Widget Image
Follow PPD Social Media
follow
1,000 Followers
follow
0 Followers
follow
People's Pundit Locals Community
Monday, January 13, 2025
SECTIONS
logo
mobile-logo
HomeStandard Blog Whole Post (Page 129)
Policy

Graphic of United Nordic Nations flags.
Graphic of United Nordic Nations flags.

In Part I of our series on Socialism in the Modern World, we looked at the tragic story of Venezuela.

Today, we’re going to look at what we can learn from the Nordic nations. And the first thing to understand, as I explain in this interview, is that these nations are only socialist if the definition is watered down.

As I noted in the interview, real socialism is based on government ownership and control of the “means of production.” But Nordic countries don’t have government-owned factories, government-controlled allocation of resources, or government regulation of prices.

In other words, those nations are not socialist (government ownership), they’re not fascist (government control), and they’re not even corporatist (cronyism).

So what are they?

In a column for the Washington Post, Max Boot accurately describes them as free-market welfare states.

…rigging elections and locking up or killing political opponents. This is one model of socialism — the same approach that has been applied in Cuba and the Soviet Union. But there are many other varieties that are far more benign. …the Scandinavian model. …Denmark, Norway and Sweden…show that a “free-market welfare state” isn’t an oxymoron. …By some measures, moreover, they are freer, economically…than the United States.

That last sentence isn’t a typo. The United States has more overall economic freedom than the Nordic nations, but both Denmark and Finland actually rank above America when looking at factors other than fiscal policy.

And Sweden and Norway only trail the United States by 0.03 and 0.06 points, respectively.

That being said, a big lesson to learn is that fiscal policy is a mess in the Scandinavian countries.

…there is nothing sinister about wanting to emulate the Scandinavian example. But that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s practical. The Scandinavians have lower corporate tax rates than the United States but much higher individual taxes. …The Scandinavian countries also charge hefty value-added taxes of 25 percent on consumption. The United States doesn’t have a national sales tax, and the average rate for state sales taxes is only 7 percent. In all, Scandinavians pay $25,488 a head in taxes compared with $14,793 a head in the United States — 72 percent more. This is what it takes to finance a Scandinavian-style social welfare state. It can’t be done simply by raising marginal tax rates on the wealthiest taxpayers to 70 percent, as Ocasio-Cortez suggests, because few taxpayers pay the top rate. It requires a massive tax hike on the middle class.

Amen. This is a point I have frequently made, most recently when writing about Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s statist agenda. Ordinary taxpayers will pick up most of the tab if the left’s agenda is adopted.

But I’m digressing. Let’s return to today’s main issue, which is the Nordic nations and socialism.

Technically, there’s no connection. As I said in the interview, those countries have never been socialist. Heck, if those nations are socialist, then so is the United States.

There is a lesson to be learned, however, and that lesson is relevant whether one uses the technical or common definition of socialism.

Simply stated, the relative success of those nations is due to free markets and a history of small government, but the imposition of big welfare states starting in the 1960s has weakened the region’s economic vitality.

This chart tells you everything you need to know.

P.S.  Actually, there is more your should know. Nima Sanandaji’s data on how Americans of Nordic descent are richer than residents of Nordic nations is very illuminating.

In part II of a series on

Economy

Group of friends sitting outdoors with shopping bags; several people holding smartphones and tablets. (Photo: AdobeStock/ OneInchPunch/PPD)
Group of friends sitting outdoors with shopping bags; several people holding smartphones and tablets. (Photo: AdobeStock/ OneInchPunch/PPD)

U.S. retail sales fell 1.2% in December for the biggest monthly decline of the expansion since September 2009, missing the 0.1% consensus. Adjusted for seasonal variation and holiday and trading-day differences, but not for price changes, they came in at $505.8 billion.

Forecasts ranged from -0.1% to 0.4%.

The December number is still 2.3% (±0.5%) higher than December 2017, as retail sales have rebounded sharply over the last two years.

Total retail sales for the 12 months of 2018 were up 5.0% (±1.4%) from 2017. For October 2018 through December 2018, total retail sales were up 3.7% (±0.5%) from the same period a year prior.

The October 2018 to November 2018 percent change was revised from up 0.2% (±0.5%) to up 0.1% (±0.4%). Retail trade sales were down 1.3% (±0.5%) from November 2018, but were 2.1% higher than the previous year.

