce qu'elle ne résout pas le problème réel - Une connexion de plus en plus et de dépendance entre les Etats. Les États-Unis face à cette difficulté dans son passé aussi. Le système des États-Unis au début des Etats séparés et souverains avec leurs propres banques centrales et les diverses politiques monétaires et fiscales et de devises à plusieurs reprises connu des turbulences économiques, jusqu'à ce qu'un plan a été élaboré qui a toutes les banques d'État en vertu d'une banque centrale nationale avec une monnaie unique national. Oui! Il a fallu de nombreuses années, mais la nation finalement mis en oeuvre le plan de Hamilton.Son plan a créé une banque centrale forte pour les États-Unis. Il a travaillé.
Nous avons besoin du même système à l'échelle mondiale. Nous avons besoin de créer une banque centrale mondiale forte et une monnaie mondiale unique pour être utilisé par tous les individus, les entreprises et institutions à travers le monde. Et, de façon réaliste, nous avons besoin d'un organe unique de gouvernance, à laquelle tous les Etats sont responsables, et pour lesquels l'organisme est responsable - tout en appliquant et l'application de la Déclaration universelle des droits de l'homme dans le monde. Mais il faut faire davantage pour créer un avenir durable pour tous les niveaux local et mondial.
Sommes-nous vraiment sérieux au sujet de l'amélioration de nos économies locales et de l'état et la situation de tout notre peuple? Vraiment? Dans quelle mesure sommes-nous honnêtement prêts à nous aider et les autres à réussir sur le long terme? Ensuite, il est temps de cesser de jouer avec notre peuple à court terme des solutions d'huile de serpent myope et ensuite poursuivre à long terme des solutions concrètes.En l'absence de vision, le peuple, et les Etats, mourir. Si nous voulons sérieusement prospérer et de croître, alors nous avons besoin d'un vaste projet d'engager les entreprises et les États du monde. Quelque chose vers lequel toute la planète peuvent travailler. Quelque chose qui inspire l'imagination et stimule les entreprises privées à travers le monde. Nous avons besoin d'une projection globale à couper le souffle pluriannuel vers lequel nous pouvons tous travailler. Ensuite, vous verrez non seulement les économies locales à prospérer et de croître, et les personnes et les entreprises à prospérer, mais vous verrez d'énormes progrès dans les sciences, la médecine, l'ingénierie et la technologie disponible pour tous alors que nous poursuivons cette vision. Quel type de vision d'inspirer le monde entier? Toutes les idées?
Tim WilliamsonBrookwood, en Alabama, Etats-Unisglobaleconomy101@gmail.com

Local Challenge - Global Solution

Local Challenge - Global Solution
by:  Tim Williamson
16 Nov 2010

QE2 is a short-term near-sighted attempt to solve a local challenge.  QE2 does not solve the more significant and vastly much more important long-term challenges confronting the US and the world - that of dealing fairly and systemically and quickly  with the inescapable fact that all our separate economies are intertwined and interconnected. If one state manipulates its currency directly, or another does so indirectly, such as by QE2, all experience the consequences of those actions in varying degrees - some severely, and some less so than others.  

Given that we are not going to turn back the clock on the global influence of the internet and computing, whether on our phones, desktops or laptops, and that businesses will move to those locations where costs are reduced, then two things will be felt at the local level.  

First, if the human and natural resources are not readily available at a good price at the local level, then businesses, which will inevitably follow the principles of capitalism, will move to reduce their costs so that they may sell their wares at a competitive price locally and globally if they are to survive. In the natural course of events in a given state, a business will move from one location to another only when production and transportation costs are significantly low enough to justify that move and its customers needs can still be met. The world is at this point today.  And, this movement will only accelerate over time.  It will not go in reverse.  

A global communications system, reduced transportation costs, lowered production costs in differing regions of the world, contribute to this natural shift in business migration around the earth.  We are not going to be able to stop this move, so  we must work to make the other parameters, over which we do have some say, more efficient and modern.  That brings up the second point.

Since we not going to be able to stop the move of businesses from here to there, and back again over time, then what part of the local and global systems presents the biggest challenges to stabilizing all our separate economies, offering the opportunity for sustainable and significant long-term employment, and to encourage private and corporate enterprise growth and development?  Is there such a thing?  Emphatically, Yes!  But only if we have the guts to do it realizing that a stable and secure future for each of us individually and collectively is much more important than maintaining some sense of isolation and protectionism within separate states. The solution lies in improving the global systems of finance, economics, currency, banking, trade, and governance. Yes!  It is a tall order, but not one that is not insurmountable.

