3/3/2015 Another San Francisco Smash and grab

Zd542 is right. A persons income has absolutley no indication of whether they will steal or not. Actually studies have shown that people who are wealthy are more likley to steal, lie and cheat than those with lesser means.

Also you have to look at the various forms of theft and the reasons why people do it. You cannot throw out a blanket assumption that good paying jobs will fix the problem.

Cooperations posting record profits lie, cheat and steal at a rate much higher than those near the bottom rung of the income ladder.

*My last sentence should have said cooperations posting record profits take recieve more in government subsidies than those at the bottom recieving welfare.

Zd542,
That statement was simply a result from looking at income disparities and then combing through and collating data and lo! Better lifestyles, higher standards of living, lower crime rates, lower abortion rates, less mental illnesses, better health outcomes and better education were all present in the countries with the least income inequality. There was nothing general about it.

Our country is ranked around #42 (and in one survey is ranked as the 5th worst in inequality) but it's large enough and still has that cache of being a place to start over. Conventional wisdom still dominates the minds of the masses, truth be damned.

What other have stated about simply creating more jobs IS the answer. Keynsian macroeconomics has and still works, if you let it. Our economic situation is not a natural occurrence but one of policy, and policy can change if we (or they) want it to. Sometimes I get the impression that some here enjoy the suffering of others.

All the best,
Nonoise

"That statement was simply a result from looking at income disparities and then combing through and collating data and lo! Better lifestyles, higher standards of living, lower crime rates, lower abortion rates, less mental illnesses, better health outcomes and better education were all present in the countries with the least income inequality. There was nothing general about it."

Nothing is that simple.

"What other have stated about simply creating more jobs IS the answer. Keynsian macroeconomics has and still works, if you let it. Our economic situation is not a natural occurrence but one of policy, and policy can change if we (or they) want it to. Sometimes I get the impression that some here enjoy the suffering of others."

I don't want to come across as mean here, but that's ridiculous. An economy based on Keynesian principles can't work. If you think I'm wrong on this, fine. Give me some examples of successful implementation. I can't think of any.

Keynesian economics brought us out of the great depression and gave rise to the "Golden Age of Capitalism". It was the oil shock of the 70s that gave folk pause and had us scrambling for answers but there will always be something out of left field that comes across as a form of shock. Adjustments are always made.

Marxists didn't like it for fear it would lead to totalitarianism (which it doesn't) and right wingers hate it because it calls for government to step in and stimulate during recessions (which would prove them wrong). It's still in the main and even it's present day detractors come up every now and then with a remodeled version that suits their purposes, only to be exposed.

Paul Krugman details this and many other points on a regular basis. He can come across as snarky but the right wing nut jobs out there just tire the whole argument. How long can their arguments be shot down only to resurface and be shot down again?

A cursory look at it's history and present day use would render your perspective as disingenuous so I chose to think you just don't really know.

All the best,
Nonoise