Clothing and clothing accessories stores were up 4.7% (±1.4%) from December 2017, while food services and drinking places were up 4.0% (±2.5%) from last year.

Nevertheless, the December retail sales report will shave expectations off of fourth quarter (Q4) gross domestic product (GDP).

U.S. retail sales fell 1.2% in December

Economy

U.S. jobless claims graph on a tablet screen. (Photo: AdobeStock)
U.S. jobless claims graph on a tablet screen. (Photo: AdobeStock)

Initial jobless claims came in at a seasonally adjusted initial 239,000 for the week ending February 9, unexpectedly rising by 4,000. The 4-week moving average rose 6,750 to 231,750.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was unchanged at a very low 1.2% for the week ending February 2. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rose 37,000 during the week ending February 2 to 1,773,000.

The 4-week moving average rose 9,000 to 1,750,250.

No state was triggered “on” the Extended Benefits program during the week ending January 26.

Despite the unexpected gain, claims are still well below the 300,000 threshold indicating a tight labor market. The JOLTS report released earlier this week found the U.S. economy currently has a record high number of job openings.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending January 26 were in Alaska (3.3), New Jersey (2.8), Rhode Island (2.6), Connecticut (2.5), Montana (2.5), Massachusetts (2.3), Pennsylvania (2.3), Illinois (2.2), Minnesota (2.2), and West Virginia (2.2).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending February 2 were in Pennsylvania (+5,013), Wisconsin (+4,470), New York (+3,680), Texas (+1,682), and Oregon (+981), while the largest decreases were in California (-7,982), New Jersey (-1,227), Missouri (-1,023), Virginia (-785), and Florida (-716).

Initial jobless claims came in at a

Video

On this episode of Liberty Never Sleeps, Tom wraps up this week explaining how government gets bigger and the liberal narrative expands in subtle ways.

*Chicken Soup Cures
*Mark Kelly for Senate
*Green Deal? Never Heard of It.
*Elderly Abuse Cases
*Tax Exodus

Bumper Music:

Carole King- So Far Away
Questions 67 and 68- Chicago
Does Anyone Really Know what Time it Is- Chicago
Under Pressure- Queen w/ David Bowie
New Kid in Town- Eagles
Bell Bottom Blues- Eric Clapton

Closing Music on podcast provided by The Dead Cat Bounce*

To help our show out, please support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/LibertyNeverSleeps

The money pledged thru Patreon.com will go toward show costs such as advertising, server time, and broadcasting equipment. If we can get
enough listeners, we will expand the show to two hours and hire additional staff.

All bumper music and sound clips are not owned by the show, are commentary, and of educational purposes, or de minimus effect, and not for monetary gain.

No copyright is claimed in any use of such materials and to the extent that material may appear to be infringed, I assert that such alleged infringement is permissible under fair use principles in U.S. copyright laws. If you believe material has been used in an unauthorized manner, please contact the poster.

On this episode of Liberty Never Sleeps,

News

American industry and economy imposed on a U.S. dollar.
American industry and economy imposed on a U.S. dollar.

The Atlanta Federal Reserve Business Inflation Expectations (BIE) decreased marginally 0.1% to 1.9% in February, the lowest in more than a year.

Current Environment

Sales levels and profit margins compared to “normal times” improved somewhat over the month. The growth in year-over-year unit cost fell to 1.9%, on average.

Quarterly Question

The majority of firms expect labor costs and non-labor costs over the next 12 months will result in “moderate” to “strong” upward pressure on prices charged. They also expect sales levels, margin adjustments, and productivity will have little or no influence on those prices.

Special Question

The median expected price increase regarding product or service over the next 12 months came in at 2.7%.

The Atlanta Federal Reserve Business Inflation Expectations

Politics

After more than two years and 200 interviews, the Senate Intelligence Committee has found no evidence of collusion between members of the Trump campaign and Russia. The upper chamber’s investigation is now drawing to a close.

“If we write a report based upon the facts that we have, then we don’t have anything that would suggest there was collusion by the Trump campaign and Russia,” Senator Richard Burr, R-N.C., the Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said in an interview with CBS News last week.

“We know we’re getting to the bottom of the barrel because there’re not new questions that we’re searching for answers to.”

Chairman Burr repeated the claim in a response to NBC News on Tuesday.

“There is no factual evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.”

