Thus, our national circulating medium is now at the mercy of loan transactions of banks, which lend, not money, but promises to supply money they do not possess
Interpretation
The quote highlights the precarious nature of modern banking, where banks issue loans based on promises rather than actual money.
Irving Fisher's quote raises concerns about the trust placed in banks and the modern banking system, suggesting that banks lend out more money than they actually have, relying on promises rather than tangible assets. This practice can lead to economic instability and puts the financial well-being of the nation at risk, as it intertwines public trust with the unpredictable nature of bank loans and credit.
In practice
In a financial seminar discussing the risks of reliance on loans.
Passive commerce . . . should thus . . . [compel us] to content ourselves with the first price of our commodities, and to see the profits of our trade snatched from us, to enrich our enemies and persecutors. That unequalled spirit of enterprise . . . an inexhaustible mine of national wealth, would be stifled and lost; and poverty and disgrace would overspread a country, which, with wisdom, might make herself the admiration and envy of the world.
A winner-takes-all economy that offers only limited access to the middle class is a recipe for democratic malaise and dereliction.
African countries lose billions every year because of tax dodging by big corporations and wealthy individuals. They lose billions more from overly generous tax incentives in a misguided belief that this is the only way to attract foreign investment.
It is a singular advantage of taxes on articles of consumption that they contain in their own nature a security against excess. They prescribe their own limit, which cannot be exceeded without defeating the end purposed - that is, an extension of the revenue.
Socialism failed because it couldn't tell the economic truth. Capitalism may fail because it couldn't tell the ecological truth.
In a globalized economy, jobs no longer need a passport, but workers do.
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