The Modern Economics of the USA: The Land of Debt & Demand

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This is the United States of America today: The largest most powerful economy to ever exist in history. In previous episodes, we have explored how the economy of the USA has developed from a British colony into an industrial powerhouse that rose to the position of power that it occupies today.
Which brings us to America in the 21st century. When a lot of people think of powerful economies they'll imagine huge factories, shipping ports, plentiful farmland, and powerful investment banks. But, in reality, what keeps the world spinning is simply debt and demand.
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📚 Want to learn more about the economics of the United States? We recommend reading "An Empire of Wealth: The Epic History of American Economic Power", by John Gordon
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#USA #Economics #Debt
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Sources & Citations -
McCusker, J.J. and Menard, R.R., 2014. The Economy of British America, 1607-1789
Katz, S.N., 1976. Thomas Jefferson and the right to property in revolutionary America. The Journal of Law and Economics, 19
Teich, M., Porter, R. and Gustafsson, B. eds., 1996. The industrial revolution in national context: Europe and the USA. Cambridge University Press.
Taylor, L., Proano, C.R., de Carvalho, L. and Barbosa, N., 2012. Fiscal deficits, economic growth and government debt in the USA. Cambridge Journal of Economics, 36(1), pp.189-204.
Morriss, A.P. and Nard, C.A., 2011. Institutional Choice & Interest Groups in the Development of American Patent Law: 1790-1865. Supreme Court Economic Review
De Haan, J. and Siermann, C.L., 1996. New evidence on the relationship between democracy and economic growth. Public Choice, 86
Bergsten, C.F., Horst, T. and Moran, T.H., 1978. American multinationals and American interests. Washington, DC.
Hines Jr, J.R., 1994. No place like home: tax incentives and the location of R&D by American multinationals. Tax policy and the economy
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[@loganthemachine7841]

Wish you would calm down on the commercials.

[@strafniki1080]

But how did the usa achieve this?

[@daveleech5971]

Can you please link to the first two videos in the three part series?

[@dinizec]

always great

[@kevinyaucheekin1319]

Critical flaw on your baseline assumption, males desire females aka much more then one. Given number of nubile, attractive females limited. Ipso facto even in a post scarcity society, skull bashing of males on other males will still occur to deprive/deny said males from females, so as to aquire more females cause its a Zero sum game. Capiche alls Y' all Therefore key surival trait/skill of any societies that can surive, ability to create, sustain, grow your skull bashing societal attritube and capacity vis a vis other societal competitors. That now today does not bode well for the continunity of human technological civilization.

[@MohammedAbualgassim]

"they have more safety from things like famine and pandemics" that did not age well

[@swornimkc6168]

yap

[@arnaudvanderlinden4459]

It would be 10 times as devastating a hundred years ago then it is now

[@kabloosh699]

@@arnaudvanderlinden4459 the Spanish flu did exactly that. 50 to 100 million people died from that globally. The US saw a crazy amount of death particularly from it.

[@terner1234]

@@kabloosh699 the corona virus is just starting to infect people, but its mortality rate is much lower

[@janwolfsgruber5444]

Jack Ofoldraids quite well ? Look at a country like ours. Germany. Doing pretty well. The US is no comparrison to that. Just look at the sheer numbers. Even when considering population it doesnt ad up. Also the lack of public education really shows atm...

[@carlunaden]

"Humans take being unsatisfied to an art form." Damn that's such a hard-hitting phrase.

[@Crashed131963]

True. I know people who shop just because they are bored.

[@bluegoka]

He meant women.

[@ddandymann]

@@bluegoka no

[@noahi.1381]

He’s got a pretty solid point though.

[@emuriddle9364]

Like a King, who wants to fund his own Swimming Pool. Instead of helping Farmers, when there's a Drought. (Not to be political: But there's a reason why Imperial Russia was the most Unequal Society, in all of History.)

[@AChannelFrom2006]

If you turn the volume off it's basically a Getty images slideshow

[@jrsultan3040]

Nice

[@OtherDalfite]

Fellow silent watcher? I watch the subtitles at work just because I don't like using headphones and I don't want people listening to me.

[@RelianceIndustriesLtd]

The founder getty images is a grandson of one of richest oil tycoons ever John Getty (richest man of his time)

[@isiahfriedlander5559]

I'm a simple man. I fought to conquer all my Ferraris, jets and houses in GTA Online, I am proud of all my wasted hours and man power imputed to create my non existent empire...

[@ietsbram]

but you spending this time probably fullfilled higher needs on the laslow scale, so potentually it was time well spend. yes you couldve worked and made more money, but as discussed onces at a certain point of wealth (often put at 80k a year) ur financial needs are met, so you should spend ur time gaming if it fullfills other needs

[@samwizgamgie3rd828]

*Global EMP blasts* NOOOOOO My empire!!!

[@meowster101]

I duplicated a bunch of cars and now I can't fulfill my higher needs 😔

[@rafaelalodio5116]

But I bet you won some good money from Michael's therapy sections.

[@IHateHandlesWayTooMuch]

It isn’t “non-existent”. It’s “virtual”.

[@ntsikayomzimbebe2056]

8:46 "Our economy is not based on limited resources trying to fulfill unlimited needs but rather creating needs to facilitate resources" I really think this is an underrated insight

[@captainmaim]

I think it's bullshit. John Maynard Keynes said a lot of dumb stuff like that. The economy is made up of millions of transactions, each builds wealth in a tiny way. Advertising is the only one of those transactions that's actually zero-sum, you make someone happier by making the thing more prestigious and therefore more expensive. Keynesian economics was disproved in the 1970s in America because we had high unemployment and high inflation at the same time.

[@alfredocorleone9068]

Basically playing with people emotions to make them wake up from the couch and work

[@jackmadden4744]

@@captainmaim I think you should have a look into Freudian psychology in early advertising in the post war USA. It's fascinating to look how needs where created artificially through cognitive manipulation

[@captainmaim]

@@jackmadden4744 not even Freud could have explained the pet rock...

