News from the Network, Vol. 3, No. 32

Many long years ago Mad Magazine had its 100th issue, celebrated with a dull brown cover emblazoned with "MAD PROUDLY PRESENTS ITS ONE HUNDREDTH ISSUE!" over a full-face portrait of Alfred E. Newman with a tiny speech bubble and an even tinier "Big deal." These days, of course (as in days of yore), it is a very big deal to survive for a hundred issues. So the Just Third Way blog is proud to present its 100th issue of its weekly (or almost) News from the Network.

And what have we been doing for the past 100 weeks? Plenty, as the following news items reveal:

• In first place this week is the availability on Amazon (Barnes and Noble doesn't seem to be putting up any new books at all for some reason) of Harold Moulton's The Formation of Capital, featuring a new foreword by Norman G. Kurland, Dawn K. Brohawn, and Michael D. Greaney. Without taking anything away from Supporting Life or Capital Homesteading for Every Citizen, The Formation of Capital is absolutely critical in demonstrating that our financial system was not only designed to operate in a way fundamentally different from the way it's now being used, but to operate in a manner directly opposed to Keynesian, and even Monetarist and Austrian economics. The Formation of Capital show how, by applying the principles of the British Banking School consistently, we can break what Kelso and Adler called "the slavery of [past] savings," and, as they argued in The New Capitalists, open up financially sound and democratic access to the means of acquiring and possessing private property in the means of production. The Kelsonian paradigm as applied in Capital Homesteading has the potential to establish a sound and sustainable economic recovery. The Formation of Capital is not "economics lite," offering a panacea, but a scholarly and even profound analysis of the U.S. financial system in the wake of the Crash of 1929 and the ensuing Great Depression. Had Moulton's instead of Keynes's analysis been the basis of the New Deal, there is a very good chance that the world would not now be in the grip of another Great Depression. Adding in Kelso and Adler's prescription, and there would be no stopping the U.S. economy, even now.

• Sales of Supporting Life are, to put it mildly, encouraging. We haven't set any records — yet (Capital Homesteading still holds the record for most copies sold in a single month, although, to be honest, we weren't keeping monthly records for Curing World Poverty back in 1994, which sold in the hundreds in some months) — but a number of important publications have requested review copies, and complimentary copies have gone out to a number of key people. As November and the election draw ever nearer, we expect to see a great deal of interest in both Supporting Life and The Formation of Capital as both parties struggle to find a vision and a goal other than to throw the (other) rascals out.

• Still, good as Supporting Life and The Formation of Capital have proved to be, they're not exactly something you can hum. For a lively and entertaining performance that summarizes the Just Third Way message — and has great lyrics and a beat you can dance to — check out Daniel Moore's "We the People Anthem USA." What the heck — annoy both the liberal and the conservative media and send the link to your local television and radio stations. (Right after you send them the press release for Supporting Life, of course . . . )

• Today Norman Kurland was interviewed by Mokhtar Kamel on his Fairfax County television show. The show went well, and Norm introduced our new publications to a wider audience, the solid core of moderate Muslims.

• If you know of an organization or individual that you think should be made aware of Supporting Life, The Formation of Capital, or Daniel Moore's song, please feel free to send the Amazon and YouTube links. You never know when someone may have his or her eyes opened.

• As of this morning, we have had visitors from 46 different countries and 43 states and provinces in the United States and Canada to this blog over the past two months. Most visitors are from the United States, the UK, Brazil, India, and Canada. People in Venezuela, Guatemala, France, Bangladesh, and the United States spent the most average time on the blog. The most popular posting is the posting on "The Federal Reserve . . . This Time It's Personal," followed by "The Rich, Who Needs 'Em?" two of the "Interest-Free Money series postings, and Geoff Gneuh's piece on "Money and Morals after the Crash."

Those are the happenings for this week, at least that we know about. If you have an accomplishment that you think should be listed, send us a note about it at mgreaney [at] cesj [dot] org, and we'll see that it gets into the next "issue." If you have a short (250-400 word) comment on a specific posting, please enter your comments in the blog — do not send them to us to post for you. All comments are moderated anyway, so we'll see it before it goes up.

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