June Home Sales - highest in 8 years - strong sign for workers; stimulus working

[Political Heretic]

So....

Go news today, and the first news from the housing market that seems to be truly good, rather than news Wall Street was trying to inflate by denying paired terrible news (example: saying home sales are up but staying silent about record foreclosure rates for the same month.)

Home sales rose 11%, or highest one month rise in eight years, according to the Associated press (link: see DU Latest.)

So, I believe that our economy has fundamental flaws and that those flaws are deep, and that social and economic justice demand that we engage not just in superficial "reform" but in a massive restructuring of the way we do business in America. I felt that we had a glimmer of an opportunity for that kind of serious transformation during the heat of the economic crisis.

Unfortunately, our political masters were too effective and quelling the outrage of the public and returning Americans to their passive slumbering consumerism. Therefore in one sense signs that our economy is "recovering" or, returning to the status quo, are saddening.

However, my compassion for the tragic effect of this economic crisis on individuals and families is also real. It compels me to breath a sigh of relief at a major indicator that economic conditions for ordinary people might be stabilizing.

Also, this news is important to the debate over the success or failure of the President's economic plans, namely the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (aka the stimulus bill.) It provides some solid evidence that the stimulus bill is doing what it set out to do: get the American economy back to its status quo. This flies in the face of GOP critics who jumped the gun in saying that the stimulus bill was a failure.

Seeing as the bulk of the stimulus bill spending still has not even taken effect, as it was designed to be implemented over the course of two years to help promote a sustainable recovery, it appears to be on track to accomplish what it was designed to accomplish.

I can't help but be happy in the short run for struggling Americans, because I care about real people's lives. But I also can't help by feel sad for a squandered opportunity to dismantle our obviously broken system of plunder capitalism and, under the guidance of an alert and engaged public, demand a new system....

(1)...that correctly starts from the premise that labor creates all wealth and thus enshrouds the rights of the worker against the exploitation of industry, and guarantees every individual a personal stake in the organization for which that individual works,

(2)...that protects against the hyper-consolidation of wealth into a tiny handful of ruling families by implementing an effective progressive tax structure indexed to / adjusted by changes to income disparity indicators between richest and poorest Americans,

(3)...that appropriately recognizes that what has been called social "welfare" programs in the past are in fact social investment programs, the existence of which benefits the entire society by ensuring a healthy workforce and a consumer base with enough personal security in shelter, food, clothing, health care and educational needs to enabling the purchase of consumer goods that drive our economy,

(4)...that recognizes that corporations and the business community at large are not moral bodies and not designed to consider public good or societal needs. They therefore cannot be expected to "police themselves" or "referee their own game" and require an independent, transparent, autonomous regulatory body with no connections to the players of the game. That "body" should be the government of the people of the United States, and therefore requires:

(a) that corporations no longer be incorrectly recognized as person's under the law - this is a perverse distortion of the 14th amendment. Corporations shall not own stock in other corporations, nor have the right to sue or be sued in court, and shall be subject to the terms of the corporate charter as established by the state in which they reside, which shall be revoked if the State determines the corporation does not act in good faith
(b) that all federal, state and local elections for public government office shall be publicly funded, and private spending to promote any candidate for office or attack any candidate for office shall be a violation of election law,
(c) that any financial contribution to any politician by any organization or individual shall be considered bribery and subject to criminal prosecution. Individuals and organizations shall have the right to make their requests heard before government representatives, but shall not have the power to bride them,

AND

(5)...that centralizes and regulates the financial system, eliminating the practice of financial speculation, derivatives trading and other irresponsible behaviors in the market while implementing policy that promotes market investment rather than market speculation, for the purpose of eliminating profiteering and extemporaneous risk-taking within core financial institutions.

Oh well....

[Oregone]

1. A new higher house of cards will be built

[Igel]

2. It's unlikely that those on unemployment are buying houses.

Few jobs have, by your own statement, been created.

A lot of government jobs have continued to exist thanks to the stimulus. Perhaps it's mostly government workers buying houses? Nah.

The problem with stimuli is that nobody wants them until unemployment is really high, and by that time we're deep into the recession (since unemployment lags). Then you see the stimulus spent and unemployment come down, but most often (historically) by the time the stimulus is going "out the door" the recession is over.

Probably the most famous case is Russia in the 1990s. Putin was elected to restore the economy just after unemployment bottomed out. ON the other hand, by the time he was elected all sorts of financial problems had worked themselves out in the Russian economy, productivity was increasing, exports were increasing, etc., etc. Because "Putin elected" was followed quickly by "employment increases", people assumed causality when the numbers put the cause at some time before Putin was elected. People don't want to talk numbers; it confuses them. Now that he has most Russians on his side, when things go bad and he blames others for the problem, people trust him.