What does it mean to seek to improve the global systems?  The present system of massive and intricate regulations between states is breaking down because of its complexity, and because it does not fix the real problem - One of growing connection and dependence between the states. The US faced this difficulty in its past too. The early US system of separate and sovereign states with their own central banks and individual monetary and fiscal policies and currencies repeatedly experienced economic turmoil, until a plan was devised that brought all the state banks under a national central bank with a single national currency.  Yes! It did take many years, but the nation eventually implemented Hamilton's plan.  His plan created a strong central bank for the US.  It worked.

We need the same system on a global scale.  We need to create a strong global central bank and a single global currency to be used by all individuals, businesses and institutions worldwide.  And, realistically, we need a single governing body, to which all the states are responsible, and for which that body is responsible - while applying and enforcing the Universal Declaration of Human Rights globally.  But more is required to  create a sustainable future for all locally and globally.

Are we truly serious about improving our local economies and the condition and situation of all our people?  Really?  To what extent are we honestly willing to help ourselves and others succeed over the long-term?  Then it is time to quit playing games with our people with short-term myopic snake-oil solutions and then pursue long-term real solutions.
With no vision, the people, and states, die.  If we seriously want to prosper and grow, then we need a massive project to engage the businesses and states of the world. Something toward which the entire planet can work.  Something that inspires the imagination and spurs private enterprise throughout the world.   We need a global awe-inspiring multi-year goal toward which we can all work.  Then you will see not just local economies thrive and grow, and people and businesses prosper, but you will see huge improvements in the sciences, medicine, engineering and technology made available for all as we pursue that vision. What kind of vision would inspire the whole world?  Any ideas?

Tim Williamson
Brookwood, Alabama, USA
globaleconomy101@gmail.com

Fixing the Global Economy

Fixing our Global Economy

By Tim Williamson

6 Nov 2010

For some inexplicable reason the some in the US seem to think that the solution to our economic challenges can be found in closing ourselves off from the rest of the world and curling up into a fetal position within our borders.  

Many in the US seem to think that the US is the worlds' preeminent authority and final judge, jury and executioner on what is the best economic course for the entire world.  But our recent policies appear to be myopic and insular, and some might say even protectionist.  Such actions are short-sighted, narrow and detrimental to sustainable local and global growth and prosperity.  The solution for the long-term requires global coordination, cooperation and simplification.  The solution does not lie in making the current system more complex with onerous balance, currency, trade, and reserve rules, but does demand a total and quick paradigm shift away from that which currently exists.  So, is there a better way?

Yes!  There is a better way.

The world needs a big idea. The world needs a massively challenging and glamorous global project.  A project  that captures the imagination, passion, hearts and minds of people everywhere.  One that involves corporate and private enterprise from the very beginning, promotes business creation, growth and expansion, and involves states, governmental agencies and NGO's from around the world.  Such a global project will encourage job creation, foster scientific and technological advancement, help raise the standard of living for many around the world, could potentially stabilize the world economy (and thus local economies), grow businesses, increase global unity and cooperation, bring an end to potential currency wars, unify currently disjointed currencies and central banks, and be a long-term sustainable economic and growth solution for people all across the planet. Is that asking too much?  The scientific, technological and business growth that occurred as a result of the space race, to earth orbit and the moon and beyond, helped local states and local economies in the past several decades.  Just imagine what such a massive concerted global effort would do for the whole planet.  Wars have done the same thing, during the war anyway, but that is not a viable option for anyone today.  Is this the better way?

Presently the world is suffering.  Some economies are stagnant.  People need work, and they need a restoration of confidence in the future. The threat of currency wars loom in our future because of the myopic actions of a few states; but none of this need be so.  Together we can overcome these obstacles.  Together we can move into a brighter more secure future. The current way is no longer viable.  We need to trade the current paradigm for a new way of thinking.  The present system is not working.

There are several possible outcomes if states continue unilateral economic and currency actions rather than working together to solve supra-connected economic challenges - stagnation, continued degradation of jobs and consumer confidence, or war;  or, we can choose to find a way to inspire and motivate the world, thus saving and growing jobs. Which would you choose?  There are options that can pull the world off this perilous path.  There are ways to help end the suffering.  There are ways to get local economies growing by getting the global economy moving, but none of this is possible if the states of the world continue to act as if they are islands alone in the world.  Real, long-term solutions, can only be realized in cooperation with others around the world, not through independent isolationist actions. Those days are long gone.  It's time to change our thinking about the way we conduct our connected lives around the world - we either face this reality, or we disintegrate into clans and enclaves of petty tribes.

