The Prosperity Mandate: A Sustainable Economic Recovery Plan

From an email exchange with TPM founder Neal Katz:

A few people have asked me what I think of the Prosperity Mandate, so I spent a little while looking into it and thought I would give you my impressions directly.

Frankly, I am highly skeptical of the proposal.  Though I haven’t read it in exhaustive detail (and don’t expect to be able to spend a lot of time on it), there are very many moving parts that would need to come together, and even if implemented, with no assurance they could be built quickly to scale.   The complexity is actually very high.  Too high, I believe.  As a former entrepreneur and venture capitalist, I learned to be very leery of deals that require many key things to come together to work because there are too many potential points of failure (ie high risk that is hard to mitigate) and it is hard to truly evaluate all the interactions and how they will play out.

NEAL: I can’t imagine a National Monetary Policy that would get us out of our current economic crisis not being fairly ‘complicated with a lot of moving parts’.  Seriously, can you?  If so, I would like to see how.

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Tags: Economic Crisis, economic stimulus, Fund America, National Fiscal Policy, Prosperity Mandate, recovery plan

Given the current economic crisis, news of $20 Billion in bonuses to Wall Street executives is not only exasperating and incredibly outrageous; it is a clear sign of a deeper systemic problem in our economy and society.  The core problem that needs to be addressed is not the amount of bailout funds, nor the programs that receive priority funding - important, yes, but not the core.   No economic stimulus package will work until two things are provided for, CONFIDENCE and TRUST.

Now is the time to redirect ill gotten gains and corrupted economic and social practices into the public good.  YES WE CAN!

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Tags: current economic crisis, Fund America, National Fiscal Policy, recovery plan, wall street bonuses

Is it possible for one person with an original and unique idea change national fiscal policy and create a sustainable and renewable Economic Recovery Plan?  Humbly, I sure hope so.  I had better explain further, I hold no college degree; I am not formally trained in economic theory, and am not a captain of industry.  And yet, the following ideas are realistic and pragmatic, make economic and common sense, and need national attention.

The goal is to infuse $1 Trillion into the economy without $1 direct government spending. Based on creating PAY BACK scenarios, the Fund America economic recovery plan has the person, group, or community that receives a benefit PAY for it.  Financial responsibility instills self reliance, self respect and self empowerment.

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Tags: Economic Crisis, Economic Recovery, Fund America, National Fiscal Policy, Sustainable Economy