We will go in a «tour» through the crisis times we are experiencing. But without a clear picture where is the exit or how to overcome them. Then will give a list of aseptic actions, techniques, to overcome the economic crisis times. Some might be more like than others. Some weak and incapable governments, even may no consider some.
Finally, we will touch the human side, psychological and emotional, where lay the human values and virtues. We believe that times of economic crisis have been financially created. But its length and depth is due to the mistrust virus between the agents, along with the virus of human pessimism and psychological fatigue. That are firmly entrenched in the crisis times we are experiencing, preventing their overcoming and an enhanced and experienced leave. The simple penicillin of liquidity and low value of money is not enough to reach successfully inside the human soul.
Reasons, Origins and Economic Mechanisms of the Crisis.
The crisis times have not appeared without reason. Do the times of crisis comes from a structural fault of the modern capitalism? That would appear periodically, never equally and with more or less force and extension in each economic cycle. No. The failure of the system is produced by the untidy, selfish and covetous, or careless and fail to fulfill conducts of many businessmen and authorities of the societies. The culprits of the actual times of crisis are an important number of bankers of many nations, together with the authorities of these. Their professionalism is doubtful, imperfect and ineffective. They are improvident, stupid and eager and blind of money and power persons. In a sinister and criminal amalgam, generated by a «born within itself chaos».
The authorities are responsible of not having established a legal frame of alertness and regulation of the financial structure, increasingly sophisticated and complex in the development countries. Which is adapted to such so evident, important and vital activity for the modern economies, as is the reasonable guarantee of the banking deposits and the generation of the banking enough credit for the national Economy.
Do this suppose a turn to the ideas of the socialist economy? Do we need a Big financial state Brother?, another official heavy, costly, slow, slightly productive public bureaucratic mechanism. Neither. The mission of the public powers is to establish a frame or financial practical, legal and modern method or way of action. And the sufficient means for its control and the correction of the alterations produced by the inevitable diversions (like a driver or a ship pilot), in a constant, relatively simple and agile way. Then it is necessary to allow operate the economic agents, that are all of us, acting as consumers, businessmen, borrowers, employees, institutions, etc., in the different partial markets: of credit, transport, supplies, stocks, etc. Why has it to be the State?, because it is the institution that is supposed must control and rule the general common activities, in the name of the people, over persons and private entities.
The banking management is vital for any modern economy. Would someone like that his money, deposited in a financial institution, is given to an insolvent person? That is given to somebody without patrimony or payrolls and that difficulty could return what receives. This guarantee of custody, so wished and sought by the depositors, is given by the authorized banks. Not the stalls or the financial swindlers. Does someone need money for a new investment or to expand his business? This money, received and brought together from many small anonymous depositors, the banks lend it. So as that the activity that he proposes could manage to be economically viable in a reasonable term. Does someone need money for a consumption lending or for a mortgage? The bank gives it to him, provide his future reasonable income allows him to make attend to the successive payments of the lending and its interests, up to its final liquidation. This intermediary banking basic function gives «payment means» to the economic agents who need them, to allow the economic «transactions» of a society, facilitating and stimulating its functioning, growth and prosperity.
The fundamental reason of the appearance of the «difficult to collect» mortgages in the USA was the break of the normal and constant relation between the lender and the borrower. Sure that Clinton first said that every American has the right to own a house. But he forgot to talk about paying it. To be able to grow more, some banks «securitized» part of their lending. First it was with the best lending, at least by all its appearances. They turned in bonds or medium-term debt, the lending that they were giving. And they sold these bonds to other banks or financial institutions, with excess of liquidity and looking for investing. And, therefore, ready to pay a bit more. On having seen the easy thing that was the process, where all they were earning and were getting more means of payment or investment, all were congratulated of their intelligence and financial skill. The process increased and, especially, it spread, even overseas. To it helped, how not, the juggling of the financial engineering. And it degenerated, on having got lost the alertness and control over the borrower. On whose punctual payments up to the liquidation of the lending, were residing the viability and the honesty of the «securitized» and sold transaction. And these pollutant powders, brought the actual economic quagmires, that damage to all us. Where nobody knows well the real value of what he bought or keeps in his financial assets.
Some economic measures to solve the crisis.
A problem is to contain the inflation, which now turns out to be distant, diffuse and improbable. That is to say, that the general prices level does not raise. This one includes the costs of the energies, now depreciated. But also those of the food and the fees of the public services, much more bulls. And in addition are almost impossible to substitute for other goods or private services. And to avoid that the ambitions get out of hand and turn in excessive and unjust. This is like a more or less severe diet. But that promises health and economic renewed energy.
It is also necessary to stimulate the Economy and to avoid its more or less sudden braking. Its total detention would lead to the opposite: to the deflation. But the excess of liquidity at very low prices that are applying the central banks of many countries, seems that removes the danger from the latter.
This multiple, double action in its purposes, forms a complementary, not antagonistic couple of opposites. They are like the nervous vegetative system: with the sympathetic and parasympathetic. Or both reins of a car of horses.