Unilateral economic, fiscal and monetary decisions made by any state in isolation from the rest of the global economy and global community will give the people and businesses of that state a false sense of control, a false sense of confidence and growth over the short-term.   But, that short-term feeling is an illusion.  Actions by some states to regulate their state currency also falls into this category.  Yes!   It feels good to see the markets pushing upward, and it may spur some spending for the holiday season, but it is a short-term illusion impacting only Wall Street not ultimately the people on the street.  The recent QE2 (Quantitative Easing)  action by the US Fed was very short sighted, and may even have been a political move to appease US population anxiety over stagnation in its local economy and employment.  The long-term affect of QE2 however will be deleterious and negative for the state and the global economy.  This action by the US Fed was taken myopically and unilaterally.  There is a better way.

The immediate affect of QE2 is that the rest of the states of the world are beginning to distrust the motives of the US, and the commitment of the US, toward sustainable global growth.  No longer do nations have the right to act independently and unilaterally regarding any action that has consequences outside of its borders. It’s illogical.  It’s irrational. It’s irresponsible.  And, it is no longer acceptable to act in such a way. This, by the way, applies to all nations on earth, not just to the US or China. To the vast major of the world, it seems that the US is playing fast and loose with their words, and not being a true global partner and team player.  The US (and others where the shoe fits)  must realize that it is not alone on the planet.  The US is not nor will ever be an island unto itself ever again, and is not the sole arbiter of global policy initiated by its local actions. No state can last and succeed for long if its policies do not recognize the inexorable connection each state has with the rest.  We’re in this together.  Your monetary and fiscal policies and actions affect me, and my decisions affect you.  That is the inescapably truth.  We must learn to work within that truth, or we will face continued global and local economic stagnation and decline for a very long time.  Is that what you want?  Do we want to settle for the illusion of immediacy, or do we want things to be better over the long-term? There is a better way.

With each passing day, the ties that bind the states of the world together are growing irreversibly stronger.  Whether monolithic states realize this or not, any person on the planet can purchase a quality product from anywhere else on the planet and have that product delivered to their door within a few days.  What does that mean for the individual, for businesses, for the states?  It means that individuals all around the world have choices based on an open global market for products at great prices manufactured anywhere on the planet.  It means that businesses will, especially if they want to survive and thrive according to the free market capitalism model, move to those locations offering reduced costs of production - to say that businesses should not move anywhere on the planet to reduce their costs is to deny the most basic principles of capitalism.  It means that states, individuals and businesses either adapt to this new paradigm, and take an active and honest role in developing a unified global system of currency, banking, financing, trade and economics, having put aside their myopic parochial insular tendencies, or they will continue in economic and employment stagnation and will experience long-term decline, no matter the short-term gains from protectionism and isolationism.  There is a better way.

What is this way that may be better?  It is a way that requires the US, China, India, the EU, Brazil and all others around the world to be team players of equal status on the world stage for the sake of the future. It requires that nations base their actions on a global plan and global unity, not just on a local imperative for immediate self-gratification. The world must take a longer-term view, and must have a plan, purpose and goal toward which to work.  Fiscal and monetary regulation can be equated to the control rods in a nuclear reactor - a necessary element whose proper control prevents either meltdown on the one hand, or regulated energy production on the other. It is true that 'we' can not control other governments, but, again, strengthening global cooperation and sharing global responsibility for the stability and growth of the planet can be done, but not unilaterally.  It requires a commitment to a vision of growth and prosperity for the whole world, not just for or by one nation, when in fact no one nation will ever again succeed in the long run without the other nations of the earth as their friends, partners and neighbors.  It means that if we are serious about securing a better future for our children all around the world, then the states and people of the world must realize that it can only be done by a union of the states of the world, not as a disjointed association of myopic self-serving entities. The technological reality of this is already in place.  Most people know this, but the states are lagging behind reality.

Neither the US economy, nor that of any individual state, can be repaired in isolation from the rest of the world - that particular genie has left the bottle and will never be put back in again. It should be obvious by now that the success of the US economy is inextricably tied to the success of the global economy. What the US does affects the world, and conversely, what the rest of the world does affects the US. What the EU does affects the whole world.  What Russia, China, India, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and Brazil does affects all of us. This simple statement is an inescapable fact - each of us must learn to be team players on the stage of our interdependent and interconnected world, or face a long-term bleak future for our people, products and services. There is a solution, but only if the states are actually willing to actively and aggressively pursue a solution in cooperation and unity with the rest of the world.

Two things come to mind for possible solutions.  Both of these offered paths to solution come from proven successes found in US history, albeit on the limited local scale of a single nation.  First, we must work to strengthen even more our global markets and our global unity through the WTO, the IMF and especially through the UN, and create a strong global central bank with a single global currency. Doing this would smooth out turbulent economic issues around the world. Such a system was developed and implemented successfully, on and off at various times, in the US in its early history.  It worked exceptionally well for the US, it will do the same for the world today - minus of course the tariffs and protectionism of a young immature nation.

