Quote from: practicaldreamer on April 29, 2014, 06:10:42 PM

Just read an interesting article/review about Thomas Piketty's new book "Capital", written by a well respected English economics journalist Paul Mason. Here it is :- http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/apr/28/thomas-piketty-capital-surprise-bestseller. What do you think Coincube ? Inherent contradictions within capitalism ? Sounds a bit like Marx doesn't it Shocked

? Sounds to me like Professor Piketty has absolutely hit the nail on the head AND managed to capture the zeitgeist.
(ps. interesting he mentions the Marikana mining massacre - if that incident had occurred in Zimbabwe the PM would be calling on Parliament to send in the troops - unfortunately it happened in South Africa. The mine there is own by a London listed UK company, Lonmin. The miners were shot for demanding more than what they were getting - namely living conditions that we in the west wouldn't deem worthy of our pet dogs. 34 men dead. Welcome to global capitalism.)

ps. why are you quoting Anonymint in an article on economics Grin

? Don't you know that he's only paraphrasing Martin Armstrong, and that Armstrong is only paranoid that TPTB are gonna come hunting for his ill gotten gains again Cheesy

From the review of Piketty's book it does seem that he has identified a major part of the problem. He has captured the fact that the middle class cannot get ahead in the current economic environment. Note the critical reason he cited as to why this is the case. Piketty's states that the cause is the fact that we live in an economy where the rate of return on capital outstrips the rate of growth this is the premise from which all his conclusions follow. How does the rate of return on capital outstrip the rate of growth? It can only do so through finance, fractional reserve, and debasement of the currency via government debt.

Piketty's solution of taxes is flawed just as Marx's solution of communism was flawed. Raising taxes just changes the victim from the less productive to the more productive while increasing the power and influence of the thief. Increased taxes buys you a little social stability for a very short period of time while worsening the underlying structural problem in the economy. Our economic problem is fundamentally structural. We are living on borrowed time in a system that is neither sustainable or salvageable without dramatic change. The only question is whether it is going to horrifically collapse or if we can somehow manage to transition to something better. Cryptocurrency is the best hope I have seen of the latter.

In regards to Anonymint, his theory on the gradual decline of capital and the Rise of Knowledge is an important insight and one I feel is correct. This insight is to the best of my knowledge unique and not an idea of Mr. Armstrong. He also get credit for inspiring me to write this series. Had I not come across his work I doubt I would have written this series on Finance.

Quote from: practicaldreamer on April 29, 2014, 06:10:42 PM

Quote from: CoinCube on April 27, 2014, 01:30:58 AM

Thus with the capture of government finance gains the ability to siphon wealth from the upper class.

- it would be nice if it did - it was, after all, the upper class that created the debt in the first place - unfortunately "finance" and the upper class are, if not the exact same people, certainly feeding from the same trough.

Quote from: CoinCube on April 27, 2014, 01:30:58 AM

the upper class starts to sag under the weight of ever higher taxation.

- it would be nice to see this "sagging" in practice. It did, I believe, occur on the British upper class during the 1920's and 1930's. Unfortunately, today, they have been replaced (after what, a 50 year interlude ?) by a much more robust and resilient upper class via global capitalism. If some people have their way they will become virtually impossible to tax at all.

We will definitely see the upper classes get hit hard in the future. This is happening right now to the upper middle class but is hidden for the moment behind debt. It will expand to the lower ranks of the wealthy soon. The wealthy do not only consist of parasitic financial interests they also include entrepreneurs, job creators, and innovators. The financial interests will do just fine under the coming wave of asset confiscation and taxation. They will lose some wealth but relatively their position will improve. It is the productive business people and entrepreneurs who will be hit hardest. Decimating your upper classes, limiting new business formation, and an ever growing government are not a strategy for long term prosperity.

You are correct that a nontaxable or difficult to tax currency will allow some to hide their ill gotten gains however in all honesty this is a lesser concern. If an alternative is not developed we face inevitable cyclical decline into complete collapse. We will soon be entering a period of extreme wealth confiscation and taxation as governments become insolvent and lose the ability to shelter their populace from the consequences of finance. Eventually this will lead to a backlash against the ever increasing collectivism, wealth confiscation, and taxation. Hopefully, this backlash combined with the rise of cryptocurrency will be strong enough to end of fractional reserve while building a stable economic foundation for the future. During the great depression, the leading economists of the day created the Chicago Plan where they advised the government to outlaw fractional reserve banking. The plan failed because it was politically easier to shift the debt and cost onto the government. During the next great depression governments will no longer be solvent.