Fear Cripples the Economy and Local Businesses
By Reed Mackley
Sale! All Items in store 50% off! Massive blow out, everything must go! It seems the fear of the Nation’s economic state has hit hard everywhere, including our own homes. Harrisville City businesses are struggling to keep up on sales this year. Less sales and fewer employees seem to be reoccurring events that remind us of our economy’s state. “People just don’t want to spend money, they just can’t afford it.” Said Teresa Salazar of the Sprint Nextel store in Harrisville. It seems fear is crippling the economy more than helping it as the free market of Harrisville struggles to flourish.
December is usually considered the most hectic month of the year, but contrary to previous holiday seasons, sales are down. At T-Mobile in Harrisville, Kristina Halstead says, “We’re not near so busy, sales are down by 50 percent from last year. December is supposed to be the busiest month but we are 40 activations lower than August.” Tim Bennett of Deseret Book said similarly, “Store traffic is down by 80 percent from this time last year.” When asked if there was a change from last year, Teresa of Sprint Nextel said, “Oh, it’s horrible! There is a huge difference this year—we are down 50 percent from last year! Sales are much less as compared to last year and the year before.”
Everywhere businesses have fewer employees and less hours. At a local restaurant, the normal employee count in December is typically 80. This year it is only about 60, as customers are just not coming in as they usually do. “There is just a lot of cut hours” said Salazar who echoes what many employees and employers alike are saying.
Despite “Sale” signs and advertising, money is not being spent. “People are looking for value, how much they can get for their dollar. Our ‘bargain books’ section seems to be the only thing that is selling.” Said Bennett of Deseret Book, “A lot of our higher priced items that would have sold out in three weeks last year are still here after three months even at 50 percent off.”
There is no doubt that the economic fear is having an effect on Harrisville City’s local businesses. A sprint customer stated, “Although it is important to be prepared and careful, fear is crippling the economy rather than helping it.”
Inflation: A Natural Consequence of the Law of
By Reed Mackley
When the laws of men contradict the laws of “nature and natures God” the consequences do not always appear immediately but their appearance is certain and the longer they are withheld the greater will be the flood when the dam bursts. There is a law of supply and demand of which even the least educated should be aware, and the educated economist will not deny. It is a very powerful law that will bring bloodshed when the consequences of obstructing the law get severe enough.
It is natural for a person to become productive to supply his own physical needs when he is free and able and if he is not being supplied by someone else. It is also the nature of many to supply the needs of others if they have love for another person, such as a mother and father for their children or for other family members. Even many are willing to help supply the needs of his neighbor when the circumstances are appropriate. All this is dependant upon freedom and ability. Take these natural production sources away and the supply source will be dammed up. If production and supply are not on these bases the supply is slavery which will eventually result in a flood of blood shed.
Inflation is the consequences of the “natural law” when supply is depressed or demand is high. It has the effect in reality of changing the accounting in the market place so that production is increased when needed and demand is decreased when needed. This is simple to comprehend but it is so amazing that man-made laws that block or dam up this natural law are approved in a multitude of cases. This indeed is a fundamental law of freedom and liberty.
These “legal” obstructions are not just on a federal level. It is so painful to see the legislation of cities and counties in Utah is leading, or at least is among the most obstructive of any legislation against the natural law. We have become so accustomed to these obstructive laws that the students coming from the public school system know of no other alternative.
The land use laws have been multiplied so that it takes months and years to get a building permit which costs often between ten and eighty thousand dollars per building. City planning commissions (which do little or no planning) spend all their time in land use control activities. Land can not be bought or sold for building purposes without approval of many different boards, agencies, commissions and councils. All this blocks up the real estate industries and inflates the cost of housing to a degree that most people will be in debt for their entire lives. The land supply is restrained by zoning ordinances to a point where the price on some land becomes extortion while other land is left unusable and un-saleable. This puts the price so high that the result is congestion with very little or no open space.
A multitude of environmental and business regulation laws have driven many producing companies to move their investment and facilities out of the county. Just a few months ago the government leaders were saying we had a financial crisis but our economy was strong. Now they are admitting that the economy (production and supply) measured as the GNP is in great danger and is of falling.
If we look at all the laws that take away the ability of the producer, and if we see our nation as one accustomed to making high demands, we see all the makings of a time in the future of raging uncontrolled inflation ahead of us. What economists agree on is that uncontrolled inflation causes still more decrease in production and supply resulting a down spiral that is referred to as a meltdown of the economy. This is a real threat now present at our doors which is understood well enough by the knowledgeable bankers and economists that it has caused them to bring the interest rate down to near zero in an effort to keep the demand high so that production will not take a nose dive.
Our system now is being undermined by the uncontrolled false creation of money in the vast expenditures of the “bail out” of producers on the one hand to keep production high and “bail-out” of financiers on the other hand to keep credit spending high. All of this has the ultimate effect of producing uncontrolled inflation.
This entire situation, which is becoming ever clearer, is a result of our willingness to overlook the departure from laws provided by the Constitution to socialistic laws which center evermore power in government agencies, boards, commissions, councils, etc. at the expense of freedom and liberty of the producing citizen.
If the populace understands why this has occurred, they will be able to make corrections in a peaceful and Constitutional manner, but if they do not understand what is happening and the situation gets far worse, then a more unproductive method of correction occurs. This is horrible to contemplate, but when people are starving and freezing to death, they can become very vicious and blood shed appears as an option. For vivid accounts of this, all one needs to do is study the results of the National Socialist German Workers Party (Nazi). In their case, the money inflated to a point where a wheelbarrow of money could not buy a loaf of bread. At that point both the economy and the government that fostered uncontrolled inflation are destroyed together.