Welcome to Finance and Fury, the Furious Friday edition. Two weeks ago on Furious Friday, we went through an intro to the great reset. This episode we will look further into this topic, at some of the proposals and break these down further. I managed to talk to someone involved with the WEF in the interim which provided some good insights
If you haven’t heard – The great reset is all about resetting the economy and society – resetting in the way that a handful of individuals at the top of entities like the WEF, UN deem to be in the world’s populations interest
- To start with – we need to get to the bottom of the best way to actually think about the economy – it is useful to think of an economy in real terms versus the purely financial terms
- I have said it many times in this podcast that the real economy is what is important – and that is you and I – our economic interactions, where we work, what we buy or how we consume or save, every one of our interactions at the aggregate level is the total sum of economic output –
- The economy when left to its own devices for economic growth can create a situation where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts
- Through specialisation and effects of real economic growth leading to a greater output overall – all about an equilibrium being reached over time through having free economic interactions
- Everything that is a final product tends to have a greater value when compared to the sum of its parts – we process martials and they are transported and transformed into other physical goods, which are transported from point A to point B and consumed–
- Think about a pencil – there is a good essay called I, Pencil – by Leonard Read – talks about the complexity in making this – where no one person can actually produce a pencil – the gathering of the components and the trying to turn these components into one item as simple as a pencil – quote from it – “The absence of a master mind, of anyone dictating or forcibly directing these countless actions which bring me (the pencil) into being. No trace of such a person can be found. Instead, we find the invisible hand at work.”
- This is very much akin to the metabolism that maintains a living body – which is a very complex system
- The economy when left to its own devices for economic growth can create a situation where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts
- I have said it many times in this podcast that the real economy is what is important – and that is you and I – our economic interactions, where we work, what we buy or how we consume or save, every one of our interactions at the aggregate level is the total sum of economic output –
- So when we are thinking about the economy – important to think of the economy as total system which encompasses the total body of humanity – all cultures, nations and families of the world and how they function on a day to day basis –
- Where economists and elites then step in – this can be very dangerous – their first step is that our economic interactions then gets measured – analysed and statistical representations are created – based around the models that are chosen by them – and what they choose to include or exclude in these models – hence we are relying on their interpretation of data and statistical measurements to get these aggregate economic indicators
- then – a handful of people analyse these data sets – then they believe that they know how to best maximise outputs based around a statistical representation – even though they had nothing to do with the output in the first place – However – they have studied for years and have come up with theories and therefore know better
- This brings into question the concept of economic specialised knowledge versus common knowledge – no handful of individuals can know what is best when compared to the common knowledge (each of whom have their own forms of specialised knowledge, which may not be economic)
- However – Even though economists or policy makers haven’t lived the same life as you – they still think they know what is best for you – they have different priorities and different personal economic situation – most of the people coming up with these plans are very connected and affluent individuals – on very good salaries that are not going to be affected by their proposals – if anything they will get more income
- then – a handful of people analyse these data sets – then they believe that they know how to best maximise outputs based around a statistical representation – even though they had nothing to do with the output in the first place – However – they have studied for years and have come up with theories and therefore know better
- Disappointing to see economists and policy makers believing that humans are stagnate representations of the outputs of these measurements
- They forget that humans are dynamic – we adapt – and tend to try and maximise for our own situation – there are lagged time periods depending on those who adapt first and those that actually never adapt
- They very nature of adaption comes back to creative destruction through a technological progress – however – those with the most power often don’t want this – their products are at the top currently – they are in power – in addition – for policies to work as intended there needs to be as little adaption as possible – the assumptions are based around individuals being stagnant after all
- so creative destructions that are population driven through the supply of new goods and services get stifled –
- And a greater focus is on demand – if no new supply beyond monopolies can exist – then you have to work with the existing supply and the only path to economic growth is seen through demand side
- That creates a situation that actually fails to meet the optimised results for the growing needs of humanity – hence the population concerns are ignored when looking at the actual outcome –
- This brings up back to the core concept of the great reset is that the WEF and their strategic partners – where they want to remake the economy and systems as they see are in our best interest – covid is used as an excuse push polices changes through whilst the population is malleable to change
- This isn’t some out there theory – they are literally telling us – Simple manner of reading what they write – many people don’t – they are busy which is understandable – and many of these concepts do sound utopian on paper – but I am more focused on the likely outcome – not the proposals
- From the previous episode covering this – went through the strategic partners – on top of this – the great reset is also favoured by the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) – an intergovernmental economic organisation with 37 member countries which we are a member of – as well as the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres who is the former president of the Socialist International organisation
- You also have influential induvial like Prince Charles and the IMFs chief economist Gina Gopinath as well as having the backing from corporations including Microsoft, Google, Facebook and, many of the biggest banks and MasterCard backing these plans
- But Prince Charles stated that “We have a golden opportunity to seize something good from this crisis. Its unprecedented shockwaves may well make people more receptive to big visions of change,”
- His Father Prince Philip said in 1988 when speaking to German news agency “In the event that I am reincarnated, I would like to return as a deadly virus, to contribute something to solving overpopulation.”