[@iwishiknewhowto1228]

@@captainmaim What's you take on lassize faire I mean neo-liberlaism sorry got mixed up there.

[@reesehendricksen1871]

EE, we all know Economics is just Psychology with numbers

[@ThaYowza]

As my Econ professor once said "economics is the study of people and their habits applied" Looking back, it's kinda a no doy thing, but at the time it was mind-blowing to see economics as a dynamic study vs. looking at endless graphs n numbers

[@Torus2112]

I'm in political science; in my opinion psychologists, sociologists, economists, political scientists, historians, and philosophers basically study the same thing at different levels of resolution. Learning from the other fields has enhanced my understanding of my own and I would encourage anyone in any of them to look into the others, it's a great source of perspective.

[@malikfaisal416]

But Psychology do have numbers and statistics (I'm a Psychology student btw)

[@ArawnOfAnnwn]

Economics lacks the diversity that psychology has (or perhaps had, it's a lot less diverse nowadays thanks to the rise of CBT - cognitive behavioral therapy) to truly be considered simply "psychology with numbers". Psychology understands that people differ quite a bit, and even has (or had?) a variety of approaches to deal with them. Economists mostly think of people in one very narrow fashion, and over time has steadily consolidated around a small set of central tenets on how to model them. There used to many many many kinds of economics (no, not just marxist socialism, but other models too), now there's far fewer, with any people holding onto the other approaches (collectively known as "heterodox economics") having been pushed to the margins.

[@Anonlyso]

@@ArawnOfAnnwn CBT you say ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°). But I also think there has been a resurgence, if not just a schism shift, considering that Freakonomics has made it's entire brand on "the hidden side of everything" applying economics to sports, to marriage prospects and hell even the original Roe vs Wade result correlating heavily with a lower crime cohort population.

[@pyroromancer]

Someone that understands how there's such an abundance of food in the US. Grocers throw out perfectly good produce with a mere dark or soft spot on the skin. Starbucks and donut shops throw out all unsold sandwiches and pastries when the store closes for the day.

[@ultimatetadpole9607]

It's sad. I know France has made great strides in clearing up food waste. I live in the UK and there's quite a few places that donate unsold food to the homeless or food banks. Like you say, it's perfectly edible just a little stale or something.

[@dingovory]

I used to work at CVS. Anyone who goes there will know it's just as much a candy store as it is a drug store. At the end of every season, we used to throw away garbage bags full of candy. I kid you not. Imagine a typical 13 gallon garbage liner full of candy. Now imagine 20+ of those bags being thrown away after Valentine's, then after Easter, then after labor day, then after Halloween, then after Christmas. And that's just candy. On a regular, eggs, milk, cookies..... If frozen foods are approaching their date, the merchandiser will give you credit, then throw them right in the dumpster. Half a shopping cart of frozen foods every week.

[@flamedragon283]

@@ultimatetadpole9607 Well in the U.S. many companies won't let give away food to the homeless

[@firas1409]

@@flamedragon283 you're kidding right? Please tell me you're just kidding.

[@mc116]

​@@firas1409 Sadly enough, no he's not because then you have the FDA and health inspectors breathing down your neck and potentially fining your company if homeless people dies by eating your slightly stale bread or day-old veggies because now it's a matter of liability. Vicious cycle eh?

[@wargriffin5]

EE: "Today, debt in the western world drives demand." *Dave Ramsey would like to know your location*

[@MrKIMBO345]

EE: The United States is post-scarcity civilization. Isaac Arthur: Interesting....

[@hemprope4326]

No shit though. Our problem is that people are obese as hell.

[@Michelrs]

@@hemprope4326 your people

[@thek2despot426]

*intewesting

[@aaroncabatingan5238]

@@hemprope4326 Having 'unlimited food' can be problematic.

[@apc9714]

I'm form Italy. As you know our economy is not doing great, so go and by Ferraris.

[@insaneweasel1]

How about tomato sauce? That helps right?

[@SkateSka]

Since nowadays it's cool not to pay taxes when you're a big company I decided to look it up and... it appears Ferrari pay their taxes honestly. So this is actually a good idea.

[@ETAlnes]

I buy pasta, does that help?

[@ETAlnes]

I'm also amazed that you alone form Italy, are you an influential figure down there?

[@nic.k]

Something what do you think Italy is? An African nation? They have the internet dumbass.

[@Jusangen]

“Riffraff like psychology.” As a psychology student I take offense sir! It also was the subject of a third of the video! All kidding aside, I’ve really been enjoying your videos. I wish economics was more of a thing because of how much it is in our everyday lives. I love finding out why things happen the way they do and I appreciate your due diligence when researching these things. Keep it up!

[@hogrideeeeer]

Psychology is a pointless subject though....most of it just retarded theorizing not actually productively benefiting society at all....neurology is psychology but actually useful

[@12vscience]

You may like Peter Zeihan. There are many videos like this where different groups hire him to present. The first part is cut off where he talks about how the Imperial-Colonial system was effective in it's time because there were enough parallel empires that competed with each other. Since there was no global hegemon and nobody trusted each other they needed to have separate systems. It came to an end in World War 2 when everybody but the United States was destroyed. kzbin.info/www/bejne/oIWZeXl5dqt3nbc

[@Anonlyso]

I mean, behavioral economics was developed when economists had to learn the hard way what sales people knew for centuries: that people don't make hyper rational decisions with all known knowledge that'll give the greatest value for themselves. Instead people are very stupid and selfish and have very little restraint in paying for shit they won't even use the day after.

[@MrWookiecck]

I wish more comments were like this. Too many times one sees a person taking offence on a 1 second section of and 30 min talk without considering the rest of the talk's points and ideas. Society as a whole would be more stable and forgiving if people processed before reacting. After all, we pride ourselves on being the more intelligent species don't we, so why not act the part.

