Greedonomics

The more I study this the more I’m inclined to think that ignorance is bliss, so ***WARNIG**** proceeding in this article may be hazardous to your bliss; though I am praying not ultimately to your joy or hope. You may have come to this having just read ‘How Much Car Payment Can The Average American Afford’ if not you may want to go back and see the basis for the question: How can these average American expenses so exceed the average American income? Simply put the answer is debt with a big helping of healthcare insurance and expense.  Yet to understand a bit deeper I came to understand there was this other factor underlying so without a good word to describe this system, I coined the term Greedonomics.

Since I am a car guy it’s easier for me to explain the theory of Greedonomics in car terms and car History. Henry Ford was a Car Guy and not a bean counter. Meaning his passion was to build a great inexpensive car that his workers could afford on what he paid them. This would be far different from the corporate bosses of the giant car companies of today whose passion, in my opinion, is greed/profit, and by manipulating their abacuses(beans)/calculators  they discovered the profitability of selling products that people can’t afford but willing to go into debt to get and supplying the loans to make it happen.

Let’s go back to Henry, Henry thought night and day about how to make his cars less expensive and thus the genius of the assembly line came as this was a solution to his desire. Floorboards came as Henry set the exact dimensions of his suppliers packing crates and the left over wood he made charcoal, yes Kings-FORD charcoal. When he couldn’t lower the price of the car anymore he raised wages to accomplish his dream. What was the fruit of these good and noble dreams. Millions and Millions of cars built by millions and millions of workers creating work for suppliers and the fruit is still coming to this day. This passion and technology would work on an even larger scale in 2016 with the huge markets of China and India were our minds trying to help our fellows rather than enslave them.

Greedonomics worked like this in the car business of the last 50 years. Play on people’s pride and image and sense of entitlement; we can charge $29,471 for a 1993 Jeep Grand Cherokee because of the Status of being a JEEP when in 1988 The same vehicle Badged an Eagle Wagon sold for $14,354 . Sure they can’t afford that so we will give them a $1000 rebate to help them get a loan at 9% interest at the time for 60 months then we will make another several thousand dollar profit on the interest if we loan it ourselves through Chrysler Financial.  As American’s go further and further in debt we will up the rebates to four or five thousand and ad a couple more years to the term now as much as 84 months, with those terms we can even make more interest and profit. So what is the fruit of this…you tell me…

Now imagine this form of Greedonomics in Banking and every sort of industry. Then those who gain huge profits use a portion of that money to lobby and campaign to make sure that medical malpractice still runs rampant and mortgage bonds have no regulation and the list will go on and on. Because, if you set your mind on enslaving your brother for your profit all sorts of genius happens there as well.

Solution: Jesus, in so many ways I could fill this page and perhaps volumes but how about the simple two greatest commandments…Love God and Love your neighbor. Let’s set out hearts and minds on helping those without a car get one by making it less expensive. Set all our talents and treasures on doing whatever God gave us to do in love for everyone. So I offer this lesson in Greedonomics in hopes that others all will see how the fruit will come from the root…. Robby

 

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