On Sunday, March 3, 2019 at 9:21:15 AM UTC-7, Chris L Peterson wrote:

On Sun, 3 Mar 2019 07:45:31 -0800 (PST), Gary Harnagel
wrote:

....
The BIG problem with the US economy is that it's debt-driven and
people are financially stupid.

No, the big problem with the U.S. economy is extreme income and
wealth disparity. Indeed, that lies at the root of essentially every
single social and political problem the U.S. faces today. Eliminating
extreme economic disparity reduces crime, expands rights, reduces
domestic violence, improves education... the list is endless.

I must respectfully disagree. There are not enough wealthy to
make a drop in the bucket if their wealth were redistributed.
A trillion dollars divided among 10^8 people is only $10K, and
when it's gone it's gone.

The ONLY viable solution is to create more wealth at the lower
economic levels. I've already expressed my opinion on how to
do that. Economic disparity alone doesn't cause crime, bondage,
ignorance and violence. It takes poverty and a real or imagined
sense of inability to get ahead. Paying people an adequate wage
as Henry Ford did is indeed a good idea, but mandating wages by
fiat (without producing useful goods in return) is self-defeating.