[@lucas3918]

@@hogrideeeeer Neurological studies have provided evidence reinforcing the benefits of such psycho, cognitive- behavioral, amounst other forms of psychological therapy.

[@DonLee1980]

once upon a time, I told myself I'd buy a Ferrari. Now that I'm working in the real world and realizing how substantial wealth is accumulated, I don't have this dream anymore. It's like if you ask a kid if he wanted ice cream, he would not say no. But had he known what eating ice cream all the time would do to his health and how many miles would he have to run to burn off the sugar, he'd learn to say no every now and then. People often have this notion that they "deserve" to own some luxury thing, whether it's a car, a swiss watch, or a top notch iphone pro, LV bag. They don't think of it as, "I deserve to have no money left for an emergency fund, or no money left for a sudden loss of employment, or I deserve to be stuck in credit card debt".

[@Jusangen]

Don Lee Interesting point Don. Do you think the expectation (deserving aspect) comes from the messages of the marketers described in the video? Or society, or parenting? It seems marketers did a good job to influence you earlier in your life and now that you know a little bit more about what’s really going on and the consequences, you’re dissuaded now. What do you think?

[@BaioWithMayo]

As a car person, it's not "extremely" expensive to own one with proper financial management. A baby Ferrari (or dare I suggest even used one) for 200k can be bought by many people if they focus it. No need for credit card debt, burned emergency fund or anything. Assume you dont have student debt, if you can save a lot by living with roommates or owning a multi family home which will bring a very extreme cost down. Once you have shelter solved for as cheap as possible, the last necessity is food which with home cooking I personally keep around 150$-200$ a month with fresh healthy produce and even steaks, so you can even go cheaper. Everything else is a luxury after. Does it make sense to go that extreme for a silly car? No. But the point is if you can hit those needs and realize the difference between them and wants, you will be able to save up for almost anything that you want in the future. Hopefully investments, but also Ferrari's and lambos if you really want

[@henryhamilton7526]

Check out the documentary "Century of the Self" it documents how marketing starting with Edward Bernays in the early 1900s worked to shift American society from a need based society to a want based society. Resulting in the consumerism of the present.

[@wardogmobius]

The secret is to think this way. I dont want to be guy that buys the Ferrari. I want to be part of the company and organization that sells him the Ferrari. Eventually, the Ferrari will appear in your Garage. Macro = consistency,patient, invest Micro = learn, adapt, change

[@appa609]

Don Lee i think this slightly misses the point. People dream of owning a Ferrari because it's financially irresponsible. They want to be so fuck-you wealthy that wasting a million dollars on a car makes no difference to their security.

[@williamgarner6779]

During the 2008 financial crisis, I recall Mike Huckabee observing that the modern US economy seemed to be driven mostly by people buying things they don't need with money they don't have. I thought those words captured the gist of the matter. Even more true today.

[@chillaxo9863]

Question: How would economics work if the world was one nation?

[@davidoff1788]

i like turdles ouf

[@kinanshmahell8065]

@i like turdles that's not realistic

[@rjose705]

So much better

[@tannerrich2388]

@i like turdles How is this relevant?? go spew your anti-american agenda elsewhere. (edit: also thats an incredibly simplistic view of some an incredibly complex issues)

[@MonlopoMAN]

it would have to be extremely totalitarian

[@gonzogeorgism2712]

One thing you didn‘t mention: It‘s pretty much impossible to have unlimited resources because there is one resource that will always been limited in terms of the capacity to exploit it, and it’s the most important resource because it determines allocation of all other resources: time. No productive factor can do everything at every instance of time; therefore, we have to decide how factors should be allocated at particular times. This is why market demand is absolutely preeminent and irreplaceable as the driving allocative mechanism because it tells us the correct signals for how we should allocate productive factors‘ time.

[@Willow4526]

This is arguable as there potential to remove time from our lives.

[@Horesmi]

Inb4 immortality is achieved

[@gonzogeorgism2712]

Jorge Ávila Balmaceda But they literally cannot do everything at once at any moment, nonetheless every moment. It‘s a physical impossibility. Therefore we need a way to decide how to allocate machines‘ time.

[@onlyeveryone2253]

I want a massive star cruiser watching the galaxies fly by outside the windows.

[@shorewall]

Also, even if we have machines that harvest the resources, machines cost resources, power costs resources, etc. So even the gathering and utilizing of resources costs a certain amount of resources. So there can never be unlimited resources, because the more resources we can access, the more resources we need to invest to access those resources. It can be functionally limitless, but not actually limitless. Which is the state of the USA today.

[@jarediannudalo6074]

Time Square is the heart ...... 😮😳it blacked out last year

[@hemprope4326]

@God Bless America It'll happen eventually. That's inevitable.

[@zzzzzsleeping]

I live in the Philippines and im happy. Life so simple and my cells jumping in happiness! I carry no credit cards.

[@phoenix5054]

Nahihibang ka na ba? "Cells jumping in happiness?"

[@garretteckhardt6665]

Lots of people from the Dave Ramsey crowd would agree. Debt is dumb, cash is king! Not all americans live their lives drowning in debt

[@AwesomeHairo]

The people there is also sh*t

[@zjzr08]

That's because many of us still aren't fulfilled in the 1st and 2nd rank in the hierarchy of needs -- although I do think we should try a less debt based economy, just doing what we can in our means. I have to wonder if countries like korea or Japan also have credit based economies, because having credit cards as a "necessity" seem to be more of a USA thing.

[@spaceman081447]

@@zjzr08 RE: "I have to wonder if countries like korea or Japan also have credit based economies, because having credit cards as a "necessity" seem to be more of a USA thing." According to the Wolter's World KZbin channel, in Japan cash is necessary for many day-to-day small purchases; however, there are ATMs all over.

