CounterPunch Exclusives

CounterPunch Exclusives

Four Reasons We’re Being Lied To

Photograph by Nathaniel St. Clair

I thought I’d take advantage of a lazy Memorial Day to re-up some of my standard complaints about the world and the quality of the information we receive. My big four ones today are:

1) The which way is up confusion; is the deficit or job-killing AI the big problem (can’t be both), 2) Big numbers without context; no one knows what spending $100 billion on food stamps means, 3) Media ownership; major news outlets were always owned by rich people, but they are becoming more right-wing, 4) Social media; the major platforms are controlled by people on the right and far-right.

1) The which way is up confusion; is the deficit or job-killing AI the big problem (can’t be both),

2) Big numbers without context; no one knows what spending $100 billion on food stamps means,

3) Media ownership; major news outlets were always owned by rich people, but they are becoming more right-wing,

4) Social media; the major platforms are controlled by people on the right and far-right.

The “Which Way Is Up?”  Problem

Media outlets are filled with stories about how AI is taking all the jobs. There are also plenty of stories telling us that soaring deficits and rising debt are going to bankrupt the government. These problems are 180-degree opposites, sort of like saying that someone is seriously overweight, but needs to put on a few pounds. Either can be true, but they can’t both possibly be true. There is zero recognition of this fact in elite intellectual circles.

To make the logic clearer, the AI taking all the jobs story is one of abundance. We don’t need workers anymore; AI is going to do everything for us. That means we can all sit around all day and play video games and still get the food, housing, medical care, and everything else we need. AI will do the work.

The out-of-control debt and deficit story is one of scarcity. The idea is that the government is spending beyond our means, creating demands on the economy it is unable to fulfill.

It is important to realize that the serious deficit/debt crisis story is one about the actual economy, not government finance. The government spends dollars. It also prints dollars. If it wants to spend more, it can print more dollars.

There is the complication that the Fed is the entity that most immediately decides how many dollars to print, but the Fed is part of the government. If the Fed were to decide to accommodate a large and growing deficit and debt, the only limitation on its ability to do so would be the risk of inflation.

But inflation would only result from excess spending if we’re facing supply constraints. If AI allows us to produce whatever we want with minimal human labor, then we are not facing supply constraints. That means we don’t have to worry about........

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