Secondly, we need a massive, inspirational and awe-inspiring project where people and businesses and states can work together toward a common global goal and purpose. Such a project must be so large and visionary that it spurs the creation of new businesses and  technologies and thus improves employment in virtually every state on the planet.  It must be a massive project that captures the imagination and the hearts and minds of people everywhere. Such a goal will create jobs, inspire people, raise consumer confidence, and advance science and technology, and promote measured growth and prosperity throughout the world. Do you have any suggestions?  Think on a massive huge planetary scale.  It can not be something narrow and parochial, but must be challenging, visionary, passionate, long-term, massively huge and truly global so that as many people, businesses and states can be involved as possible. The way in which we are intimately connected with other states around the world requires a massive global project, not just projects particular to one state, in order for there to be long-term success and prosperity for all.  An awe-inspiring project of this magnitude can only be done on a global scale. No one nation, or business, or individual has the resources necessary to capture the hearts and minds of the planet, or to encourage job creation and economic growth that will positively affect local economies globally.

A massive concerted global effort of this magnitude would pull the world together and give us purpose and direction, continuity, economic growth and sustainability, and a common identity.  It could pull the world out of the economic doldrums.  Let’s bring this discussion down to earth, ... so to speak. In many cultures, languages and nations on earth, there is a saying that basically goes, 'people die for lack of vision'. How is that applicable today? What does that saying mean? Most people in the world, if they want or need something, set themselves a goal, then work toward that goal. Let's say you want a new and bigger home or automobile for your family. How do you go about getting it? Unless you're already wealthy, you set the attainment of that object as your goal. You make a plan for yourself and your family so that you can achieve your objective. In other words, you work toward your goal. What is the result of you and your family working toward that common, collective, goal? If you work hard, plan, and you are creative and innovative, you will get that which you have set your mind to get. It wasn't the money you were after, but rather the achievement of the goal.

How was the goal defined and expressed to your family? Did you say to your family that this is something that we need collectively, and that it is very important for us, and that it will take commitment on the part of all of us, working together, before we can get it? Did you inspire your family with your vision?  Did you motivate them to achieve this common goal? Was it necessary to keep the vision of the attainment of that goal before yourself and your family?  What ancillary benefits are associated with having gained your collective goal - family unity, security, maybe even a new family business enterprise, happiness for you and your family, and even some wealth along the way. It was not the pursuit of wealth that got you there, but rather the pursuit of the goal that made it possible. In other words, money, by itself rarely motivates, but a specific goal does motivate. A specific goal inspires creativity, encourages action. The very pursuit thereof is a reward in and of itself.  This was not a selfish goal. It was not just for you and you alone, but something good for the whole family, in many many different ways.

The same logic is applicable to business - no goal, no vision, no purpose beyond just making money, then no long-term success.

The same is also true for states, and yes, even the entire planet today - no goal, no vision, no purpose, then no long-term success.

By working together, we can offer a better future to our children, but not by ourselves - that bird has left the nest, never to return again. Isolating ourselves, and putting up any protectionist policies - QE2, currency regulation, multiple currencies, numerous central banks - are the old paradigm and must now go the way of history and the dinosaurs.

There is a better way.

Tim Williamson

Alabama, USA

nanoproducer@gmail.com

1-205-765-6090

The US Fed vs the World

The US Fed vs the world

Unilateral economic, fiscal and monetary decisions made by any state in isolation from the rest of the global economy and global community will give the people and businesses of that state a false sense of control, confidence and growth over the short term.   Yes!  It feels good to see the Dow pushing upward, and it may spur some spending for the holiday season, but it is a short term illusion impacting only Wall Street not ultimately the people on the street.  The QE2  action by the US Fed is very short sighted, and may even be a political move to appease US population anxiety over stagnation in its economy and employment.  The long term affect however will be deleterious and negative for the state and the global economy in very specific, obvious and immediate ways.  There is a better way.

The immediate affect is that the rest of the states of the world are beginning to distrust the motives of the US, and the commitment of the US, toward sustainable global growth for the entire planet.  It seems that the US is playing fast and loose with their words, and not being a true global partner and team player.  The US is not alone on the planet.  The US is not nor will ever be an island unto itself. We’re in this together.  Your monetary and fiscal policies and actions affect me, and my decisions affect you.  That is the inescapably truth.  We must learn to work within that truth, or we will face economic stagnation and decline for a very long time.  Do we want to settle for the illusion of immediacy, or do we want things to be better over the long term? There is a better way.

