Category Archives: Scott Smith

Robert Stark interviews Bay Area Guy about the SF Bay Area and the FIRE Economy

aesthetics, Alex von Goldstein, American Culture, Banking, Bay Area Guy, Bay Area Renters Federation, Bernie Sanders, capitalism, Cities, Corporations, Culture, Distributism, Economics, Environment, FIRE Economy, Hillary Clinton, Killing the Host, Lafayette CA, Michael Hudson, Neoliberalism, Oligarchy, Radical Center, San Francisco, Scott Smith, Sonja Trauss, Suburbia, Taxation, Third Way Economics, Tobin Tax, Urbanism, Usury, Wall Street, Wealth

killing-the-host

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Robert Stark, Rabbit & Alex von Goldstein talk to Bay Area-based blogger Bay Area Guy of  Occident Invicta

Topics include:

Bay Area Guy’s article The Bay Area and the FIRE Economy, which reviews Robert Stark’s interview with Laura Foote Clark of Grow SF
How as a renter in the Bay Area this issue personally effects Bay Area Guy
The role that Banks and the FIRE sector play in driving up the cost of real estate
Bay Area Guy’s point that he does not want the Bay Area to become like SoCal: an environmental eyesore characterized by track housing and strip malls
However Bay Area Guy does endorse Laura’s proposal of having Silicon Valley become more urbanized
The role that mass immigration plays in the housing crisis on top of the FIRE economy
Bay Area Renters Federation’s Sonja Trauss: Advocating for Housing Development in San Francisco
San Francisco Bay Area Renters’ Federation‘s lawsuit against the city of Lafayette over a development
The argument that white NIMBY’s oppose development because of diversity, and Bay Area Guy’s article, “Diversity” is Simply Code for “Non-white”
Bay Area Guy’s review of Killing the Host by Michael Hudson
The FIRE economy, which is an economy based on Finance, Insurance, and Real Estate sectors
Michael Hudson’s proposal to tax unearned income(ex. Tobin tax)
The goal of a fair tax policy should not just be to redistribute wealth, but also to punish predatory behavior, and incentivize productive behavior
How Michael Hudson invokes the arguments of Classical Liberals such as Adam Smith, and John Stewart Mills, who distinguished between earned and unearned income
Unearned income is any wealth not generated by production or labor
Debt and living paycheck to paycheck is the road to serfdom
How the majority of people’s income goes towards unearned income(ex. rent, insurance, mortgages)
How lower wages are bad for the economy, because consumers have less money to spend
Wikileaks: Hillary Clinton Calls Bernie Sanders Supporters Basement Dwellers, and that she viewed Wall Street as best to manage the economy
The Calvinist mentality in American culture, that your worth is based on your wealth
What makes Hudson’s book so brilliant is he points out that the ultra rich make their money through unproductive or predatory ways
Examples of countries that have moved away from the FIRE economy include Germany and Japan, who have a high end manufacturing base
In contrast the FIRE economies of the United States and the United Kingdom became dominant using protectionist and mercantilist measures, but liberalized their economies later on
Why Universal Healthcare and Public investment in infrastructure benefit the economy
Michael Hudson debunks supply side economics by pointing out the rich spend most of their extra income on products they already own, or lend their money out at interest
How the concept of a free market has been twisted from freedom from the rentier economy, into letting the financial sector do what ever they want
Michael Hudson’s point that the primary function of banking is not to fund business or stimulate the economy, but to bid up assets already in place, and attach debt to rents


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Robert Stark interviews Presidential Candidate Scott Smith

Alex von Goldstein, Banking, Basic Income, Economics, Politics, Scott Smith, Taxation, Tobin Tax, Wall Street, Wealth

Scott Smith

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Robert Stark and co-host Alex von Goldstein talk to independent presidential candidate Scott Smith. With a background in Wall Street finance, Scott Smith is a serial entrepreneur, having co-founded companies in such diverse industries as agriculture, finance, educational media, and technology. He began his career as a pioneer grower of Sunburst tangerines, helping to develop a market for the fruit and establish the variety’s popularity. In the 1990’s Scott was an early pioneer in structured finance, developing the model for conduit financing. His model was rapidly adopted by Wall Street and used for securitizing many forms of debt. His campaign website is Scott Smith 2016

Topics include:

Scott Smith’s plan to abolish the income tax, pay off the deficit without cutting social programs
How Scott’s economic proposals adress both the concerns of the left and the right
Scott’s support for a Financial Settlements Tax to replace the income tax
How under Banking 2.0 you would no longer pay interest on loans, so loans would cost less than they do today
How Banks would obtain money for loans directly from the Fed at no interest, so little banks would be able to compete with big banks, helping to reduce service fees for customers
The need for a basic citizens income and how to implement it without using tax revenue and creating inflation
Healthcare, how we pay more money to insurance companies than we do to healthcare, and Scott’s solutions
Immigration
Scott’s plan to legalize drugs and putting the government in charge of producing and selling drugs
Scott’s book The Ten Financial Commandments
How to explain financial policies in layman’s terms


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