1 Boring Old Man

In his article on Wealth Inequity, Timothy Noah says, "The United States’ economy is currently struggling to emerge from a severe recession brought on by the financial crisis of 2008. Was that crisis brought about by income inequality? Some economists are starting to think it may have been." Well, I guess I just haven’t gotten around to educating those economists who don’t yet understand our economy. So here’s how it works. Our "Free Market Economy" goes through what is called "the business cycle." That means that we periodically have "Recessions" when it slows down and unemployment rises, but Mr. Middle Class has got some money to spend, so the money keeps flowing and we "Recover" and go on about our business. The wealth remains spread in a stable way among the poor, the middle class, the rich, and the filthy rich. It’s just the way things work. What "Free" in "Free Market Economy" means is that there’s enough money flowing to accomodate the rise and fall of "The Business Cycle."

But sometimes, something happens that changes all of that and the spread of money between he poor, the middle class, the rich, and the filthy rich changes – so we begin to have something called "Wealth Inequity" on the rise. As the rich get richer, things kind of rock along for a while. Mr. Middle Class still has money, and that money buoys up the economy and recovery continues, though Mr. Filthy Rich and even Mr. Rich are taking an increasingly bigger piece of the pie.

And then one day, Mr. Middle Class is stretched too thin – too much debt, too little cash, too scared – and so he stops buying things or maybe can’t buy things. The economy grinds to a halt and "Recovery" just doesn’t happen. That’s how wealth inequity causes a disturbance in the force. The economy isn’t "Free" any more. It’s being held hostage by Mr. Filthy Rich and Mr. Rich. Glad to have cleared that up. Now, about that solution?…