Comments for Macrofugue Analytics

Comment on The State of Rentierism by Vaughn L. Page

Vaughn L. Page — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 04:22:15 +0000

If you live in Quebec, you have additional rules to worry about. Specifically, for Quebec tax purposes you can deduct interest (and other investment expenses) only to the extent you’ve reported investment income in the year. Investment income for these purposes includes taxable capital gains. Any interest that is not deductible can be carried forward to offset investment income you have in future years.

Comment on The Three Types of Marginal Capital Allocation by Ora N. Benton

Ora N. Benton — Sun, 09 Jun 2013 05:19:22 +0000

Gross fixed capital formation for maintenance of existing capacities at the same level is investment due to replacement, intensification and rationalisation of production, but without expanding the existing capacities or fundamentally changing the present technology.

Comment on Welcome to Peak Capitalism by Mike Beckerle

Mike Beckerle — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 12:05:55 +0000

Justifying payments to workers as something to which they are entitled due to their increasing productivity is assigning that value to the wrong party. I’m not saying we don’t need to find some justification, but this is not it. If person A’s productivity increases working for B, but that gain is due to some innovation created by C, purchased/financed using B’s capital, in what sense is A entitled to that value?

Comment on Welcome to Peak Capitalism by Augusto Carreira

Augusto Carreira — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 09:16:26 +0000

Capitalism is NOT the system of relations between labor and capital. Capitalism is the space of solutions to reproduce existing non-consumed, recyclable MONEY. Many times this reproduction of money takes the form of investments in projects that require other people (labor). Many times the reproduction is merely financial (albeit trusted against some physical reality). So, labor is a collateral effect of capitalism. Not an intrinsic element. All the rest are ways societies come up with to keep social calm and the acceptable environment for the ruling and influent people to carry on with their way of living and of being wealthy and keep a high status (some scholars say this is fundamental for survival during catastrophes). Of course this also has provided the lower classes with a better income and possibilities to become affluent (not a just by means of capitalism but also due to to freedom and democracy: authoritarian, nepotist countries are capitalists too but unable to extend the benefits to all, even when the beneficiaries are a lot, like in China). Because of its nature, there are things capitalism can never achieve and in fact can turn it into an obstacle to societal development including the usage and spread of produced wealth. In modern societies capitalism is a great instrument to obtain and keep status, which is intrinsically hierarchical, and only a few can be at the top. And, once there, they will make everything possible to stay there and prevent others from achieving such a status level.

Comment on Unemployment in the Age of Capital Abundance by A Few Good Reads, Redux | Derek Hernquist

A Few Good Reads, Redux | Derek Hernquist — Fri, 17 May 2013 17:24:36 +0000

[...] economists promote politically-infused “solutions”, the untarnished young are both objective and bullish on [...]

Comment on Unemployment in the Age of Capital Abundance by Matt Busigin

Matt Busigin — Tue, 07 May 2013 16:47:38 +0000

THat’s a really good point. I think we can analyse how replacement capital is superior by observing the Marginal Efficiency of Capital over time.

Comment on Unemployment in the Age of Capital Abundance by Benign

Benign — Mon, 06 May 2013 14:07:54 +0000

Nice! i don’t think i’ve ever seen the charts on the investment-employment relationship before. Consider also that “replacement” investment is now often of a higher, technology-boosted quality and efficiency than the original and the frontier for profitable investment is collapsed even further.

Nonlinearity looms. In this case the singularity is when one person owns everything ha ha.

See also my link to Bruce Sterling’s brilliant speech on neo-feudalism and the unholy symbiosis of hi-tech and the money lords.

Comment on The Three Types of Marginal Capital Allocation by Benign Brodwicz

Benign Brodwicz — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 17:05:25 +0000

In story form: when financial capital (ownership of “physical capital” aka the means of production) becomes too concentrated, a “failure of effective demand” occurs as the owners of the means of production lower wages to the point where consumption spending begins to fail; this depresses “animal spirits” quite rationally because most [true] investment demand is a derived demand (from consumer demand); hence the preference among those owning the means of production in the form of financial capital to prefer rents and speculation (with their cash) over investment in “physical” capital; through influence the rentiers lower capital requirements and create an inherently unstable monetary structure, within which they fight like pirhanas over speculative opportunities, which leads to a cycle of intermediary collapses, extreme monetary base creation, and bailouts using sovereign powers of taxation to pass the loss along to the people; once trust on the monetary unit vanishes, perhaps with an expropriation of deposit funds, the stage is set for (1) deflationary collapse, as bank runs overwhelm the deposit insurance system, and (2) hyperinflation, as the monetary authorities order banks to issue prepaid debit cards to anyone wanting to withdraw his or her money from the bank.

The structural reforms needed: no more (or much higher reserve level) fractional reserve banking; steeply progressive income and, for a time, wealth taxation to restore a healthy circulation of income and product. See Emanuel Saez’s recent interview on this at http://www.bostonreview.net/BR38.1/emmanuel_saez_david_grusky_income_inequality_taxes_rent_seeking.php

Marx has the last laugh.

Comment on The State of Rentierism by The Three Types of Marginal Capital Allocation | Macrofugue Analytics

The Three Types of Marginal Capital Allocation | Macrofugue Analytics — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 05:05:30 +0000

[...] ← The State of Rentierism [...]

Comment on The incredible vanishing equity supply by Patrick Haughey

Patrick Haughey — Sun, 17 Mar 2013 20:16:18 +0000

awesome.