Page 13 - Michael Journal March 2020
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imports add to the wealth of a nation.
Like a tripod, Social Credit A nation’s wealth is reduced by the consumption
rests on three principles: of goods, “wear and tear”, a decrease in population
and the export of goods.
Money would be issued by The total increase in wealth, minus the total re-
society (without interest) duction, yields the net enrichment for a given period.
A dividend would be The true enrichment in real wealth must be ex-
issued to every citizen pressed by an equivalent amount of purchasing
A compensated discount power, if production is to reach consumers.
would be made to retailers A Dividend to all
Social Credit endorses the periodic distribution of
a Dividend to all citizens from birth to death without
through a future decrease in retail prices. exceptions or conditions.
Consumer needs must give production its direc- The Dividend will be equivalent to the minimum
tion and producers must not be permitted to create that each citizen can expect to receive as a co-owner
bogus needs through advertising. Under Social Cred- of a well-organized society that has an abundant pro-
it, all new money will be injected directly into con- duction at its disposal. It is also the most direct way
sumption. From the start, what is produced will be of ensuring that everyone receive their due share of
decided by consumers. the nation’s production. Modern societies can guar-
Money will thus gradually be restored as a tool antee both a Dividend to all and wages to the workers
of service rather than a weapon of domination. It will Consider the Dividend to be a return on the “com-
assume its rightful role as a mechanism of distribu- monly owned capital” which is shared by all members
tion and will cease being the end goal of production. of an organized society. The amount of the Dividend
Teaching aspect of a sound system remains to be determined, but in a nation in which
Setting the economic system on the correct production exceeds the population’s needs, it should
minimally provide for basic necessities while provid-
course by applying the Social Credit proposals will ing ample reward to those who partake in work.
neither eliminate human passions nor their nega-
tive consequences. A well-ordered system teaches Price Adjustment (or Compensated Discount)
and supports goodwill and prevents exploitation of Social Credit advocates that an equilibrium pre-
others. A disordered system, on the other hand, ac- vails between the total retail prices of consumer
centuates passions, smothers goodwill and creates goods and total purchasing power. A discount, or
despair. Privation caused because essential goods Price Adjustment, would be applied to retail prices.
cannot be accessed lays a foundation for subversive The amount would be determined by the ratio of total
ideas. purchasing power to total production costs. The sta-
In the realm of politics and economics, Social tistics for a particular period would be calculated by
Credit is the most effective weapon to curtail both the National Credit Office and form the basis for a dis-
communism and anarchy because it advocates for count for the period that followed.
the economic security of all members of society For example, if during a given month total pro-
while respecting personal freedom. duction, as expressed by retail prices, was $10 billion
Money created by society and if during the same period all purchases totalled
Social Credit entrusts the social management of $8 billion, the Price Adjustment would be $2 billion, or
20 percent. Consumers would pay a total of $8 billion
money and credit to a National Credit Office that is for $10 billion of products. Production would have
responsible to the peoples’ representatives in gov- succeeded in reaching its goal. Producers would pro-
ernment.
ceed to obtain from the National Credit Office the $2
The National Credit Office would keep an account billion (20%) not received from buyers.
of production and consumption from which it would The Price Adjustment mechanism favours con-
determine the country’s real capital assets, or Real sumers but also benefits producers by facilitating the
Credit. These assets would be the basis for Financial sale of products that could otherwise remain unsold.
Credit. Reduced prices mean that retailers and producers
A nation’s assets are comprised of natural resour- would sell more goods. In response, the Credit Of-
ces, the various means of production and its people. fice would require that profit margins have limits. The
The production of the different types of capital net effect would be that production would be encour-
and consumer goods, an increase in population and aged and inflation discouraged. v
Louis Even
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