A2 - Sunday News, February 14, 1982

A dismal religion

I think I’m beginning to understand, in a
vague way, what’s happening to our economy.

I'd be crazy to try to be
more emphatic than that.

For one thing, trying to
find two economists who
agree with each other is im-
possible, and in the second
place, economics isn't just a
dismal science, lately it
seems like a dismal religion.

Nobody has really proven
they know what's going on.

Not John Kenneth
Galbraith. Not Milton Fried-
man. Not Beryl Sprinke).
Heck, not even my wife.

Be that as it may, let me
venture a guess that what.we
are experiencing is tBe.
transformation of our socie-
ty into ai no-growth
economy.

The old economic rules
don’t work any longer. To
understand why, you have to
consider the implications of
such modern facts of life as
high interest rates.

The reason we have high

interest rates is because
government, corporate and
consumer borrowing has
built up to unmanageable
levels. All this borrowing
was done on blind faith that
growth would continue.

According to this faith, to-
day's debts would be retired
by the increased wealth we'd
all enjoy tomorrow.

But as the Gross National
Product becomes virtually
stagnant, these debts begin
to come back to haunt us.

What is occuring now is a
“loss allocation” which takes
the form of inflation. The
gap widens between the
theoretical and the actual
value of money, borne
downward by debt. And why

is this happening?

It seems that the fun-
damental mechanism by
which a high level of
economic growth was attain-
ed has broken down.

The break-down occured
in 1973 when the Arab oil
cartel came into existence.
The real significance of this
event was the fact that for
the first time in 200 years,
the price of energy rose in
relation to the value of
labour.

Until 1973, you see. fossil
fuels, the main power source
for the mass economy, were

abundant. They were, in
fact, becoming cheaper
every year.

The main characteristic of
@ mass economy 3s its ability
to shift production away
from direct human labour to
machinery -- machinery that
has the fatal flaw of being
dependent on fossil fuels. Or
worse, nukes.

Once energy prices began
to rise, the total amount of
money available to invest,
tax, spend or.dole out began
to shrink, and it has been
shrinking ever since.

That leaves us facing the
question: If there is less real

Capital punishment
idea nixed in N.Van

A BID to press_ for
reinstatement of capital
punishment was narrowly

defeated in North Van-
couver City council Monday
night.

The resolution, presented
by Alderman Stella Jo Dean,
would have been taken to
the Annual Conference of
Canadian Municipalities in
June if it had been passed.

Presumably referring to
the Olson case, Dean said,
“an animal wouldn't kill I!
people.”

She also told aldermen it
costs Canadian taxpayers
$40,000 to look after one
prisoner.

Alderman Bill Sorenson
seconded the motion, and
said surveys have repeatedly
shown that Canadian people
favor capital punishment.

But Aldermen Frank Mar-
cino and Gary Payne
disagreed.

“I don't believe a civilized
society should reinstate
capital punishment,” said
Marcino.

He also disputed the
relevance of arguments
about taxpayers’ costs to the
capital punishment issue.

“AN it) (capital punish
ment) is is revenge,” Payne
told council. “My con
science brings me to vote

La Belle Sole

seafood restaurant

yon us on Valentine's Day
Sunday, February 14 from 5 p m
235 15th Street, West Van

reservations: 926-6861

against the motion.”

Alderman Ralph Halil told
Dean he could not vote for
the idea in its present form,
but would favor it if it was
aimed at crimes such as the
killing of prison” guards,
policemen, or at = murder
committed dunng commis-
sion of a felony.

Mayor Jack Loucks said
he would not vote for the
motion, not because he was
opposed to capital punish-
ment, but because he felt the
matter should be dealt with
federally.

Aldermen Dean, Sorenson
and klko Kroon
favor of the motion

voted in

growth resulting in less real
wealth, who is going to have
less?

The problem comes down
to the simple reality that
there is less money around.

In a growth economy, we
had more money to spend
each successive year.

Goods went down in
price. Wages rose. As long
as cheaper energy could
replace labour, the incentive
to substitute people with
machines grew. Whole new
industries sprang into ex-
istence.

Yet today we see that the
conditions upon which a
growing mass economy
depended — a msing bir-
thrate, cheap resources,
energy prices that decline,

ro

| FEBRUARY 4

of your
sweetheart’s
heart.

Be

active
together!

G

PaRNOPatnon

©

Ma

ey

accumulated savings — have
It is only the habits _of
growth that remain, guiding
governments along paths
that no longer exist. Sooner
or later, these ancient (that
is, pre-1973) habits will have
to be changed.
We are facing a situanon
which neither the left nor the
right seem to have quite an-
ticipated, and while there ts
a lot of wild thrashing going

on, it is clear that Reagan
can't balance the budget.

I know what happens
around my house when a
similar problem occurs. It's
not much different for the
mass economy as a whole.

Gee. I wish I could end on
an upbeat note. But the truth
is, things look like they're
going to get worse before
they get better.

Forget that you read it
here first.

No Dumping

Nu-life Recycling
no longer occupy
the premises at
1629 Columbia St.
North Vancouver
(Lynnwood Marina)

The General Public
is requested to
No Longer Dump Bottles,
Paper or Cans
at this location.

Those Doing So
Will Be Prosecuted

Ans Weeds Dinney

the choice of Escangprs. ov Onion Soupdwatines

Catsav Salad

Red Snappey Sauce Ramoulade
oY

New YoriiSteale

(Oh gue IM to olen ivvesistible temptations )

m IXEPCOVC veseve 424.2373

ONS IS