Economics - Who Pays?

Speaking as someone who had to take maths O Level twice, I have to say that my understanding of economics is very basic. I put off reconciling my bank statements every month. 

I have to think of the economics of running a country in simple terms. What do we need to pay for? How are we going to raise the income? Running through those two main perameters is a moral issue. Who should pay most & who should be supported? Then there is the vexed problem of fairness & wealth distribution. 

In my view, where you were born & who your parents are should not determine your life chances. We are not all born equal in every way, but we should have equal opportunities to improve our lives. We do all deserve access to basic necessities - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow%27s_hierarchy_of_needs   That applies to all people, everywhere. So our responsibility is not only to our family, friends, neighbours, country. We have responsibilities to all people everywhere & to the planet we live on.

All of that costs money. So we have to generate income to pay for it. To generate income we have to produce something or provide a service that other people want enough to pay for it. That basic fact introduces the problem of resources that are finite. Once they are gone that's it. Whatever we do to generate income must be sustainable long term.

There is also the problem of Growth - the process by which a nation's wealth increases over time. That is an increase in the production of the quantity and quality of the economic goods and services that a society produces. The total income in a society corresponds to the total sum of goods and services the society produces – everyone's spending is someone else's income. I seriously question whether continuous economic growth is possible when much depends on inexhaustible raw materials & a skilled labour force. It seems to me that it simply isn't logical to think that is sustainable.

Countries need to generate public revenues that make it possible to finance investments in human capital, infrastructure, and the provision of services for citizens and businesses. There really is no "magic money tree". Countries & individuals have similar constraints. If you want to pay for goods or services you either need to have the money or you have to borrow it. If you borrow it you must pay it back eventually, with interest. So we have a system of taxation.

We are now borrowing at a rate previously unknown - Even during 2 world wars. We are printing money without gold reserves to back it up. The euphemistic name for that is "quantitive easing". To my mind that is similar to "collateral damage" instead of deaths. 

Anyone who considers the position we are in must realise that this is not a workable way forward. What this is, is a poisoned chalice we are handing to our children & grandchildren. Because someone, sometime is going to have to pay the money back, with interest. 

I'm not an economist, but to me the writing is on the wall. The rich are getting richer & the poor are getting poorer. Politics is too short termist. There is plenty of money in the world, but it is in the wrong hands & benefits very few. The power lies in the wrong hands. 

 

I can only see civil unrest if this continues, because at the root of economics should be the concept of fairness & sustainability. Consumerism may have resulted in years of growth, but it can't continue, because resources will run out. Maybe not in my lifetime, but kicking the can down the road will affect our children & grandchildren.