A comment for Thomas Homer DixontoucansanctuaryFebruary 6 2009, 20:19:34 UTC
Hey KMO,
I have read "The Upside of Down," and have much respect for THD. I'm sure I'll devour his new book as well.
That said, I think that THD misses the main force behind the growth imperative. I don't find any fault with his logic/findings that there is a motivation for growth due to technology displacing workers that subsequently need another job. Thus the economy must grow.
However, I think there is a much stronger force behind the growth imperative. This is the Debt based, fractional reserve monetary system. When money is created, it is issued as debt that must be repaid with interest. The interest for this loan is not created, thus more and more debt must be incurred just to keep up with the interest payments. I was rather disappointed that THD didn't mention this in your interview. You mentioned the money supply in one of your questions to him but he didn't comment on it. Perhaps this was cut out during editing due to time constraints, which I'd completely understand.
Chris Martenson's Crash course, which I know you've watched, really explains the growth imperative due to the monetary system very clearly. I'd be interested to hear of any comments that THD has regarding this. I just think one is remiss talking about the growth imperative without looking at the monetary system, that's all.
Re: A comment for Thomas Homer DixonkmoFebruary 8 2009, 01:13:10 UTC
In response to your comment Thomas Homer-Dixon wrote:He's right about the general issue of debt and growth, I believe. We use growth to amortize debt of all kinds, including national debt, and it's not clear how we can have the kind of financial system we have currently without growth.
Thanks. Again, a really thoughtful listener. Says a lot about your program.
I have read "The Upside of Down," and have much respect for THD. I'm sure I'll devour his new book as well.
That said, I think that THD misses the main force behind the growth imperative. I don't find any fault with his logic/findings that there is a motivation for growth due to technology displacing workers that subsequently need another job. Thus the economy must grow.
However, I think there is a much stronger force behind the growth imperative. This is the Debt based, fractional reserve monetary system. When money is created, it is issued as debt that must be repaid with interest. The interest for this loan is not created, thus more and more debt must be incurred just to keep up with the interest payments. I was rather disappointed that THD didn't mention this in your interview. You mentioned the money supply in one of your questions to him but he didn't comment on it. Perhaps this was cut out during editing due to time constraints, which I'd completely understand.
Chris Martenson's Crash course, which I know you've watched, really explains the growth imperative due to the monetary system very clearly. I'd be interested to hear of any comments that THD has regarding this. I just think one is remiss talking about the growth imperative without looking at the monetary system, that's all.
TS
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Thanks. Again, a really thoughtful listener. Says a lot about your program.
Tad
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TS
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