Interview by Jaime Ortega.
Steve Hansen
He is an international business and industrial consultant specializing in turning around troubled business units; consults to governments to optimize process flows; and provides economic indicator analysis based on unadjusted data and process limitations
1) Many politicians endorse the idea that the economy has gradually recovered after the 2008 global recession, but other financial experts are warning that things will get much worse at one point. Which prediction in your opinion, resembles the facts behind the financial recovery and the future problems some economist foretell?
I am not sure either answer is correct. What we have done is paper over the problem, and there is no certain way to gauge what has happened behind the wallpaper.
I want the extraordinary monetary and fiscal policies to end so that we can get an accurate view of the economy. And yes, the economy will slow as these measures are stopped — And then we can work on specific fixes instead of shotgun approaches.
2) What would be the best solution for the economy to recover once and for all if any? And are politicians really taking the steps necessary to see the recovery these changes require?
I believe the core problem is jobs — And the only solution is allow easy access to starting businesses by Joe sixpack. Small business is the generator of jobs. To do this, we must relax the regulations which bar market entry.
Basically anyone should be able to start a business without license — And post a caveat emptor sign saying this business is not regulated and you use this at your own risk.
We have made our society such that if you do not have a job, all you can do is go look for a job (you cannot make your own job). Yes, it will be messy what I am proposing — But we are turning the entrepreneurial spirit loose.
3) Many skeptics attack President Barack Obama for not ‘regulating banks as he promised long ago’ and blame him for the financial troubles the economy has experienced lately. But in reality just by observing the never ending borrowing debt from a logistical point of view, It seems unlikely for any candidate to successfully help the economy triumph regardless of what they promise. Is the future U.S. consumerism going to be affected by the current borrowing dilemma?
I blame every president and every congress who has been on the payroll of the banking system — This is how they are elected.
We have allowed the banking system to tax us with their fees. We have allowed them to grow until they are all powerful. I am afraid it will take a constitutional amendment on the election process to limit campaign funding to a very small sum.
4) The U.S. owes a lot of money not just to China, but to India, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and other countries where U.S. transnational corporations trade billions of dollars worth of interest. Will the U.S. ever repay these countries? And if the U.S. doesn’t repay these countries that it owes money, what would be the consequences?
I guess I am the wrong person to ask — Because I do not see this as a problem. the U.S. has a sovereign fiat currency and can literally do whatever it wants.
5) Some predict a few financial dark horses impacting all at once. Pensions funds crisis, Student loans crisis, farming crisis, climate crisis and others (…) Will all these problems really impact sooner or later? Or are these warnings taken out of proportion to sell books?
Things hardly every turn out as bad as the worst postulated scenario. That is not to say that each of these issues should not be worked on individually. My nightmare scenario is GMO — Where they accidentally poison the food chain. GMO is a moving target as the plants are constantly in a state of evolution. it may be ok today, but the next change sets off a cascade.
6) People speak of Beijing replacing US standardized trade markets. Can any foreign market realistically take over Wall Street, and is there any foreign market getting any closer to achieving such dream?
I would never say this will not happen, but china has a controlled currency. Banks all around the world create us dollars– They do not do this with any other currency.
It is the global financial markets which will decide on things –Not china or the U.S.. Remember a few years back they thought it would be the euro which would be the successor to the dollar. Personally, I do not see the advantage as once a currency is globalized, a country loses control of its monetary policy.