We give some possible measures. We believe that if the public sees a harmonic group of actions, stimulated by the Federal State, he will accept all of them. Though someone makes concrete harm temporarily to a sector of the population.
The public expenditure should be controlled everything possible. For example, cutting away the government employees or limiting the new appointments and limiting the new public works to the structures directly related with the production of goods, all the communications or the education. A corollary of the previous thing would be to seek or to have a surplus in the total State income. This might be used to amortize national or external national debt, for example. Or to reduce the taxes to the companies placed in the first row of employment creation and generation of wealth. And favoring, according to the cases, the most creative, modern sectors or that that use more manpower for production or output unit.
The widespread raises of salaries and pensions should be contained. The quid is to never allow an equivocal spiral of successive raises of prices and wages. Here have to give social example the highest wages (executive, high public charges, civil pilots, capital revenues).
It is necessary to give an adapted training to the youngest unemployed people, proceeding from sectors in crisis, in order that they could be occupied in other labors. The collection of the unemployment subsidies would be tied to receiving this training, at least with interest and, desirably, with progress.
The State must foment the «general» research and development. And to favor that the companies realize the «specific» research and development in their different productive sectors.
It is necessary that the State approaches seriously the problem of the complex commercial intermediaries and the logistics of many products of great consumption. Which increase in price unduly and almost inevitably (because there are the diverse «steps») the costs of those to the final consumers.
The personal qualities and virtues as decisive mental and stamina force to solve the times of crisis and to work out strengthened.
The real, deep and effective action in times of crisis comes from the persons, that, in addition, are the authentic economic agents.
After the liquidity and price of the money measures already taken profusely, why does not economic system work according to its capacity? In 2001 and 2002 even the conditions of money flow to the banks and its cost were slightly worse.
Because is restricted the action of the economic agents.
Partly financially, because the money is not given so easily and thoughtlessly. It is turning rapidly the banks’ “bad” custom of wanting to charge in time all kinds of lending and to give them with a certain security.
The system still needs and must produce more purges for the elimination of other incompetent, corrupt or spendthrift agents.
And, also, is necessary to restore the confidence of the economic agents between them. If I ask for a lending and get tangled up a time. Putting me under an obligation with a top labor, financial and psychic effort. It will be because I see reasonable opportunities of work or of investment. And because I have the natural ambition of prospering and growing.
This confidence is a mental parameter, that does not measure up in coins and that is not exchanged or transmutes with the ambition. Its real engine will be the illusion and the enthusiasm. Without illusion and enthusiasm nobody can neither be tackled nor realize successful enterprises. The enthusiasm is a force of the spirit, which conquers the moral and ideological entropy, generated almost inevitably in the societies (it is the set of the decay and the spiritual softness), and illuminated by a «reasonable illusion».
Of the world economic crisis it is necessary to work out strengthened in our values and virtues. These are the human «goodness and qualities» of reference, estimated and valued permanently by the societies and the human groups. The human virtues are very stable in the time. The values are the human «qualities and goodness», estimated temporary and/or locally by the societies or human groups. And, principally, by virtue of their idiosyncrasy, living conditions and pressures received from the exterior. The cultural and social values are in the habit of being evolving with the contingencies, movements and fortunes lived by the humans societies.
The virtues are contributed principally by the most elaborated religions, and by Cicero’s speeches and Plato’s Dialogs, within our extensive Western culture. We can mention principal and evident, without seeking to be exhaustive, absorbed in the human soul:
Appreciation of the family, the clan, the tribe, the friendship and the good and curious strangers who come to our environment. It is the vital environment that sustains us and is supported by all of us, our social humus.
Need of punishment of the conducts that are sufficiently separated of the social rules: to avoid the untidy revenge, to dissuade the possible perpetrators, to satisfy the done damages and offences and to reform the mistaken conducts
Appreciation of the respect and the worship to the Divinity, as recognition of the Necessary Being who creates us, supports us and, in some cases, helps us. This makes concrete according with the education, the culture and the social environment lived.
Valuation of the different duties to fulfill, as necessary, vital and social counterpart of the several rights to receive. Valuation of the sobriety, the effort, the saving, the commitment, the study or the training and the work as necessary factors and parameters for the progressive attainment of the personal and collective human aims.
Our values and virtues recognized, recaptured and reaffirmed, are which really will give us the force and the illusion to overcome these times of crisis.
And let’s not forget the essential function of command, management, impulse and example of the social leaders of all kinds. That are present in the homes, the schools, the churches, the political parties, the unions, the work centers, the associations in general, etc. These are the cores of the collective activity of the society. In the times of crisis the leaders must act much more from the example.
The values and the virtues cannot be seen as something artificial and remote, without real connection with a lived and known practical code. They have to be perceived and accepted by the citizens through alive examples that could be follow. Not with codes impositions and cold regulations, dictated from the moral and intellectual apex of the society.