With each passing day, the ties that bind the states of the world together are growing inexorably stronger.  Whether the states realize this or not, any person on the planet can purchase a quality product from anywhere else on the planet and have that product delivered to their door within a few days.  What does that mean for the individual, for businesses, for the states?  It means that individuals have choices based on an open global market for products at great prices manufactured anywhere on the planet.  It means that businesses will, especially if they want to survive and thrive according to the free market capitalism model, move to those locations offering reduced costs of production.  It means that states either adapt to this new paradigm, and take an active and honest role in developing a unified global system of currency, banking, financing, trade and economics, having put aside their myopic parochial insular tendencies, or those states will continue in economic and employment stagnation.  There is a better way.

There is a better way.  But this way requires the US and others around the world to be team players on the world stage for the sake of the future. It requires that nations base their actions on a global plan and global unity, not just on a local imperative for immediate self-gratification. Fiscal and monetary regulation can be equated to the control rods in a nuclear reactor - a necessary element whose proper control prevents either meltdown on the one hand or regulated energy production on the other. It is true that 'we' can not control other governments, but, again, strengthening global cooperation and sharing global responsibility for the stability and growth of the planet can be done, but not unilaterally.  It requires a commitment to a vision of growth and prosperity for the whole world, not just one nation, when in fact no one nation will ever again succeed in the long run without the other nations of the earth.

Neither the US economy, nor that of any individual nation/state, can be repaired in isolation from the rest of the world - that particular genie has left the bottle and will never be put back in again. It should be obvious by now that the success of the US economy is inextricably tied to the success of the global economy. What the US does affects the world, and conversely, what the rest of the world does affects the US. That simple statement is an inescapable fact. The US must learn to be a team player on the stage of our interdependent and interconnected world, or face a longterm bleak future for its people, products and services. There is a solution, but only if the US, and other fiercely independent states, are actually willing to actively and aggressively pursue that solution in cooperation with the rest of the world.


Two things come to mind for possible solutions.  First, we must work to strengthen even more our global markets and our global unity through the WTO, the IMF and especially through the UN, and create a stronger global central bank with a single global currency. Such a system was developed and implemented successfully, on and off at various times, in the US in its early history.  It worked exceptionally well for the US, it will do the same for the world today.

Secondly, we need a massive inspirational and awe inspiring project where people and businesses and states can work together toward a common goal and purpose. Such a project must be so large and visionary that it creates new businesses and  technologies and thus improves employment in virtually every state on the planet.  It must be a massive project that captures the imagination and the hearts and minds of people everywhere. Such a goal will create jobs, inspire people everywhere, raise consumer confidence, and advance science and technology, growth and prosperity throughout the world. Any suggestions?  Think on a massive huge planetary scale.  

Tim Williamson
Alabama, USA
1-205-765-6090
nanoproducer@gmail.com

Toward a Sustainable Global Economy

Yes!  There are significant obstacles to overcome on the global stage, but they are not insurmountable.  For the most part, markets and costs drive the translation of businesses around the world.  Consumer demand, for the larger part, drives the creation of jobs.

Fiscal and monetary regulation can be equated to the control rods in a nuclear reactor - a necessary element whose proper control prevents either meltdown on the one hand or regulated energy production on the other. It is true that 'we' can not control other governments, but, again, strengthening global cooperation and sharing global responsibility for the stability and growth of the planet can be done, but not unilaterally.  It requires a commitment to a vision of growth and prosperity for the whole world, not just one nation, when in fact no one nation will ever again succeed in the long run without the other nations of the earth.

Neither the US economy, nor that of any individual nation/state, can be repaired in isolation from the rest of the world - that particular genie has left the bottle and will never be put back in again. It should be obvious by now that the success of the US economy is inextricably tied to the success of the global economy. What the US does affects the world, and conversely, what the rest of the world does affects the US. That simple statement is an inescapable fact. The US must learn to be a team player on the stage of our interdependent and interconnected world, or face a longterm bleak future for its people, products and services. There is a solution, but only if the US, and other fiercely independent states, are actually willing to actively and aggressively pursue that solution in cooperation with the rest of the world.

If our fiscal and monetary policy solutions are based solely upon what happens within our borders, at the exclusion of larger global currency, banking, trade and economic issues, then the US will be relegated to third world status having no longterm prospects for growth and continued economic sustainability. There is no longterm employment and economic solution that does not incorporate a global solution and perspective for the US or any individual state. Such a thing is no longer a viable option. So the US, and all the states of the world, if they are truly serious about their longterm growth, prosperity, and sustainability, must work with the rest of the world rather than seek political and economic protectionist solutions. Longterm local growth and prosperity is tied to the success of the global economy. It is as simple and as complex as that.

