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The Porcupine's Quill: A Satire Column
by Arshad M. Khan
by Arshad M. Khan
Please scroll down for
the satire column
Porcupine's Quill
the satire column
Porcupine's Quill
November 2, 2014
THE GDP VIRUS
News Item: The US economy grew at an annual rate of 3.5% recording to the
quarterly report issued this week.
Unlike ebola, almost everyone suffers from the GDP virus: the economists, the news
media, the politicians, etc. Everyone is happy the economy is growing at a brisk
pace. So why is it that a report on Illinois' public schools also this week noted that for
the first time a majority of children (52%) in school are from low-income families. The
middle class seems to have imploded.
Here is something to think about: If A kills B, GDP grows -- think of the police working
to track the killer; the lawyers prosecuting and defending him; the prison housing him
and so on. Prisons, many corporate owned, are growing faster and faster ...
If the military drops bombs, GDP grows. Bomb manufacturers get to work to replace
them. The military industrial complex is a huge sector of the economy.
If you take an evening walk and return home safely, you are not doing much for the
economy except for wearing out your shoes. Now if you fall and break something -- a
hip, a wrist, a leg, an arm -- you are being patriotic because GDP grows.
If you are selling steak at $5 a pound and double your price, GDP grows. Yes, its
inflation adjusted, but the guys doing it are expert number tweakers.
So if you think the economy is fine, while good jobs are being replaced by
slave-wages, and everyone keeps borrowing and spending while we owe China an
emperor's ransom, you are like everyone else ... infected by the GDP virus.
THE GDP VIRUS
News Item: The US economy grew at an annual rate of 3.5% recording to the
quarterly report issued this week.
Unlike ebola, almost everyone suffers from the GDP virus: the economists, the news
media, the politicians, etc. Everyone is happy the economy is growing at a brisk
pace. So why is it that a report on Illinois' public schools also this week noted that for
the first time a majority of children (52%) in school are from low-income families. The
middle class seems to have imploded.
Here is something to think about: If A kills B, GDP grows -- think of the police working
to track the killer; the lawyers prosecuting and defending him; the prison housing him
and so on. Prisons, many corporate owned, are growing faster and faster ...
If the military drops bombs, GDP grows. Bomb manufacturers get to work to replace
them. The military industrial complex is a huge sector of the economy.
If you take an evening walk and return home safely, you are not doing much for the
economy except for wearing out your shoes. Now if you fall and break something -- a
hip, a wrist, a leg, an arm -- you are being patriotic because GDP grows.
If you are selling steak at $5 a pound and double your price, GDP grows. Yes, its
inflation adjusted, but the guys doing it are expert number tweakers.
So if you think the economy is fine, while good jobs are being replaced by
slave-wages, and everyone keeps borrowing and spending while we owe China an
emperor's ransom, you are like everyone else ... infected by the GDP virus.