The Solution to our dying economy

Much of what we have learned of business cycles, one reality behind our current dilemma, is not necessary. Why are we surprised when organizations become old, decay, and die? Isn't this inevitable? Don't we see this in all aspects of the world we live in? Truly, we can't expect what we build to last forever.

Let me be clear. Though there are many complexities inherent to our modern society and the development and maintenance of a strong economy, this point is unassailable: Nothing lasts forever. We need to accommodate change.

Let me be clear again. Why is it difficult to understand that decay is inevitable? Because we are conditioned to pass over the obvious. We say that we believe in economic competition -- survival of the fittest and all of that -- but we look the other way when the deck gets stacked against new entrepreneurs and their ideas.

The natural thing is to plan to overcome the effects of decay by being industrious and working through the cycle of growth, maturity and decline. The birds do it. The bees do it. My favorite, the beavers even do it. Can you imagine them sitting back one they have built a cozy home and coaxing every last day out of it until it collapses, likely with them in it?

We are not entirely bereft of intelligence. We sort out medical issues and treatments according to the age and state of development of individuals. We just don't do it with organizations. We need to segment the economy not unlike the way we organize hospitals, schools, etc. Enterprises need different kinds of treatments based on their needs and the general benefits we all receive from them. We especially need a strong growth sector; we need to, at last, support entrepreneurs and those that support them and work for them as a class.

We need to recognize ugly decline for what it is and support the reallocation of resources. In biology, ugly decline and death is called necrosis. We don't need this. We need the other kind -- called apoptosis. And, of course, we need good old fashioned market growth, stimulated by legitimate entrepreneurs with "better ideas" and the willingness to "put them on the line" to make them come about.

We need to fix the financial system so that capital is once again a constraint to growth. As we can see, a financial system in which the players can create money on their own by plotting and scheming without adding to the "general weal" is not a good idea.