[@starwarsnewsandmemes8289]

As someone who's studied marketing and advertising: Every single product or service is designed around solving a problem that the customer either has or anticipates having. Food solves the problem of being hungry. Shelter solves the problem of being homeless. A vehicle solves the problem of needing to get from point A to point B. A phone solves the problems of being unable to contact people and being able to use the internet. This channel solves the problem of the consumer needing to know more about economics. The job of marketing and advertising is to match the product/service to the problem, and with many products/services there is no need, meaning the marketing/advertising people need to invent one.

[@spaceman081447]

@Star Wars News and Memes RE: ". . . and with many products/services there is no need, meaning the marketing/advertising people need to invent one." Frankly, I am surprised that you, as a marketing/advertising person, are being so candid about the "organized lying" that is the basis of the field. I commend you.

[@katethegoat7507]

No, you're wrong. In a way. The job of marketing is to solve a problem for sure, but that's just part of it. The job of marketing is also to CREATE a problem. Not as in making life worse, but as in finding things people didn't know they may want. Say a person doesn't have a great vacuum cleaner: you tell them they have a dust problem, and suddenly it does become a problem in their head. Create an issue to solve the issue.

[@abqmalenurse]

Marketing is about CREATING need. (Actually desire.) Do you REALLY need that new car? Do your teeth REALLY need to glow in the dark? Do you NEED makeup or designer jeans? None of these things solve a problem. They create a problem to sell the "solution", which most often is not a solution because no problem existed in reality.

[@rolfviehmann6240]

I think most marketing and sales departments are simply designed around the problem that company X needs to increase their sales figures which is only possible by convincing more people to buy the products and services the company offers. So the wants and needs of the consumer are just tools that the sales people will leverage as much as possible. After all, the end goal of the sales people is not the happy consumer, but the commission that is payed at the end of the month. So a savvy sales person will always try to sell the products that earn them the highest commission, and not the products that would make the consumer most happy. This is not lying, it's just part of the job. Of course this is only possible if there are plausible arguments for why a consumer should buy a product, so not even the most savvy sales person will be able to sell things that absolutely nobody wants or needs, but finding ways to create desire is a must for success for these people.

[@mweskamppp]

Many products or services are designed to solve a problem that marketeers create in the head of people.

[@lexscarlet]

"nice respectable study like economics..." "Riff Raff like psychology" Oh God the irony

[@guitarherops31]

“Riff raff like psychology”... then goes to use Maslow’s theory anyways

[@sdprz7893]

@@guitarherops31 he’s clearly joking

[@lexscarlet]

@@wc6046 obviously

[@idensoneltume627]

I’ve never heard someone correlate groups of people financing large amount of debts as part of the economic boom & bust cycle but it makes perfect sense now. Thanks.

[@somewherenear3003]

It opened my eyes to many frontiers in modern economics. Thank you again for this series.

[@mog7501]

8:03 States: The United States is a post-scarcity civilisation Writes: The United States is a post-scarcity *civilsation* shows: *Istanbul*

[@markdombrovan8849]

You're wrong, it's actually called Tsargrad

[@lucasbrant9856]

@@markdombrovan8849 constantinople*

[@jimmym3352]

I still call it Byzantium. Yes I'm that old.

[@mylordandsaviour4786]

@@jimmym3352 ah, yes, I remember the timed when it was a small greek fishing village ...

[@AwesomeHairo]

@@mylordandsaviour4786 apparently full of drunk sailors

[@wanming149]

I wouldn't define the US as a "post scarcity economy" strictly speaking, but it's certainly an economy with more supply capacity than demand for most of the goods, hence "engineering" consumer behaviours to increase demand through marketing campaigns is THE way to go for the economy to keep going, this video explains it very well.

[@TheBachelor916]

Loved this video. I've been a big supporter of systems claiming to get us to a post scarcity society and the way it is talked about here made me think of it in a different way. Thank you.

[@mullenio4200]

Wow, this episode was deep. I wasn't expecting this level of depth. 👍

[@muhammadsheraz5186]

Damn this guy really is underrated. Keeps on pointing deep and thought-provoking concepts.

[@maxschoon2470]

Hey, i really like your videos. They are really educative and interesting to watch. Your videos are well written and enjoyable to listen. Keep up the good work!

[@raynerphua2109]

I really appreciate what you’re doing and I think you are one of the most underrated KZbinr

[@petersmythe6462]

Post scarcity noobs be like "oh cool I'm in creative mode, that means I can build my house out of diamond blocks."

[@machinerin151]

Donald Trump and other low intelligence rich people be like:

[@ZodiacEntertainment2]

@@machinerin151 I installed a mod that lets me go to space in my minecraft! haha

[@BeanDar]

Thank you to KZbin recommendations for recommending the third part of a three-part series. I shall go watch the other two and return!

[@paulschweikert3823]

This is an impressive video. Extremely well worded and communicated, the concepts here are very important. Thanks for this.

[@nicholaswalsh4462]

The Netflix show "Dracula" actually touched on this. Dracula showed up in a lower middle class home and described the owner, a young woman who probably worked at a supermarket, as incredibly rich.

[@Martindebenitogellne]

The fact that most people have more material things than they need in the US doesn't imply that it's a post-scarcity society. For it to be a post-scarcity society they would have to get everything they need and more at 0 (opportunity) cost. This is not the case in the US or anywhere, since people have to sacrifice almost all of their time to work to be able to purchase even the most basic needs such as housing and food.

[@rickroll9705]

Wrong, You are also mistaking absolute wealth with relative wealth. The amount of time the average citzen in US gotta sacrifice to cover basic needs is 80% less than the average citizen in the world. And the quality is also superior.

[@Martindebenitogellne]

@@rickroll9705 Erm..how exactly am I mistaking absolute wealth with relative wealth?

[@Martindebenitogellne]

@@rickroll9705 even if people in the US in theory have to work less to cover their basic needs, they still have to work to cover their basic needs. Things like housing, clothing, food and medicine are not free. One of the most basic facts in Economics is that the reason most goods are not free is because they are scarce. People don't have to pay for the air that they breath, for example, because it is not scarce. They do have to pay for food because it, or the resources needed to produce it, is.