Senator Mark Warner, D.-Va., Ranking Member of the Committee, told reporters on Tuesday that he disagrees with the way Chairman Burr characterized the evidence, but refused to elaborate.

“I’m not going to get into any conclusions I have,” he said.

Worth noting, Big Media and the president’s political enemies have long claimed the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI) was “the serious investigation” into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

By contrast, the investigation by the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI), which was spearheaded by Representative Devin Nunes, R-Calif., was dismissed as partisan in nature.

Yet, the SSCI was not without controversy in this process and the HPSCI is almost single-handedly responsible for oversight that led to the unveiling of serious abuses to secret spying programs.

James A. Wolfe, the longtime director of security for the Senate Intelligence Committee, pleaded guilty last October to making false statements to federal agents. The former committee employee selectively leaked classified and incomplete information to The New York Times, in a manner intended to politically damage President Donald J. Trump.

Wolfe, 57, of Ellicott City, Maryland, pleaded guilty to one count of making a false statement to special agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) during the course of an investigation into the unlawful disclosure of classified national security information.

Under the plea agreement he reached with federal prosecutors, the government dismissed the remaining counts at sentencing in December.

Meanwhile, the HPSCI concluded in March 2018 that there was “no evidence of collusion” between members of the Trump campaign and Russia, ending the probe a few weeks after then-Acting Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said in a press conference no “American was a knowing participant” in any conspiracy or plot by the Russians to influence the 2016 election.

Democrats disagreed with the report’s findings, which also uncovered spying abuses and slammed the Obama Administration for what they called “a lackluster pre-election response to Russian active measures.”

Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) allows intelligence agencies to collect information on foreign targets abroad. However, as People’s Pundit Daily (PPD) previously reported, it has been “routinely” abused and misused to spy on domestic targets, including President Trump, his associates and other U.S. citizens.

The Nunes memo revealed that Obama Administration officials at the FBI and Justice Department (DOJ) used false information to obtain a FISA warrant to spy on Team Trump via peripheral advisor Carter Page.

The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) was not explicitly made aware that the dossier was political opposition research funded by the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and the campaign for Hillary Clinton.

Christopher Steele, a former MI6 British Intelligence Officer and author of the dossier, was notably the head of the Russia desk at MI6. He almost exclusively compiled the dossier using Kremlin sources connected to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Democrats attempted to counter the damning Nunes memo by releasing their own, largely authored by Representative Adam Schiff, D-Calif., the now-Chairman and then-Ranking Member of the HPSCI. But the now discredited memo not only didn’t refute the central and most serious charges in the Republican memo, but actually confirmed them.

It sought to explain away the use of the Kremlin-sourced dossier and erroneously claimed it only played a part in obtaining the FISA warrant.

Rep. Nunes flatly said the release of the Democratic memo was an attempt to cover up FISA abuses.

He also said they had a “strategic goal to sow discord in the U.S. political system, including the 2016 presidential election,” but at times moved to help various candidates.

That assessment is backed by Justice Department admissions and allegations in recently unsealed indictments, which stated Russian efforts “did not exclusively adopt one ideological view” and even pushed “opposing perspectives.”

President Trump tweeted about the findings on Wednesday.

After more than two years and 200

Video

On this episode of Liberty Never Sleeps, Tom follows up discussion on the serious issues facing America and how conservatives have the answers to them.

*Triggering Liberals
*Train to Nowhere
*More Debt, So Do the Deal
*Antisemitism Must Be Stopped
*El Chapo Gets Life

Bumper Music:

Rocking Pneumonia- Aerosmith
Lonely People- America
Horse With No Name- America
Chain of Fools – Aretha Franklin
Looks Like We Made It- Barry Manilow
Hold On I”m Comin- Sam and Dave

Closing Music on podcast provided by The Dead Cat Bounce*

To help our show out, please support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/LibertyNeverSleeps

The money pledged thru Patreon.com will go toward show costs such as advertising, server time, and broadcasting equipment. If we can get
enough listeners, we will expand the show to two hours and hire additional staff.

All bumper music and sound clips are not owned by the show, are commentary, and of educational purposes, or de minimus effect, and not for monetary gain.

No copyright is claimed in any use of such materials and to the extent that material may appear to be infringed, I assert that such alleged infringement is permissible under fair use principles in U.S. copyright laws. If you believe material has been used in an unauthorized manner, please contact the poster.

