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In order to enhance capitalism, we recommend the following changes:
Level the business cycle
We seem to go through periods of boom and bust. Is there a way to design the economy so that it stays on a more even keel?
What if we recommend that everyone above the poverty line carry a little debt. Business and government should also carry debt.
Then, rather than manage to the size of the debt, we manage the interest payments on the debt. Let's say that individuals should plan their budget to allocate 1% to interest on the family debt. Business and government should allocate 2% to interest payments.
The Federal Reserve tries to control inflation by modifying the interest rate. So when there is high inflation, the interest rate goes up and everyone pays down their debt to keep the interest payments to the desired level.
When the economy slows down and inflation starts to fall, the Fed lowers the interest rate and everyone borrows more money to increase the interest paid to the desired level.
Business and government should use their borrowed money to build infrastructure to improve their operations. Families would used their borrowed money to purchase more expensive items which are normally not a line item in their household budgets.
This would provide a natural counter balance to keep the total economy supplied with a stimulus when needed or a brake when over heated.
Increase worker mobility
If we all believe in the power of free market capitalism, then we need to make a few changes.
First, remove retirement from employment - everyone should have their retirement funded in the same way, by a 401K type fund which travels with the employee and does not depend upon the business or government unit.
Second, remove health care from employment - everyone should have their health insurance in a large national pool without regard to their employer.
With these changes, people are free to move from job to job to maximize their income over their working lifetimes and we will have a way to set the pay based on the value of the service provided rather than the whim of the employer.
Ensure full emploment
We do not advocate forcing everyone to work. We are against paying people to not work.
Full employment means that anyone who wants work will find it in a short time frame - say one week.We have the Virginia Employment Commission (VEC) here. Their job is to help people find work. If anyone not able to find a job on their own goes to the VEC they should get a job quickly. If none are available, then the person would be given a job doing non-essential work such as entering data into a computer data base for historical material not already available for online access or doing recycling of material not normally recycled or some other useful but non-essential activity.