[@dailyrant4068]

@@Martindebenitogellne Post-scarcity society cannot happen until we have AI and automation developed to the point where we don't need to invest human resources into production of basic things.

[@monad_tcp]

there will never be 0 opportunity cost because the entire ideia of having things is flexing on other humans. There's no point in being rich if there's no not-rich-persons.

[@aimeec.6886]

I really appreciate all of your videos I've watched this far, but as a former psychology major, this is the most eye opening. I had an "AHA!" moment watching this. I've digested more information from your videos than I did for both my micro and macro-economics classes.

[@stephaniezawaduk3746]

I really enjoyed this video. I am a double major in psychology and Economics so this video was totally in my wheelhouse. Fantastic job on the video as always!

[@stephaniezawaduk3746]

@Hernando Malinche Nope when I finish my undergrad next year I will have one degree that is both a BAPsych and a BAEcon

[@Vanderlayindustries]

“It blurs the line between a nice, respectable subject like economics and the riff-raff like psychology.” Brilliant 😂

[@TheNotoriousFonzy]

Just discovered your channel today and I've already binged through like 5 vids. As someone who is fascinated by economics, keep up the good work!!!

[@antonartemenko2927]

Thanks for the video! The connection of post-scarcity society and to the Maslow pyramid is very interesting indeed.

[@roban2799]

Incredible series. Really opened my eyes to a new perspective on my own life. Thank you!

[@brianpiccolomini3561]

"safety from...pandemics" Well, this aged poorly.

[@jamesgors6650]

I was jut about tp comment that...

[@hemprope4326]

Lol

[@arjunsatheesh7609]

We do have considerable safety from pandemics. In any other era before now, the pandemic we are are facing would be at least 3 times more devastating. Although, I do get your point.

[@TeamDreamROGue]

@@arjunsatheesh7609 I mean, our poor handling of this pandemic has more to do with shitty politics rather than economy. The shitty politics put the economy at risk when they handled it poorly. Couldve been nipped in the bud but nooo our glorious leader had to be a shit head and prolong this sht

[@Atombender]

@@arjunsatheesh7609 The current problem with the US is that it is run by a moronic asshole.

[@ImJustAoife]

Student loans? No healthcare? Increasing wealth gap? Must be America :D

[@tater.5632]

dectec Sure, the rich are getting richer. But guess what? So are you, me, and entire lower and middle class of America. The rich just get richer faster because they are able to invest large sums of money at a time, which also benefits us because it brings us jobs. The wealth gap certainly isn’t a problem.

[@philipp1044]

@John Alejandro So basically everyone who wants an universal health care is a communist? The USA are the only developed country in the world with no universal health care. Blaming it on "the citizens who voted for lefties" does not make any sense, when you have a republican government for the last years. If you can smell communists through the internet, maybe consider to see your doctor.

[@pepehimovic3135]

*DID SOMEBODY SAY **_C O M M U N I S M?_* loads freedom gun

[@meatymelondk]

@John Alejandro somebody has gotten propaganda into their head.

[@easyben21]

@John Alejandro Don't you think the wealth hoarding by insurance companies and drug companies is causing an exacerbation of the system? It's no surprise that US healthcare on average is twice as expensive per person than most other advanced countries in the world. While I can understand your reservation to have tax dollars allocated to the health needs of vulnerable people, do you then condone the use of your tax's to go towards government investments in corporations which then don't pay back tax? I think the US has more than enough wealth to provide cheaper or free healthcare to all, and considering all western nations have free healthcare. but I'd be curious to hear your thoughts. Also just to clarify, wanting strong social programs is not a communist thing, many capitalist or "market economies" do it..

[@tejassharma5295]

Love your videos. Very simple and detailed explanation on economics.

[@Zack-pl9np]

Honestly this makes perfect sense love how you explained it

[@coreyh55]

you just explained the entirety of whats causing issues for us in the western world today.

[@ZaDowlan]

Yea mordern economics is bullshit.

[@shorewall]

This was SUCH a thoughtful video! Every time I see a video about the US, I prepare for some anti-american sentiment. But you explained things that I have felt myself. I really liked your point about the US being a post scarcity society according to Mazlow's Hierarchy of Needs. I would argue that marketing, demand, and debt are tricking people into getting things that they don't need, which is stressing the planet. The solution is to fight this consumerism, fight debt, and be grateful for the privilege that we experience.

[@MsJemp]

Awesome video explained quite well. The ending is just a bit oversimplified in my oppinion. Keep up the good work !

[@zanokuhlemabuza3762]

Brilliant video. Looking forward to watching the first two in the series.

[@saibharadwaj3897]

Pls do a video on export led industrialization policies of tiger economies like south korea,Taiwan,Singapore, Hong Kong in the 50s and 60s

[@mikerodrigues9822]

Stability, low taxes, low regulations, educated, cheap and hardworking work-force.

[@manas142]

@@mikerodrigues9822 Wrong. Theres is something common in all these countries mentioned.I will let you guess

[@RobertWelles]

@@manas142 marxism?

[@cageybee7221]

drinking water? i have to buy a new filter each month because fort wayne can't afford to replace the lead pipes.

[@reillywalker195]

Don't even get started on Flint, Michigan, or the huge number of reserves in Canada on boil water advisories.

[@david_junior]

Got back to the first two videos to like them. I can't believe I forgot. Watching from Mozambique Great content right there

[@marygaby8743]

You put all economists, economics and economical education in your pocket. You have literally explained everything

[@badmontad]

Instructions unclear accidentally hacked life and now am a billionaire. Yeah i wish it was that easy 😭

[@Septimus_ii]

You'll get bored of it in a few weeks ;)

[@TheAmericanAmerican]

“Clean” drinking water readily available? Have you ever heard of Flint, Michigan?

[@TheCastedone]

Check your local water report... Flint isn't the only place

[@Togher01]

I was looking for this.