On this episode of Liberty Never Sleeps,

Policy

Un mur de propagande, or a propaganda wall, promoting socialism behind Senator Bernie Sanders, D-I, Vt., left, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., right.
Un mur de propagande, or a propaganda wall, promoting socialism behind Senator Bernie Sanders, D-I, Vt., left, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., right.

With the surprising success of Senator Bernie Sanders, D-I, Vt., in the last presidential race and the more-recent instant-celebrity status of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., some are wondering if the United States is about to enter a “socialist era.”

I’ve criticized some of the proposals that are part of this movement, such as confiscatory tax rates and the so-called Green New Deal, so it goes with saying that I’m not a fan.

To learn more about the implications of socialism, let’s look around the world.

We’ll start with Venezuela, which is the focus of a very interesting article in The Washington Post. Here are some excerpts.

Did socialism kill Venezuela? Blessed with the world’s largest oil reserves, this South American nation was once the region’s richest per capita. Twenty years after the launch of the late Hugo Chávez’s Bolivarian Revolution, it is now one of the poorest. …In Washington…Republicans are seizing on Venezuela to score points against those Democrats who have newly embraced the term… But socialism’s role in Venezuela’s collapse, observers say, is not as clear as either side likes to think. At least fleetingly, socialist policies propped up by state petrodollars helped bolster the country’s status as one of the Western Hemisphere’s most equitable societies. But state-heavy policies that distorted prices and exchange rates, coupled with corruption, mismanagement and official repression, turned Venezuela’s economic landscape into scorched earth. …But it is also not communist Cuba or North Korea, where foreign investment and private ownership are strictly limited. …wealthy Venezuelans still own private companies and high-walled mansions in elite neighborhoods. They play golf at country clubs and are taxed at a relatively manageable 34 percent.

This is very fair reporting.

All the main points are accurate: Living standards have plummeted in Venezuela, oil money complicates the analysis, and the economy isn’t quite as statist as Cuba and North Korea.

The article goes on to cite the views of several Venezuelans.

“All the wrongs were created under Chávez,” said Henkel Garcia, head of Econometrica, a Caracas-based financial analysis firm. “The economy only survived as long as it did because of high oil prices.” …Today, roughly a third of the nation, pollsters say, still appears to back socialism — although only half that many remain loyal to Maduro. …With hyperinflation causing acute shortages of food and medicine, more and more former Chavistas, or adherents of Chávez’s ideals, are saying mea culpas and increasingly turning out against Maduro. “Before I die, I want socialism gone from Venezuela,” said Yessid Merlano, a 50-year-old waiter. …Scarcities of food and medicine first surfaced years ago but are now so chronic that he and millions of other Venezuelans have shed pounds and sought work abroad. Before returning to Caracas last year, he spent 10 months working as a laborer in neighboring Colombia, “where all I saw were Venezuelans begging in the streets,” he said. “I feel guilty that I was a Chavista,” he said. “It’s all my fault, all the suffering.”

I’m glad that many Venezuelans now realize that socialism is misguided.

Though I wonder if they will support the reforms that will be necessary once the current regime is deposed (and given the perverse incentives of politicians, I’m even more worried whether a new government will implement those reforms).

The article concludes with some damning data on the country’s economic decay.

State health care, once a pride of the socialists, collapsed as hyperinflation and shrinking resources left hospitals with shortages of syringes and antibiotics, as well as broken equipment too expensive to repair. …Chávez purged skilled managers, engineers and technicians from the state-owned oil giant PDVSA, stocking it with government loyalists. That set it up for a catastrophic failure as global prices fell from record highs. Venezuelan oil output is now at its lowest levels since the 1950s. Industries nationalized by Chávez, who expropriated 1,500 companies, collapsed as regulated prices distorted markets. In two decades, the government seized nearly 5 million acres of productive farmland that has now been largely abandoned. In 1999, there were 490,000 private companies in Venezuela. By last June — the most recent count available — that number had fallen to 280,000.

None of this is a surprise. Venezuela is a basket case.

But that’s not our topic today. We’re focusing instead on whether there are any lessons that the United States can learn from the Venezuelan debacle.

Or, to be more accurate, I think the key question is whether advocates of democratic socialism in America have learned anything from Venezuela’s miserable performance.

