It's the novelty, sloppy !

Many people in the US would like to think of the Great Recession as a matter that is done and over with, without regard for the fact that economic cataclysms often have long-term consequences and that the bigger the cataclysm, the more widespread and deeper and long-lasting these effects are likely to be. Add to that things like resource constraints, and you can form an idea of how perilous the propaganda of economic optimism can be. Further, when we factor in the fact that several characteristics of the current crises confronting the US ( and other countries in the world, for that matter ) are new in content and in form, business-as-usual politics, business-as-usual economic policy-making, business-as-usual economic commentary and business-as-usual academic activity in the field of economics appear that much more inadequate for dealing with the economic challenges confronting the US. And elitists who think that they can pursue their elitist agendas like in the past will have to realize that the unprecedented nature of the economic challenges, both as regards the management of cash flows and as regards the sustainability of production, place them in a position that may be as vulnerable as of those whose well-being is closely tied with welfare systems. In other words, elitists who may have thought that their privileges and economic futures were assured are now confronted not just by those who want to stress distribution and egalitarianism and economic welfare, but also by theoretical and practical conundrums as to the sustainability of economic systems themselves and old modes of privileges themselves.

No system, elitist or non-elitist, egalitarian or non-egalitarian, equitable or non-equitable, can persist when the requisite knowledge and management competence is lacking. The huge gap between what the present and future exigencies demand from our policy makers in the field of economics and what they are actually able to come up with should be viewed with dismay by anyone who is interested in economic stability, economic progress or human welfare. In other words, it's the novelty, sloppy ! There is a need for leadership that can be honest and forthcoming with the American people. In many ways, modern economics has a lot to do with sending the right signals to a large number of people at the right time. A leadership that is mired in old ways of thinking that are out of touch with current realities and that miss the seriousness of new developments can end up leading the nation towards a state of economic underperformance, if not failure. Also, a leadership that fails to realize some crucial constraints in the economy can end up pushing the economy towards an unsustainable trajectory that can lead to catastrophic events with adverse consequences for both the elites and the masses.

by C. Jayant Praharaj ( send comments to cjpraharaj.blog@gmail.com )