[@TheLocalLt]

My Stupid Opinion sounds callous but it’s an anomaly

[@tonyz.6105]

"Patreon Plz!" for the Ferrari I'm dying! 🤣 but seriously, thank you for taking an in depth look at a couple base motivators for the US economy, supported by numerous theories and breaking it into layman and what impact that has on people and society's behavior at large!

[@jameswalker7899]

A very nice, three-part series! Warmest compliments. Thank you, sir. :)

[@lucasatilano8008]

Nailed this one, I don’t think I’ve seen anyone else explaining current economics as well

[@Gayfrogscollective]

It seems like many post-scarcity civilizations aren't great/don't care about distribution though. Most of us all still have massive food waste but also hunger, homelessness (at all), and major amounts of wealth horded that's generally removed from the general consumer economy.

[@floak18]

Love your videos, bro! They shed a bit of light on this tumultuous and imense world of ours. Thank you for your contribution to advancing the human race ❤️

[@mitchem2314]

this video was particularly good and I feel i have learned something very meaningful

[@AJearth]

A Ferrari, just like any other expensive car, is just an expensive liability.

[@Tonius126]

How is that? If it's within your means then it's just a symbol of that 'means' realized. It's all to show oneself that not everyone is equal.

[@otacon1024]

@@Tonius126 Simple, it doesn't generate any revenue, but costs money to both acquire and own (gas, maintenance), and depreciates in value over time. Ergo, it's a liability.

[@harshjain3122]

Its a depreciating asset

[@somethung8188]

@@otacon1024 Collectors Ferraris can go up a lot in value, many older ones go up millions of dollars in a few years. Depending on the circumstance, a Ferrari can be an excellent investment. Of course you would have to be rich to afford it in the first place but if you sell it you would be even richer.

[@somethung8188]

@@harshjain3122 comment above ^

[@garethbaus5471]

That is an interesting point about the US being a rough approximation of a post scarcity of society with the theoretical capabilitie to provide just about everything that everyone in the US needs with resources leftover for some luxuries.

[@shaikymandel7593]

Wow what a good explanation of what it’s like in America today, I happened upon your show a few days ago and I can’t stop watching your videos, I love it!

[@k999ford]

Ngl this has got to be one of your best videos yet

[@prouddegenerates9056]

We don't have access to shelter in California!

[@artruisjoew5473]

Sorry this video is talking about the US not commiefornia.

[@prouddegenerates9056]

Artruis Joew Virginia is next.

[@BrozusFilms]

Artruis Joew the fed takes more money from Cali than it gives to the extent that the fed would fail without Cali. Essentially any backwards Bible Belt state in the US wouldn’t get it’s necessary federal funding without Cali and would crumble from infrastructure failure

[@andreblackaller3560]

Michael Rogers move lol

[@prouddegenerates9056]

André Blackaller I'm Virginian.

[@maclennanld]

4:25 That train is asserting its dominance Traveling sideways is the T-posing of trains

[@DrAlfredNUmar]

AMAZING INSIGHTS!THANKS FOR THE GOOD WORK!!!

[@ericweis9771]

The episodes on this channel are presented like educational segments. Good presentation.

[@SudsMcWhiskey]

I'm only a mere Postgraduate psychologist but I've always understood human desire for material things to be mediated by their peers. People tend to purchase material things to signify their status in the social hierarchy, if they believe they are nearer to the top of that hierarchy than the bottom they tend to be more satisfied. The key thing is their position among their perceived peers rather than their level of material wealth. When this understanding is applied practically, it explains why someone who is rich by the standards of the DRC may be more satisfied than someone who is far richer but not by the countries standards in the US/Uk ect.

[@justinallen2408]

Or you know we buy a car to travel and explore the world like humans tend to do, buy tents or kayaks to do the things we like to do. Halfway decent food to survive and thrive. Homes we can be proud of filled with things that are of use to us.

[@SudsMcWhiskey]

@@justinallen2408 What I'm talking about is only a trend a macro level, human social behaviour is never explained by any one phenomena. Although it is worth noting that you mention pride, as this is in effect a social emotion, that takes stock of your position amongst your peers and lends itself well to the theory I was describing.

[@pencilfriendpaperscribbler6032]

I'd like to recommend Asperger’s from experience. Social hierarchies look ridiculous to us, we don’t care what other people own, that’s completely uninteresting, and we are very interested in learning for its own sake. Just don’t care about your crazy ranking systems based on owning things. Very interested in art, all the sciences (even psychology ;p), music and cooking, basically any craft that requires well honed skills, history, anthropology, literature, all the liberal arts, and even some sport. Do not care what the neighbour are doing as long as it is not too noisy. Perfectly happy with owning very little, rarely buy new clothes, perfectly happy sleeping on a mattress on the floor. Huge acquisition this year though: blender! Might need to make a will!

[@ghandidestroyerofworlds8149]

economics "stock footage" explained

[@guitistic2732]

*footage

[@ghandidestroyerofworlds8149]

@@guitistic2732 ye u rite

[@jeezymclovin2215]

Underrated comment 👀😂🙏

[@tdoge]

Well it's either stock footage or Mr. EE can show us some equations and graphs.. Which we all know is not what the Algorithm wants..

[@saddammemon2028]

Your videos are fabulous my teacher were failed to teach me economy but your videos makes all thing very easy thank u 👍👍

[@joeljededemekong5628]

I've been waiting for a video like this for agesss😩

[@azazzelx]

...economies rises...economies falls...not any different with this..

[@dongochoangkhang]

could you make a video about economy of vietnam

[@marcalcaraz931]

Hey @ Economics Explained I really recommend you to read about Say's law. You really have a misconception about demand driving production.

[@Alex-fl2yh]

This video was an eye opener. Thanks!

[@rampage241]

15:48 I feel like that could be a whole video on its own.

[@Septimus_ii]

Really, you just watched it. I think it's the central thesis of this video

[@denniskwan1906]

Last time I was this early, college debt didn't exist

[@Dj3ndo]

Thanks for this informative video!