- A lot of this reset has to go with the alignment of the economy to the emission-reduction goals, including net-zero greenhouse gas emissions. It recommends stimulus measures to ensure “social development … is fully integrated with environmental objectives such as those in UN Sustainable Development Goals that form part of Agenda 2030 – but this is another topic for another day – that has already been covered in length on the podcast in the past – there is a series about 15 episodes long – on the website under the series called by any other name – united nations, socialism, fascism
- But Prince Charles stated that “We have a golden opportunity to seize something good from this crisis. Its unprecedented shockwaves may well make people more receptive to big visions of change,”
- There is a disturbing trend through history – and that is leaders who think they possess the power to change the course of history through reshaping the economy and the social contracts that we would otherwise try to optimise
- The more that they have undemocratic control – the worse things tended to get –
- These individuals who believe they control the destiny of the population are not only deluded – but to enforce their plans things invariably become violent when human nature gets in the way – the more they wish to mould human nature to their utopian world – the greater the control is needed – and the greater control the state has over people – the worse the persons life tends to get – not only economically but at the very basis of freedom of choice
- I know that a lot of people can switch off here – as the thinking goes – this could never happen to us – you will probably be right – but what about future generations? Remember – in the world today – North Korea exists, Venezuela exists – looking back not that far – going back to the 90s the USSR existed, as well as Vietnam, Cambodia, China under Mao, Cuba under Castro –
- many countries have gone through the removals of freedoms of choice in economic interactions – never works well – and all of these previously mentioned countries – before this they were relatedly free countries when compared to what they turned into – but the turning point was once the population gave enough power to governments that the enforcement could be implemented – in the west I see it as more so a will of the government and not the ability – they have the ability in most western nations to enforce anything they want in population centres – seen it in the recent lock down enforcements
Getting to the core of the proposal – The Great Reset agenda would have three main focuses – with 6 components to achieve this and 52 sub components –
- For the top-level focuses that the WEF have –
- The first would steer the market toward fairer outcomes – the core of this focus is to create global governance to improve policy coordination on policies for taxation and at the regulatory level, as well as fiscal policy
- This includes upgrading trade arrangements, and create the conditions for a “stakeholder economy.” It is a fancy way of saying a centrally planned socialist economy – where profits should no longer be the focus but these should be given back to the people
- In the current environment they are – if you own a state in the company – but under this model – it sounds like what Marx was proposing back to factory workers – even though he never worked in a factory
- The WEF states that these proposals need governments to implement long-overdue reforms that promote more equitable outcomes.