In today's high tech world, any person can find the item or service he or she wants, at a great price and quality, from anywhere on the planet and have that item shipped to their door within a few days. What does that mean for a business that wants to succeed, locally or in a global market place? Naturally, in a free market capitalist society, business will go where the costs are reduced. To suggest otherwise is contrary to free market rhetoric. As a matter of fact all you need do is look at businesses in the US throughout its history, and you will see that businesses have constantly moved to those locations where costs were reduced. This movement is not something with which the people in the US are unfamiliar. So what do we do? How do we address the translation of businesses from one place on earth to another when we know people need good paying jobs at home? What should be done ameliorate the negative local effects of global business translation? The answer lies in cooperation and the strengthening of our global ties, not protectionist isolationism or parochial myopia.

Every state will go through this cycle of business evolution as an economy matures. Businesses naturally go where the costs are reduced, and with continued improvements in communications, computing and transportation technologies, the ease and speed at which this occurs will accelerate over time. We will continue to see businesses move from one location on earth to another as each chases lower costs. The question is, “Do we sit back and just let things happen to us, or do we get involved and participate in building a system that will offer the best possible future out of the current quagmire of multiple disjointed currencies and inexplicably insular fiscal and monetary policies?” What should we do?

Several connected things and ideas come to mind. First, we must work to strengthen even more our global markets and our global unity through the WTO, the IMF and especially through the UN, and create a stronger global central bank with a single global currency. Such a system was developed and implemented successfully, on and off at various times, in the US in its early history.  It worked exceptionally well for the US, it will do the same for the world today.

Secondly, we need a massive inspirational and awe inspiring project where people and businesses and states can work together toward a common goal and purpose. Such a project must be so large and visionary that it creates new businesses and  technologies and thus improves employment in virtually every state on the planet.  It must be a massive project that captures the imagination and the hearts and minds of people everywhere. Such a goal will create jobs, inspire people everywhere, raise consumer confidence, and advance science and technology, growth and prosperity throughout the world. Any suggestions?  Think on a massive huge planetary scale.  

Tim Williamson
Alabama, USA
1-205-765-6090
nanoproducer@gmail.com

A Proposal for global economic sustainability

A Proposal for global economic sustainability

It has become readily apparent to even the most casual observer of the global economy that we no longer have the right, option or privilege, as individual nations or even as states in those nations, to enact currency, monetary, and economic policy myopically and individually. Whether we are willing to admit it or nor, our actions at the local level affect the entire planet. What you do affects me, and what I do affects you. If one state enacts protectionist policies for a particular industry or for their currency, then the other states are directly and irrevocably impacted by that decision. We know this to be true. It is obvious and undeniable. Yet, we still choose to act as if we are alone in the world. We can not make economic and monetary decisions in isolation from the world as if we are the only important people on earth. If you devalue your currency, someone somewhere on the planet will be affected. If you manipulate exchange rates or the price of products and services or tweak your national central banking policy for the sole benefit of your state alone, without concern for the impact your decisions have on the other states of the world, then chaos ensues for the planet and wildly oscillating economies are the result and many people loose their livelihoods somewhere on earth. 

It’s time for a new way of thinking about our responsibility to each other collectively. And not just for ourselves selfishly with individual national protection, greed and avarice as motivators, but as a world inescapably trending toward economic, if not political and social unity. The instantaneous communication and connection we can have with virtually any person on the planet has destroyed the great wall of isolation we once felt at our physical borders. Those days are gone. Yet, the economic and political isolation remains, if not somewhat tenuously. A look into the past to the founding of the US may offer solutions applicable to our world today.

Separately, we struggle to overcome economic challenges within our individual state borders. We suffer the negative consequences of wildly fluctuating currencies, reserves, stability and employment because our local economies are not isolated and independent from the rest of the states around the world and will never be such again. So how do we make the global and thus the local economy more stable and successful and prosperous for all the people of the world since we can not escape the rapidly growing common connection we have with that world?

Today, we must make decisions that are in the best interest of our state and world jointly with each other since we are essentially becoming nothing more than member states of our larger planet. We can no longer act alone or even pretend to be isolated from the rest of the world. This scenario of isolated decisions made on the basis of state sovereignty brings to mind the way the various states of the US, and many banks around the country for the first two centuries or so, and some powerful individuals of that time, who wanted those states and local banks to have sole authority over their individual currency, monetary policy and local economy, behaved as autonomous and distinct members of the US, as if they were members of an association of states with no real national identity. The US as a nation could not nor would not prosper and grow as long as each state pursued independent goals. Only when the various states of the US and certain powerful private banks gave up some of their separate banking, economic and financial authority to strengthen and empower a strong central bank (the Fed today) with a single national currency, showing longer term foresight, national unity and identity, did the US became a major economic player in the world. 