[@jameswalker7899]

This was a very impressive series. Warmest compliments. Thank you, sir. :)

[@Ozymandias1]

1:40 Everything that Monsanto provides.

[@andresj.s.3568]

I really thought you would talk more about the relationship between the size of the American economy vs the level of debt it keeps accumulating as a country or citizens themselves, and mention facts about it endlessly printing money

[@nicklinn7287]

Woah theres a random shot you used of the university from my hometown Saint Cloud. I was not expecting that at all.

[@jfh400]

Please, if you're making a multi part series, link the earlier parts in the description.

[@JediMaddy94]

Unfortunately, it is pretty hard to function in places like America without a phone or laptop, or a car depending on the location. And better look still sometimes mean more than brains or skill or hard work. We kinda did it to ourselves.

[@Pikazilla]

so much dept... let's increase military spending when there's no war.

[@shinglemcdingle4093]

Oh there is a lot of war...

[@jjosephs6521]

I suppose its dolphins that patrol the global commons protecting international trade and shipping routes.

[@hughg.rection868]

If they really cared they’d spend $750 billion on infrastructure creating thousands of jobs instead of spending $750 billion to hand out huge contracts to companies that have outsourced already. “Hey! Let’s buy 5 bombers from China! Would could go wrong?”

[@overlord165]

If you want peace, prepare for war...

[@yvanthedrakon]

Untrained armies, unpracticed military doctrines, unconditioned soldiers are the bane of civilizations throughout history. Consider it an investment for a future times of turmoil.

[@3x157]

What a true intro. I lived in Europe half of my life and the lack of A/C in most building sucks.

[@Carole_Baskin]

Please do an historic breakdown of Australian Labor vs Liberal economics.

[@pspdude2316]

65k a year per capita but most people live paycheck to paycheck and it comes to 65k bcus of all those billionaires upping the average

[@bluesrockfan36]

pspdude231 You are right. Average income is 53k, the median income however is 17k. We have 40 million poor and 100 million living at or near poverty. Hundreds of thousands die each year because of it. Never trust economists who talk about “averages” instead of median when talking about the population at large.

[@evankurniawan1311]

@@bluesrockfan36 what the heck is your metric? 100 million lives in near poverty is too much exaggeration.

[@stephenr4185]

Lol to the guy who said those averages. You completely made up those numbers. I’m pretty sure you’re a Bernie and AOC supporter.

[@bluesrockfan36]

Stephen Roberts Instead of being an asshole, why not try to do a simple Google search about the U.S median and average income? No, I’m not a Bernie supporter. I was a Yang supporter though, whatever that has to do with anything.

[@bluesrockfan36]

Evan Kurniawan Shocking isn’t it? Unfortunately its true. www.povertyusa.org/facts

[@theRealEvoLife]

16:50 best joke ever

[@JohnZhu1988]

i dont think he's joking ;)

[@justinfreeman4614]

I especially like how he had referred to psychology earlier in the video, and anyone who's seen a LOT of this guy's videos knows he uses psychology for his economic analysis. It's like a 2 level joke.

[@AbhayKumar-cm2kh]

Psychology is indeed a mess

[@malikfaisal416]

As a Psychology student I agree with you, and that's why we have dozens of psychology model, some based on natural science, some based on social science, some based on philosphy and religion, and some based on statistics and numbers

[@ArawnOfAnnwn]

@@malikfaisal416 Would you actually prefer the reverse, where one line of thinking predominates and all the rest have been pushed to the margins? Cos that's the state of modern economics (the others are collectively known as 'heterodox economics', and mostly dismissed despite coming from trained economists (so not just crackpots)). I'm not sure which situation is really better, given that people aren't quite so uniform and predictable as economics often treats them as.

[@cedrickropp]

Something I would like to critique is, that wealth is a relative term. So the amount of wealth you have is a percentage of the entire amount of stuff. A King had, at least in an absolute monarchy, all of the stuff in a Kingdom he had complete control of capital, land and labor, in the form of serfs, but he did not own everything on the Old world (the old world and the new world were basically two closed systems). So there was still competition. A King who had a better administration, could thus pay better armies, could thus win more wars and could thus own more. So the only thing important to a King would be the amount of Serfs, Soldiers, Generals and strategic resources. There were other things as well which had demand, but the amount was not necessarily fixed all the time. Sometimes there was more sometimes there was less and sometimes there were more resources available for a King to spend so the price would fluctuate quite a lot, but the amount consumed did not necessarily change. This is when the industrial revolution hit and we have been riding a wave of growth that is unimaginable to people that came before us, but there is still only 100% of stuff. This stuff is still shared between different entities: States, Nations, People, Corporations, Socialist States which represent modern Monarchy from an economic stand point. During this time we have had some really wacky exceptions to the rules commonly seen as a pretty good approximations of reality. For example the Nazi regime an up and down and mixing between capitalism and State run economy. The state was basically printing money to a ludicrous extent, but this money was based in debt. The money still technically became more and more worthless, but because the state run part of the economy focused all of the Nations efforts into war (thus strategic interest like synthetic fuel and rubber, producing iron at a completely stupid cost) there was nothing to spent your money on. The money was still given out and thus served as a motivation, but was simply put into bank accounts and thus it made an infinite line instead of the expanding circle which capitalism produces. This way the state held full control over all recourses that Europe had to over, with some complications of course, but generally the Nazis had a finite post scarcity society. Everything had no cost effectively. What many nowadays confuse for post scarcity is just rapid growth (I don’t mean rapid growth growth, but absolute growth) with such infinite money. The USA is in a special position, as it is from a local perspective able to print almost infinite money to buy finite resources without diluting its currency. Globally it is just dumping money in a ginormous hole which might at some point start to fill, up to this point it will be fine. (Of course America is not the only large holder of important currencies, which could take the place of the dollar, there is still the EU and China two powerful entities which could also serve if not necessarily to the same extent but to a similar extent as the backing currency of the world) What a post scarcity society would be, is a society that functions with unlimited resources but not necessarily with unlimited money. Large institutions could simply own everything by default (like a King) and thus grant some of their assets to smaller or bigger entities (a Bank that owns everything lending to a Nation) in this way it would act in the same way as Nazi economics, but the other way around. people would try to get limited capital with unlimited goods thus giving to the common people motivation, the job of the institution would be to dictate a price they are willing to lend capital for in goods and services. Thus only the institution would own capital and would have complete control over all of the economy. If this would work would depend on the faith in the system, just like in Nazi Germany where people would be paid with limited amounts of unlimited money, creating the illusion of worth. I hope this is understandable. I apologize for any harm that might be caused by my limited English capabilities, but I am thankful for anyone willing to chew through (durch kauen, a German saying that references the strain that is caused by repeatedly having to read the same text over and over in order to understand it, similar to chewing on something that is very tough) my less than perfect English. If you have thoughts and or critique on what you just read I would be happy to her them/it. Thank you in advance.

