Would moral philosopher Adam Smith agree with Brookings? Unabashedly, yes. A “contemporized” Smith would proclaim American capitalism thoroughly run amok. Elaine Kamarck and others (Jim Sawyer included) are pushing hard against short-termism, pseudo-capitalism, even vulture capitalism. Evidence of why this is urgent? When I began college the ratio between executive pay and worker compensation was […]

Our “first economist” was a moral philosopher. Scotsman Adam Smith (1723-1790) lived and wrote about two questions: What should a (moral) individual do? What should (moral) society do? Now, Smith’s economist followers have shrunk him into two modern categories: micro and macro. Sadly, each is pretty much devoid of his ethical perspective. Micro describes individual […]

Pseudo-capitalism can be stopped through disincentives to rigging and gaming schemes. Dynamically targeted taxation and regulatory strategies are the answer. A generation ago, these might have been included as important arrows in the quiver of what was then-called industrial policy. Stay tuned for specifics on how to do this. Jim

We must come together to construct a planning vision of what we want now, what we want next year, and what we want for the next generation. Vision and mission statements must provide guidance as we search for pathways toward the future. Through effective democratic planning, America must reframe the over-arching challenge to capitalism, which […]

“We The People-Type Planning” Has Become Essential to America’s Survival. We’re not talking here about planning ala 19th Century Marxist Socialism. Our world has changed dramatically over two centuries since Marx lived and wrote. Advancing technology, high finance, global trade and much more are but the most visible aspects calling us to be both pro-American […]