It's the Economy! (Stupid)

1. Understanding the Numbers - When economic news is bantered about in the media it tends to be believed ipso facto. Yet even a modicum of research shows most of it decidedly biased one side or the other. I wrote ,"It's the Economy! (Stupid)" specifically because I had done the research to provide an historic and global perspective through which our economy, and our national economic debate, should be judged. Despite some people's natural proclivity to disbelieve any statistics produced by the government, you should know that the men and women in our government are dedicated to providing the facts as they see them and gather them as best they can. Whether the Bureau of Economic Advisors, the Office of Management & Budget, the Congressional Budget Office, or other offices in the government departments, if there is "wiggle" room it's a small room indeed and not likely to seriously alter "the big picture". The OECD is also dedicated to getting the numbers right amongst its member nations, of which the USA is one, so there is general standardization of definitions and methodology in the final statistics so apples can be compared properly to apples. So the Newsletter will begin any discussion with "the numbers" and use "the numbers" to move the dialogue forward.

2. Take Partisanship out of the Polemics - Political debate is polemic debate. How the outcome of this polemic debate gets transformed into political action is the domain of partisanship. There is nothing wrong with partisanship - better someone is moved to act on his/her beliefs than sit home watching TV complaining about "why doesn't someone do something"! You are somebody! The essence of our democratic process is that you DO matter to the end result. So get involved, if only by entering into our Forum. The Newsletter will regularly feature subjects where two people from the different parties or points of view will voice their views. Then we'll try to move the subject forward by discussing how those opposing views can be synthesized into at least a small step forward for everyone.

3. The Greatest Good for the Greatest Number - Despite anyone's best intentions, the political and economic objective is to resolve problems so as to provide the greatest good for the greatest number of our citizens. In this process, consideration and accommodation (where possible) must be made for the minority left out of the solution. Economics is often seen as a "hard" science - let's see the numbers and that's all. But that is an unjust view; economics in the end account for the allocation of resources in our society and how those resources are applied to move the nation forward. But moving the nation forward is the objective - and that is determined by us, "we, the people". If we want to spend more on education and less on defense or vice versa are choices we make and the economics follow, not the other way around. So discussion in the Newsletter will keep this principle in mind.

4. Call to Action - Most issues in the Newsletter will end with a "Call to Action" where appropriate (some things will be strictly analytical). Cursing the darkness is never as good as lighting a candle. Suggestions will be made as to what action might or should be taken.

5. The Dashboard- Finally in the Newsletter we will create a comprehensive statistical data-base that is updated on a regular basis where subscribers can go to "get the numbers". It's taken me several months (well, years) to find the sources to the information I put in the book. Subscribers to the Newsletter will have access to most of the charts and graphs that appears in the book that will be updated regularly. A "Dashboard" of the major critical numbers concerning the US and global economy will be developed and updated regularly to provide a quick snapshot.

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