Plenty of leftists, including Sen. Sanders, praised the awful policies of Chavez and Maduro.

Now that the chickens have come home to roost and Venezuela’s economy has tanked, have any of them apologized?

A series on socialism in the modern

Politics

Senator Rick Scott, R-Fla., right, and Senator Mike Braun, R-Ind., left. (Photo: U.S. Senate Portraits)
Senator Rick Scott, R-Fla., right, and Senator Mike Braun, R-Ind., left. (Photo: U.S. Senate Portraits)

Freshman Senators Rick Scott, R-Fla., and Mike Braun, R-Ind., have teamed up to introduce legislation that would end taxpayer-funded congressional pensions.

“I’m proud to introduce this bill ending taxpayer-funded congressional pensions,” Senator Scott, the former governor of Florida who defeated Democratic incumbent Bill Nelson last November, said in an emailed statement to PPD.

“I’ve been in Washington a month and I can already see how dysfunctional it is.”

The End Plush Retirements Act was introduced through the End Pensions in Congress (EPIC) Act. While it would end taxpayer-funded congressional pensions, members would still be allowed to continue using the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP).

TSP is the government equivalent to a 401(k).

“It’s time we make Washington more like the private sector and the best place to start is to end taxpayer-funded pensions – like Nancy Pelosi’s six-figure annual pension – that senators and congressmen are entitled to in retirement,” Senator Braun, who defeated Democratic incumbent Joe Donnelly last November, also said in an emailed statement to PPD. “If we remove the luxurious perks from Congress, we’ll get better leaders.”

Senate Braun has refused to accept his pension from the U.S. Senate. In the event rules force him to do so, he has pledged to donate “every penny to Hoosier charities.”

Under the current system, elected officials serving in the U.S. Congress are eligible for a federal pension after just 5 years, less than a full term in the U.S. Senate. The amount of the pension is determined by years of service and the average of the highest 3 years of salary.

How much money are we talking about?

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has been in the U.S. Congress for 33 years. If she decided to retire today, then her taxpayer-funded pension payments would exceed $102,000 each year.

“When Congress failed to do their job and created the longest government shutdown in history, hardworking Americans were forced to go without pay while members of Congress were still collecting paychecks,” Senator Scott added. “That is wrong and is exactly why I’m fighting to reform Washington.”

The two freshmen senators, who were both closely aligned with President Donald J. Trump during the 2018 campaign, say this piece of legislation is step one to further the agenda of draining the swamp.”

Another is term limits.

“It’s time for term limits and it’s time to make those in D.C. realize that the era of career politicians is over,” Senator Scott concluded. “Americans should not have to foot the bill for generous salaries and pensions for members of Congress, and I’m proud to be working on common sense solutions to make Washington work for families across the nation.”

The PPD Election Projection Model was alone in correctly predicting the outcome of both races for U.S. Senate in Florida and Indiana.

Freshman Senators Rick Scott, R-Fla., and Mike

Economy

Series with themes reflecting a certain billionaire politician who won the 2016 presidential election touting a very strong labor market. (Photo: AdobeStock)
Series with themes reflecting a certain billionaire politician who won the 2016 presidential election touting a very strong labor market. (Photo: AdobeStock)

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) JOLTS report found the number of job openings hit a high of 7.3 million on the last business day of December. The consensus forecast was calling for a much lower 6.9 million.

The job openings rate was 4.7%.

“This almost guarantees labor force participation will continue to trend higher through the first half of this year,” TJM Investment analyst Tim Anderson said in a comment to PPD after the report.

JOLTS, or Job Openings and Labor Turnover, tracks the monthly change in job openings and rates on hiring and quits. It lags data from the Employment Situation, or monthly jobs report.

The latest jobs report found the labor force participation rate climbed to the highest level since 2013, while wages rose by 3% or greater for six consecutive months. In the fourth-quarter (Q4) 2018, workers’ wages saw the largest gain since Q3 2008.

For December, it found hires and separations were little changed at 5.9 million and 5.5 million, respectively. Within separations, the quit rate was little changed at 2.3% as was the layoffs and discharges rate at 1.1%.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)

People's Pundit Daily
You have %%pigeonMeterAvailable%% free %%pigeonCopyPage%% remaining this month. Get unlimited access and support reader-funded, independent data journalism.

Start a 14-day free trial now. Pay later!

Start Trial

Subscribe