The European economy has been in turmoil for months. Much has been made of the effects of economic systems there in which much of the expenditures are made for social programs, such as retirement and universal health care.

   Great Britain’s prime minister decided to launch austerity programs to avoid such chaos. Unfortunately, it would appear that austerity programs have caused more economic woes than the social programs they would cut.

   On next Saturday’s Show we shall discuss whether spending or cutting are ultimate "cures" to economic woes. That might not be the best way of phrasing the topic, I will try for a more accurate form for tomorrow. We shall discuss economic theories of John Maynard Keynes and those of the so-called Austrian school of economics. That sounds boring—but it is not. It is at the heart of the discussion of what we should do with what already is a socialist system.

   In our system, the State provides the capital to build things—like the Indiana Toll Road—then leases—for really long-term, like 75 years—or sells that capital asset to a private entity. Government officials then piss away the money. (Let’s see—the toll road was leased in 2006 for 75 years for however-many billion dollars; this year—six years into the lease—the last of the money will be spent. I think that spending that much money in less than ten percent (10%) of the term of the lease meets any reasonable standard by which one would use the term "piss away."

   The biggest welfare system is not for people who are poor, but for a very few—shareholders of large corporations—who are rich.

   On Saturday, May 26, at 11 a.m., we shall discuss these matters. I shall post the place of the discussion—I hope tomorrow to post the location.