“…people are apt to suggest we augment the markets, with more regulations, for instance, rather than examining whether there are structural flaws present and maybe they are the culprit”
Bingo! We have a winner. The system we have is fatally flawed.
One of those flaws is that the system relies on people to ‘manage’ it. No matter who those people are, or how intelligent, informed, and well-meaning they might be, this system cannot be managed so as to eliminate macroeconomic instability (the ‘business cycle’ of booms and busts; inflation and unemployment). Yet, in determining policy those people must inevitably determine who will ‘win’ and who will ‘lose’; any policy will benefit some at the expense of others.
The economic system we have cannot be successfully managed, using monetary policy or any other means, because it is inherently unstable. It is in fact the definition of a chaotic system: all of the variables in it are interdependent; everything in the system will be changed by a change in anything else.
The other fatal flaw to stability in our economic system is more material. It is that the fuel of this economy is debt. We have learned over the last four decades that when debt is used to fuel economic growth, debt will always grow faster than the economy will. Look at any chart that shows debt and GDP since 1979. [There are those (MMT) who hold that debt of the central government can be all-but-infinitely sustainable, but whether or not they are right about that, no one thinks any other debt is.]
As it happens, I have discovered a way to fix the existing system. I understand that hearing about this idea from its author somehow diminishes its credibility, but I can’t fix that. [For what it might be worth, I do have an M.A. in economics.]
I have a Web site, such as it is, www.ajustsolution.com (though I’ve been informed that the link doesn’t work, so the address would have to be typed). I got to this idea thinking about a really just economy, but my monetary proposal can be considered in strictly economic terms. I have also published relevant essays here on medium.com, including “Extending Democracy to Our Capitalist Economy to Transform Our Society” and “A Cure for the Ills of Capitalism.”
This is not something I came up with this morning; all questions that can be answered prior to the actual implementation of this solution have been answered. Also, I readily admit to being a better thinker than I am a writer — much less a Web site designer — so there’s no need to harangue me about any of that. I welcome any substantive critique, but whining about how difficult it is to understand doesn’t count as that.