Organic Vs Engineered Economies, Benford’s Law, and Lower GDP Growth Rates in the West Explained

2/4/2011 Portland, Oregon – Pop in your mints…

For anyone who read yesterday's Mint, you will be happy to know that we do not recall any of our dreams from last night.  We did, however, send inquiries to members of the Arkansas legislature to see if they could help us interpret our dream about them.  We do not anticipate any response but you never know.  If anyone can help to explain it we figure it would be them.  Please do not ask why we dreamt about the Arkansas Legislature, for we have no answer.

What we can do, however, is to continue to develop our current hypothesis.  As you may recall from yesterday's Mint, it is:

"As a predominantly Engineered (Socialist) economy becomes less Engineered and more Organic (Capitalist), it experiences exponentially increasing rates of economic growth.  Conversely as a predominantly Organic economy becomes more Engineered, it experiences exponentially decreasing rates of economic growth."

We will define economic growth as an increase in capital goods within an economy.  For lack of a better measure, we have looked at year over year GDP growth in the East and the West.  We say for lack of a better measure because in the current insane monetary system where debt is money and money is debt, it is arguable that what is measured as GDP growth is actually the rate at which the economy is cannibalizing itself.  But that is a subject for a different day.

For the sake of simplicity, we further postulate that the Eastern economies (China, Japan, etc.) more closely resemble "Engineered" or state controlled economies and that Western Economies (US, France, etc.) more closely resemble "Organic" or Capitalist economies.  These may not be perfect definitions on a country by country basis but the general distinction between East and West will give us a good starting point in trying to confirm or deny our hypothesis on a country by country basis.  Naturally, the US and China, the world's largest trade relationship, should be our first case study.

East Vs West - Organic Vs Engineered Economies, What is Going on?

2/3/2011 Portland, Oregon – Pop in your mints…

We had a strange dream last night, fellow taxpayer.  Like many of our dreams, we do not recall much of the narrative.  We awoke with only short, vivid scene in our minds.  The scene we that recall from last night's slumber was confusing and hilarious, if not terrifying.  What we saw was that the legislature of Arkansas had been dismissed and had been replaced by baby pigs.  They were all lying on their chairs in the chamber and from time to time, none other than Bill Clinton, wearing a smile and overalls, would walk by and pick one up, stroke it on the head, and set it back down on its chair.

What does it mean?  That is the terrifying part.  We have absolutely no idea.  But there it is, in our subconscious, laid bare for all to ponder.  If someone from Arkansas can explain the meaning of this dream, please contact us.

Scanning the news it appears that Hosni Mubarak, after making a mild concession to what up until yesterday was a peaceful protest, will not go without a fight.  We pray that this situation will be resolved peacefully as violence in Egypt could have many repercussions that we cannot even imagine at this point.

Today at The Mint we are working on a hypothesis that may explain certain things, such as why China and Asia have been growing so rapidly recently and the United States and the rest of the Western economies have appeared to stagnate or "under perform" the economies in the East.

A Cry for Freedom in Egypt!

2/2/2011 Portland, Oregon – Pop in your mints…

We are watching, along with the rest of the world, the recent events in Egypt with much excitement and anticipation.  What does it mean?  Why, after 30 years of rule and relative calm, has Egypt suddenly exploded, demanding the removal of Hosni Mubarak, their leader of 30 years?

Was it the incessant corruption?  Corruption happens everywhere, with the possible exception of Singapore and Hong Kong.  We are ruling that out.

The flagrant nepotism?  Castro, Bush, Kennedy, Clinton, Cuomo, again, it happens everywhere.

The fact that 40% of the people live below the World Bank's definition of poverty earning less than $2 per day?  We're getting warmer…

The fact that Egypt now consumes all of the oil that it produces?  Warmer…

The fact that the 40% of the Egyptian population mentioned above rely on government subsidies (largely funded by revenue from oil exports) to eat?  Warmer…

The fact that Egypt has to import 60% of its wheat?  Hot!  Really Hot!