[@adriancires4889]

The concept you described as the rise and fall of the business cycle, with consumers taking on debt to then consume less later, is actually a phenomenon known as consumption smoothing. Consumption smoothing is the idea that people will buy more when times are good, and less when times are bad. For example, if someone is willing and able to buy a new flat screen tv, they will. But say later on, that individual falls on hard times and is no longer able to afford to buy a new tv, so instead he saves up. The same is true if you live in near poverty and lose your job, you might take on some debt to finance your cost of living. The rise and fall of the business cycle has to do with the macroeconomic performance of an economy, taking into account times of prosperity and recessions, as opposed to a microeconomic view of the individual, buying and consuming more or less. The two phenomena correlate, but to say that there is a causal relationship from consumption smoothing to the business cycle is a stretch. Overall a very educational and thought provoking video though, keep up the good work!

[@WiWoPL]

The video is really well done, but not really about the U.S.A

[@gilbertmcglurk2591]

Yeah, it's more about the west in general...

[@sanjidnet]

"At the bottom are real basic things. Physiological needs like air, water, food, shelter, sleep. The things that are really denied to the real bottom levels of the modern society. ...like grad students." 6:43

[@sdmugabe]

So glad I found this channel

[@ozzyfromspace]

You basically just explained what causes depressions, impressive! I think now I get it ☺️

[@philosoaper]

well, that was a very rose tinted view of USA which they present outward but which isn't particularly close to reality

[@astrosquirrel08108]

Yeah, if he wanted a good example of a "post scarcity" society in this sense any north European social market state would probably be a better example.

[@prophetsspaceengineering2913]

Yep... It's just a very bizarre point of view, considering that something like 30% of the US population is working very long hours and/or more than one job, while a majority of that group is still hard-pressed to afford higher education or proper healthcare. It also elevates the US way beyond what it actually is. They do a lot of things fairly well, but post-scarcity implies a level of wide-spread wealth and safety that is really not visible for the lower-end of the society. Other nations with vastly smaller economies are way ahead in that regard.

[@screamingperson8188]

@@prophetsspaceengineering2913 I'm not sure you quite understand, what makes the US different is the fact that wealth is very easily available because it is plentiful. That doesn't mean you have 300k in the bank, but it means that someone with 10k can buy things worth 300k with loans. Leverage like this is unprecedented in many other countries, developed or otherwise.

[@gcc2313]

Screaming Person No they understand but that’s not the point. When the maker of this video makes a statement like 8:20-8:45, when that’s simply not true. And millions of Americans struggle to afford healthcare, need food stamps to feed their family, or have to work 2/3 jobs to not become homeless. That statement feels like a slap in the face to the millions that live below the poverty line. Especially considering many countries with a smaller economy score way better on these aspects.

[@adobo777]

I believe it's quite accurate. The US is very diverse and requires a certain amount of nuance when comparing it to more homogeneous societies, but generally different peoples tend to do better in the US than anywhere else in the world when taking into account demography (comparing things apples to apples per say). For example Iranians and Indians in Norway earn about 32k usd and 40k usd on average but on the other hand their American counterparts make quite a lot more at around 100k usd each respectively, a trend repeated with almost every other demography in the US. Generally, whomever you are and wherever you came from you would grossly benefit being alive in the US than anywhere else in the world. Even if you are from nations with perceived 'higher living standards' like Norway or Sweden, data shows that you would still grossly benefit from being in the US.

[@eth3549]

Isn't a post-scarcity civilization supposed to have health safety though?

[@BernardBrunu1]

Only the individual can secure their health. If u wanna stay healthy take care of what u eat and exercise.

[@BrozusFilms]

Bernard Brunu scuse me my while I hold myself responsible for my genetics. The us doesn’t have health safety grow up

[@rharris22222]

@Bernard. Right on, the only "Solution" to people making bad choices is taking those choices away. And I, for one, prefer freedom to security. There should be a balance between freedom and planning, and I am not for anarchy, but mostly we should err on the side of freedom.

[@rharris22222]

And one more thing that people might not realize: The U.S. DOES have guaranteed heath care, it's just not very extensive. You can go into practically every emergency room in the U.S. and see a notice that critical lifesaving care is required by law and will be provided regardless of a patient's ability to pay. That is not a lot by our modern wealthy standards, but it is a far cry from even one lifetime ago. And for those about to tell a horror story of someone dying outside a private hospital emergency room: Yes, and chances are someone went to prison at the end of the story. Those laws are enforced. Hospitals are fined and leaders go to prison in the moat blatant cases. It's one reason emergency rooms are so expensive. You are paying for homeless people and young, uninsured people and foreign visitors without adequate insurance, etc. Our health system is much better than most critics will admit.

[@BernardBrunu1]

@@BrozusFilms The fact that u have a problem doesn't mean there has to be someone to blame.

[@Avidjupiter]

"Riffraff like psychology" Shots fired sir!

[@DIGIOVINAZZO]

One of the best video i ever seen Thank you