Musings from Jay (blog site permanently frozen 11/05/2024 morning)

Many people wonder what the economy of Oahu (and to a lesser extent Hawaii) looks like. It is interesting.  Although there is some light manufacturing, the people do not favor heavy manufacturing since a love for the land and the ocean and the air is deeply felt. One of the big reasons we moved here (among many) is because the air quality is great. San Jose where we lived? Not so good.  The population of Honolulu/Kaneohe/Pearl City metro (which is largely Honolulu County that encompasses all of Oahu) is roughly a million (the vast bulk of the state's population live here). The GDP is around $75 billion.  That works out to a GDP per capita of $75K from what I see.  That puts it around 20th among major US metros from what I see.  The San Jose/Sunnyvale/Santa Clara is around $210K (#1). The San Francisco/Oakland/Berkley is around $144K. The Seattle/Tacoma/Bellevue is about $119K. The Boston/Cambridge/Newton is about $108K. The New York/Newark/Jersey C...

Progressives focus a lot on social policy. Some of them are focused on increasing freedom and rights and equality (non-economic) which have little fiscal impact and I have no concerns there but am sympathetic.   The concern I have is with economic equality policies. The constitution does not guarantee economic equality. It is not a right. Specific policies can be crafted on a one-on-one basis by congress, and they need justifications. Just a moral justification is not sufficient. An argument, say, of good practical rational governance is good (what can one do with the homeless anyway?).  It is perfectly legitimate for other congressmen to question the economic impact or seek other justification. Increasing taxes to pay for it will be resisted by the public (few want to pay more taxes) so the justification has to be good and the taxes structured to reduce resistance. Deficit spending would just aggravate an already huge debt problem. It is best if the benefit to the countr...

I have some concerns about what conservatives say. I have concerns about what progressives say too but this is a different subject (blog coming soon).  In our democracy for much of history, the two-party system has prevailed. One can argue whether that is good or bad but that is neither here nor there. It is what is. Because conservatives form a big chunk of the GOP, it is worth listening to what they think at least on economics. They also have beliefs on social policies (I talk about two of them - abortion and immigration - in other essays), and military/foreign policies but I want to focus on economics here.  Since Reagan, the two key pillars of that thought stream are limited government and supply side economics. This thought stream is influenced by the thinking of the economist Milton Friedman. Both Margret Thatcher in UK and Ronald Regan in US were believers.  Supply side economics typically take the form of tax cuts or deductions to corporations and capitalists. The...

This essay is a continuation of the essay on globalism part I. This essay focuses on institutions, rules and markets that glue the world together and without it, globalism would not be possible. Many of them also form the backbone of the rules based global order that came together after World War II.  The hard work of gluing together the world happens quietly in many global organizations that the general public may not know much about. These organizations have real teeth. While high profile forums like G7, G20, BRIC, APEC, QUAD, ASEAN, COP, Partners in the blue pacific (PBP), Global South, and Davos world economic forum are more prominent in the news, these forums are more coordination/strategy/talk shops of groupings of countries or special interest groups than institutions with real teeth. But agreements reached in a forum may be allocated resources by countries so they can have a significant impact. I will ignore these institutions here.   The internet  is a highly...

  A key reference is Professor Ramon P. DeGennaro of the Univ of Texas at Knoxville.  This essay is on globalism. It will only refer to nationalism/national policy as a reaction to and interaction with globalism. It is not an essay on nationalism/national policy.  For the first time in human history, products, services, technology, money, and information flow easily throughout most of the world. There is also a marked increase in people migrations and flow of people across borders. Cross border migrations are enhanced with globalism. Modern commerce is global. International economic organizations—the World Trade Organization, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and other bodies—play a large role in global commerce.  A physical presence (like a building) isn’t necessary for an institution to affect our freedom and prosperity, though. An institution could also be a custom or law that many people use or follow. An example is democracy. Another is pro...

A key reference is Professor Edward F Stuart, Ph.D of Northeastern Illinois University. In a previous essay, I talked about the key modern economic ideas. I talked about Capitalism, Socialism, and Communism. Communists believed Capitalism was fatally flawed and unjust and must be toppled – even violently. Communism can be delegated to the dustbin of history and will not be discussed here, but most economies today are a blend of free market capitalistic principles and social democratic ideas. Even China that started as a communist system has adopted many capitalistic ideas including a stock market.  This trend to blend first emerged in Europe spearheaded by social democrats. Social Democrats believed that the inequalities of Capitalism could be addressed by reforms to benefit all members of society. They believed that such improvements can be achieved through democratic elections and reforms. They believed some form of planning or state management was essential to reform and sustain...