You" you told me before we started recording, you were
also calling it "The Failure of Laisse Faire Capitalism, and the erosion of the
West'.
How does this book tie in with what you're saying?
Paul Craig Roberts: Well,
it actually" explains all of that.
It shows problems in economic theory today. These
problems are severe in many ways, but they're especially severe in that most of
economics as it developed, applied to what environmental economists call "an
empty world'. That is, there were abundant resources. They" the ability of
nature to absorb pollution hadn't really been tested, so there was plenty of
room for polluting the air all over the world, the soil. The external costs of
production were small because the planet wasn't crowded, populations were low.
And so when you develop economics in that kind of environment, it doesn't apply to the present world which is
a full world. It's full of people, and it's full of polluted natural resources.
It's a world in which the natural
resources have been exploited and declined dramatically. And so when you
look at that world, and you try to find old fashioned economics, what you see
is, well you know, actually, the increases in output that they call "economic
growth' are actually less valuable than the cost of the additional production.
But the process goes on because the cost of the production is not included in
the output. For example what is the
goal"
Rob Kall: Paul"
Paul, you know this sounds like Socialism. My god! [Paul laughing
in background]. I mean, you're basically saying that corporations, and even
Governments have to capitulate in, because of the bigger" [Paul in background: No, it's worse than that!] issues.
Paul Craig Roberts: It's
worse than that, Rob [laughing].
Because" look me give you an example.
Let's take agri business. All the fertilizers that
have to be used because the soil's been ruined. They float down the Mississippi
River. They go into the Gulf of Mexico. They're now extensive "dead zones' in
the Gulf of Mexico. That means the sea is dead! There's no life in these dead
zones. Those are a massive cost, but they're not included in the cost of the
food when you buy it in the store. It's an external cost imposed on society in
the" and, and it's not a cost that's paid in the production of the agri
business crops. That's one good example.
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