Since the ties that bind the states of the world are growing stronger day by day rather than decreasing, and due to each state having certain integral advantages and disadvantages arising from their particular resources (human or natural), and due to the exponential improvements in communications, computing and transportation technologies, the trend toward increased ties with other states will only continue, grow and strengthen. One of America’s founding fathers authored a solution that saved the US from perpetual chaos and potential dissolution and made it one of the greatest economic powers in the world - though the process was turbulent as different political leaders moved the country one way or another. That solution, which was proposed by Alexander Hamilton, may be the system that could save the world too. It brought together the US, and ultimately helped strengthen our national identity. It could do the same for the world today since the earth is basically in the same position as the early US.

It is only natural that if you and your state can provide or produce something more efficiently, while maintaining the quality, at a lower overall cost, then you will and should do that thing. That is the simple truth of a market driven free market economic system. This obviously causes challenges for those who once were doing those things, but aren't now. This situation exacerbates not just the economic balance between states, but puts enormous pressure on currencies and the balance of reserves between those nations when the various states have their own distinct and separate currencies and monetary policies supporting those currencies, and when no two currencies and policies are the same. How then can we encourage, foster, and equitably shape global growth and prosperity for all the worlds people given the fact that our connections are growing irrevocably stronger in an environment which is presently chaotic and disjointed? How can we bring prosperity and stability to our individual states while promoting and ensuring long-term growth and stability for the world when each nation has its own central bank and its own currency and monetary policies just like the US in its early days? Do we let the current system continue, or do we pursue a proven and better option?

The system developed in the early days worked so well that in a relatively short period of time, the creditworthiness, financial stability, and cash reserves of the new US were improved dramatically, however fleetingly that was as the US went through various political permutations. The new nation was seriously in debt after the Revolutionary War. The new central government had borrowed money from numerous individuals, states and European nations to finance the war effort. If the US was to survive and prosper and not disintegrate, a way needed to be created to repay those debts while ensuring the success and ultimate inescapable unity of the nation. A viable system was developed within four years of the nations founding that was to be the basis of the financial success of the United States for years to come and would improve the nations creditworthiness, financial stability and cash reserves. Even though the system proposed in 1790 was to ultimately pass the tests of time, it had its’ supporters who would follow the system and its’ detractors who had less effective, and more often than not, destructive, views and ideas. In the end even the detractors finally realized the logic of Hamilton’s Plans and implemented them in one form or another. 

There are those today who refuse to admit that Alexander Hamilton is the father of modern American success. Hamilton promoted a strong central government with a central bank owned mostly by individuals, and believed that the US Constitution was a living dynamic framework from which the people could grow the new nation into a better system. His interpretation of the constitution has been repeatedly vindicated by the US Supreme Court-though many still challenge that view. Hamilton’s plan worked. Maybe, just maybe, we can use Hamilton’s system to bring stability, measured growth, and prosperity to a world that is basically one no matter what some may think in these times where currencies are being fought over and trade and reserve imbalances consume the minds of our leaders and the average person, and wars and violence permeate regions and peoples of the world. Hamilton’s plan is no panacea, but it is a viable and obviously successful place from which to start.

Tim Williamson
1-205-765-6090
15926 Hwy 216
Brookwood, Alabama 35444
USA
nanoproducer@gmail.com

Introduction to "A Proposal to Stabilize Our Global Economy"

It has become readily apparent to even the most casual observer of the global economy that we no longer have the right, option or privilege, as individual nations or even as states in those nations, to enact currency, monetary, and economic policy myopically and individually.  Whether we are willing to admit it or nor, our actions at the local level affect the entire planet. What you do affects me, and what I do affects you. If one state enacts protectionist policies for a particular industry or for their currency, then the other states are directly and irrevocably impacted by that decision.  We know this to be true.  It is obvious and undeniable. Yet, we still choose to act as if we are alone in the world.

We can not make economic and monetary decisions in isolation from the world as if we are the only important people on earth.  If you devalue your currency, someone somewhere on the planet will be affected.  If you manipulate exchange rates or the price of products and services or tweak your national central banking policy for the sole benefit of your state alone, without concern for the impact your decisions have on the other states of the world, then chaos ensues for the planet and wildly oscillating economies are the result and many people loose their livelihoods somewhere on earth.  

