THE SUPRA-SURPLUS SOCIETY

E Ray Canterbery

Chapter 2 in Inequality and Global Supra-surplus Capitalism, 2018, pp 23-37 from World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd.

Abstract: Some years ago John Kenneth Galbraith (JKG) wrote of the affluent society. A major theme of Galbraith was that the production of goods and services is a measure of civilized progress. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) remains the accepted measure of not only economic but of larger social achievement. The counterpart to GDP is Gross National Income (GNI). National Income is somewhat smaller than GNI: it excludes the consumption of fixed capital and a statistical discrepancy. In the latter, business executives, athletes such as Bubba Watson and movie/TV stars such as Taylor Swift are handsomely rewarded. Of course, in the case of business executives, especially those in the financial sector, they essentially set their own pay, even though the boards of directors (also business executives, for the larger part) oversee this wonderful process. When challenged about being overpaid, the executives blithely answer: “the income is not the important thing; rather, it is the jobs we are creating.” This establishes the business executive as a person of compassion. The movie star and star athlete do not get off so lightly; they must prove their compassion through public service. And so Brad Pitt, Harrison Ford, George Clooney, Angelina Jolie, and even Tiger Woods (with his Foundation for youngsters) have their favorite public charities. Billionaire industrialist Charles Koch has a foundation that, in one way or another, aims to please conservatives.

Keywords: Capitalism; Production Surpluses; Supra-surpluses; Casino Economy; Inequality; Vita Theory; Great Recession; Subsistence; Minimum Wage; Markup; Kaleckian Power; Stagnation; Innovation; Technological Advance; Income Distribution; Wealth Distribution; Fiscal Policy; Monetary Policy; Incomes Policy; Zero-interest Rate Society; Trump; 2016 Campaign; John Kenneth Galbraith; Conventional Wisdom; Expectations; Budget Shares; Veblenian Demand; Engel's Law; Casino Effect; Economic Power (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: N00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
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