- Depending on the country, these may include changes to wealth taxes, the withdrawal of fossil-fuel subsidies, and new rules governing intellectual property, trade, and competition
- The second component of a Great Reset agenda would ensure that investments advance shared goals, such as equality and sustainability
- This one confuses me a bit – it calls for large-scale Government spending programs – they say that “rather than using these funds, as well as investments from private entities and pension funds, to fill cracks in the old system, we should use them to create a new one that is more resilient, equitable, and sustainable in the long run. This means, for example, building “green” urban infrastructure and creating incentives for industries to improve their track record on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) metrics”
- This last part has something to do with sustainability – but the equality component may have something to do with UBI proposals – but there is too little information to know at this stage
- The third and final priority of a Great Reset agenda is to harness the innovations of the Fourth Industrial Revolution to support the public good
- A lot of these align with the SDGs – the more I read about the proposals – the more I see the exact same vague proposals that the UN came out with
- For the six components to help achieve this – you have a lot of sub-components – and these normally relate to 2 or 3 of each
- Shaping the economic recovery – Taxation, gender parity, inclusive economic designs
- Redesigning social contracts, skills and jobs – LGBTI inclusion, human rights, future of mobility (immigration)
- Restoring the Health of the Environment – focus on climate change, the circular economy
- Developing sustainable business models – focused on climate change as well, employment in the workplace
- Harnessing the Fourth Industrial revolution – internet governance, digital identities, AI, digital economy and identities
- Strengthening regional development
- Revitalizing global cooperation – focused on global governance, globalisation trade, global financial and monetary systems
- When looking at these – Again – they have some detail of what their proposals are but not how they are gong to achieve this – especially around the equality elements
- The only system which can eliminate inequality is one where every citizen lives equally in tragedy – you have to reduce society to the lowest common denominator – obviously those who are proposing these changes from Davos – very nice area in Switzerland will be unaffected – as well as political leaders – you are paying their exorbitant salaries after all – no risk of the free market coming in the way of this
- But every time political leaders with the backing of the enforcement side of a Government wish to enforce equality – it doesn’t work well for us – Those living in Ukraine discovered this in the early 1930s when the Holodomor occurred – between 3 million and 12 million people starved to death after the Soviets convinced people to turn on their village’s farmers and the government confiscated all of the food – as they were apparently hoarding it – they went through their own form of lock downs – as they weren’t allowed to leave
- In the process – the breadbasket of the Soviet union no longer could provide food – so a lot of the USSR starved to death
- Looking at the top level proposals – a lot of this reeks of Marxist ideology –
- Marxist logic dictates that if someone profits from a sale of a good, or if the individual who has taken all the risk and put up their own capital to create a company to employer others – they are robbing people
- As there is an inequality due to them getting more out of the economic truncations – hence – if there is inequality, a crime has been committed and the population (or the government) has the right to commit a crime back in the form of violent enforcement
- This includes upgrading trade arrangements, and create the conditions for a “stakeholder economy.” It is a fancy way of saying a centrally planned socialist economy – where profits should no longer be the focus but these should be given back to the people
- The first would steer the market toward fairer outcomes – the core of this focus is to create global governance to improve policy coordination on policies for taxation and at the regulatory level, as well as fiscal policy
- This notion in the hands of Governments has prompted the most horror ever seen by humanity – even both of the world wars death tolls are less than communist death tolls –
- A free market does create inequality – but at the same time the living standards and wealth of those left behind are still vastly better than under a purely equal system – this is because wealth creation is not a zero-sum game
- There is not a finite amount of money or wealth – Money can be created, jobs can be created and people can be pulled out of tragedy and despair by a free market – might not be as easy as getting free money – but this is a ceiling trap – or welfare trap – where people can be trapped in poverty
- But individuals at the WEF are set to try and repeat the mistakes of the pass – if you view it as a mistake from a population level – for those at the top – these styles of governments are not a mistake – their lifestyles get better, whilst those under them get worse
- as Karl Marx would say: “History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce”.
Important thing – don’t buy into the rhetoric around these proposals – they all sound good – but so did communism to those at the centre of the political spectrum –
- Nobody can know what you goals are but you – giving in control is sacrificing to those who don’t know you – don’t care about you – do not have the same shared goals –
- They say they want better for the world – but this is in their own vision –
- The best thing for their world may be to reduce the population to 500m and have a serf class with full automation – but that is not the best thing for us –
Maybe next ep – might focus on some of the economic resets – especially the currency side of things towards a digital currency – but have covered this topic in the past – like the monetary resets to digital currencies – so let me know if you want to hear more and can do another episode –
Thank you for listening to today’s episode. If you want to get in contact you can do so here: http://financeandfury.com.au/contact/