 

It’s time for a new way of thinking about our responsibility to each other collectively. And not just for ourselves selfishly with individual national protection, greed and avarice as motivators, but as a world inescapably trending toward economic, if not political and social unity.  The instantaneous communication and connection we can have with virtually any person on the planet has destroyed the great wall of isolation we once felt at our physical borders. Those days are gone. Yet, the economic and political isolation remains, if not somewhat tenuously.  A look into the past to the founding of the US may offer solutions applicable to our world today.

  Separately, we struggle to overcome economic challenges within our individual state borders. We suffer the negative consequences of wildly fluctuating currencies, reserves, stability and employment because our local economies are not isolated and independent from the rest of the states around the world and will never be such again.  So how do we make the global and thus the local economy more stable and successful and prosperous for all the people of the world since we can not escape the rapidly growing common connection we have with that world?

  Today, we must make decisions that are in the best interest of our state and world jointly with each other since we are essentially becoming nothing more than member states of our larger planet. We can no longer act alone or even pretend to be isolated from the rest of the world.  This scenario of isolated decisions made on the basis of state sovereignty brings to mind the way the various states of the US, and many banks around the country for the first two centuries or so, and some powerful individuals of that time, who wanted those states and local banks to have sole authority over their individual currency, monetary policy and local economy, behaved as autonomous and distinct members of the US, as if they were members of an association of states with no real national identity.  The US as a nation could not nor would not prosper and grow as long as each state pursued independent goals.  Only when the various states of the US and certain powerful private banks gave up some of their separate banking, economic and financial authority to strengthen and empower a strong central bank (the Fed today) with a single national currency, showing longer term foresight, national unity and identity, did the US became a major economic player in the world.

  Since the ties that bind the states of the world are growing stronger day by day rather than decreasing, and due to each state having certain integral advantages and disadvantages arising from their particular resources (human or natural), and due to the exponential improvements in communications, computing and transportation technologies, the trend toward increased ties with other states will only continue, grow and strengthen.  One of America’s founding fathers authored a solution that saved the US from perpetual chaos and potential dissolution and made it one of the greatest economic powers in the world - though the process was turbulent as different political leaders moved the country one way or another. That solution, which was proposed by Alexander Hamilton, may be the system that could save the world too.  It brought together the US, and ultimately helped strengthen our national identity. It could do the same for the world today since the earth is basically in the same position as the early US.

  It is only natural that if you and your state can provide or produce something more efficiently, while maintaining the quality, at a lower overall cost, then you will and should do that thing. That is the simple truth of a market driven free market economic system. This obviously causes challenges for those who once were doing those things, but aren't now. This situation exacerbates not just the economic balance between states, but puts enormous pressure on currencies and the balance of reserves between those nations when the various states have their own distinct and separate currencies and monetary policies supporting those currencies, and when no two currencies and policies are the same.  How then can we encourage, foster, and equitably shape global growth and prosperity for all the worlds people given the fact that our connections are growing irrevocably stronger in an environment which is presently chaotic and disjointed?  How can we bring prosperity and stability to our individual states while promoting and ensuring long-term growth and stability for the world when each nation has its own central bank and its own currency and monetary policies just like the US in its early days? Do we let the current system continue, or do we pursue a proven and better option?

  The system developed in the early days worked so well that in a relatively short period of time, the creditworthiness, financial stability, and cash reserves of the new US were improved dramatically, however fleetingly that was as the US went through various political permutations.  The new nation was seriously in debt after the Revolutionary War.  The new central government had borrowed money from numerous individuals, states and European nations to finance the war effort. If the US was to survive and prosper and not disintegrate, a way needed to be created to repay those debts while ensuring the success and ultimate inescapable unity of the nation.  A viable system was developed within four years of the nations founding that was to be the basis of the financial success of the United States for years to come and would improve the nations creditworthiness, financial stability and cash reserves. Even though the system proposed in 1790 was to ultimately pass the tests of time, it had its’ supporters who would follow the system and its’ detractors who had less effective, and more often than not, destructive, views and ideas.  In the end even the detractors finally realized the logic of Hamilton’s Plans and implemented them in one form or another.  

  There are those today who refuse to admit that Alexander Hamilton is the father of modern American success.  Hamilton promoted a strong central government with a central bank owned mostly by individuals, and believed that the US Constitution was a living dynamic framework from which the people could grow the new nation into a better system. His interpretation of the constitution has been repeatedly vindicated by the US Supreme Court-though many still challenge that view. Hamilton’s plan worked.  Maybe, just maybe, we can use Hamilton’s system to bring stability, measured growth, and prosperity to a world that is basically one no matter what some may think in these times where currencies are being fought over and trade  and reserve imbalances consume the minds of our leaders and the average person, and wars and violence permeate regions and peoples of the world. Hamilton’s plan is no panacea, but it is a viable and obviously successful place from which to start.