Incentives Matter for Time Arbitrage Potential

An important aspect of time arbitrage is the need to secure time based services, starting with those which aren't exactly top career choices. Plus, these tend to be poorly paid, particularly services for elderly assistance. And since people who work for the elderly may struggle with their own financial responsibilities, they aren't always trustworthy and reliable for the people most dependent on their care. 

Granted, it can seem the obvious solution is to ensure adequate pay for all employees, whatever job one happens to be responsible for! Unfortunately, societies have shown time and again that the notion of "livable wages" for all, isn't feasible, despite the tremendous need. My regular readers know that the fact money will continue to be insufficient incentive for such work, serves as a starting point for my own suggestions regarding markets for time value.

If we can't create markets which specifically reward time value, there may ultimately be cultural ramifications. For instance, as the costs of traditional healthcare and nursing homes continue to rise, societal expectations would increase for individuals to make undue sacrifices for their own family members. While it's understandable that existing institutions are less willing (or able) now to pay for time intensive services, we need new institutions which can do so in their stead.

When it comes to incentives for time based markets, one thing to consider is the need for autonomy, and how it revolves around ideas of fairness associated with shared responsibilities. Still, when we purposely spend time with others, those interactions often benefit from the undivided attention of both individuals involved. Indeed, this undivided attention can often be critical to services outcomes. 

Yet attention to details with its associated time related costs, is often more costly than what existing institutions can still provide. When institutions are willing to pay well for time based services, they may expect high skill knowledge providers to commit to such a degree, that burnout becomes inevitable. Even so, excessive time commitments can be burdensome whether one engages in simple skill sets or high skill activities. In time arbitrage, a full range of skill levels would be apportioned so as not to create undue time commitment burdens. A fuller sharing for all skill levels, could also bring respect to work which is now almost treated as a form of social "punishment" for those who struggle with traditional education. 

Here are just a few of the links I've come across lately which highlight the need for a better marketplace for time value. Occasionally I find myself overwhelmed at the extent of time based services needs which simply aren't being met at any skill level. Alas, as a society we have scarcely begun to address these concerns. How could anyone claim real economic progress, if societies keep trying to move forward without better means of coordination for applied knowledge and time based endeavour in general? The sooner we face the fact that money alone cannot accomplish these vital tasks, the sooner we can begin to create new free markets in time value.

How to think about better aligned incentives in this regard? We share a number of basic time commitment priorities in our lives which warrant consideration. One way to think about the processes involved is this: What services are specific individuals willing and capable of providing, so long as doing so doesn't interfere with or somehow impose on the other important facets of our lives? Recall that what anyone might be tolerant of providing in an hours time, is not the same thing as activities one prefers on a more regular basis. Yet markets which rely solely on monetary incentives, don't distinguish well for these differences in relative time preferences.  

More specifically, time arbitrage could take place in several ways. The basic form would be agreed upon time share agreements between two individuals. These commitments would  occur as close to the same time frame as possible. That said, it would not always be possible to benefit from time arbitrage on these terms. Fortunately there are also incentives that would compel individuals to commit time, for which one would hope to benefit at some point in the future.

For one, there are moments of spontaneity, in other words those occasions when people do something for others "just because". One way to think about this is "paying it forward", only this approach tends more toward monetary gifting than services. However, the voluntary actions of time arbitrage would be recorded in the same manner as other aspects of time arbitrage into a broader framework. In so doing, the initial voluntary action functions as partial economic unit which turns into a completed exchange (and its associated full economic value) once the provider accepts a voluntary action from someone which they don't need to reciprocate.  

Another important economic incentive is the natural concern for our own well being, should we become temporarily or even permanently dependent on others in some capacity. This of course also ties back to the concerns of elderly citizens mentioned above. Toward this end, time arbitrage functions as a form of social time based insurance. It's an example of partial matches we can initiate in the here and now which might not be reciprocated for a long time. Such matches could prove especially helpful during periods when we fall short on more immediate time matches with others, for instance. What particularly distinguishes social insurance from monetary insurance is its direct nature, in terms of mirroring the kinds of attention we would seek from others should we become more dependent on them. One way to broaden the potential of time arbitrage for purposes of social insurance, is to seek matches not just for one's personal needs, but also in terms of home maintenance and/or care for family members. 

There's one more consideration as well. When it comes to personal incentives, what are our greater aspirations in life? How might those aspirations change over time? Local community coordination would not be complete, if participating groups didn't make room for everyone to discover challenging work which suits their own motivations and long term goals. Recall as well, how this is the part of time arbitrage which has the potential to contribute to applied knowledge in its more complex forms. What's different in this regard, is the time arbitrage approach to knowledge sharing. 

Might Good Deflation Counter Excess Monetary Demand?

What makes good deflation so desirable? It all starts when increased output is possible with fewer resources overall. Once price reductions per unit come into play, they in turn lead to real wage gains and higher productivity levels. I believe that good deflation could become a services sector response to counteract high inflation and rising interest rates. Given the many positives of good deflation, what accounts for such resistance to its potential in housing and time based services?

Even though both areas must deal with the natural scarcities of time and place, much of the bias against good deflation potential is inadvertent and political in nature. Not only are such biases protectionist, they discourage adaptive evolution in time and place based product - evolution which could otherwise augment their capacity despite their natural limitations. While time based skill and land as real estate are certainly not exponential in nature, they could still add additional output through flexible coordination of knowledge and land use potential.

Bias characteristics also differ depending on the markets and sectors in question. For instance, progressives and conservatives increasingly prefer a restoration of local manufacturing over global free trade. Fortunately - even though this anti free market bias will increase manufacturing costs to some degree - globalized manufacture should continue benefiting nations in the foreseeable future. At the very least, it's reasonable to expect good deflation to ultimately be restored in global markets. Once tradable sector resource access is more stable and predictable, it should become more cost effective as well.  

Societies are fortunate indeed, that tradable sector activity is often managed for full production efficiencies. Still, during times of high inflation, we're reminded of the dangers of taking good deflation in tradable sectors for granted. Indeed, relying on the serendipity of long term good deflation (along with the more recent low inflation pattern) made it easy to disregard the long term inefficiencies of non tradable sectors. These inefficiencies remain in place due to countless quality requirements, many of which have been exacerbated by government subsidies. 

Recall however, that these requirements end up as ever more inputs in relation to aggregate output. Even when quality gains are worth additional costs for some, other groups suffer efficiency losses which in turn require additional personal labour for non discretionary needs. Consequently when it comes to quality of life, some income groups are actually moving backwards. Again, constant calls for higher wages occur because lower income groups need to work more hours than is sometimes feasible to meet their financial responsibilities.

Fortunately there are already better production methods which could establish disinflation in housing - methods which could eventually lead to good deflation as well. Just the same, a considerable amount of social and political bias has prevented the majority of flexible housing options. In this restrictive environment, progressives tend to focus on time based constraints for meeting financial obligations. Whereas conservatives are more concerned about place based constraints, such as immigrants who are seen as competing for already scarce housing. 

Despite the protectionism that stands in the way of production reform, housing is still a simpler issue to solve than markets based on time and personal skill. Hence countering excess monetary demand could begin with more flexible interpretations of housing for all income levels. Otherwise, many individuals will remain subject to the first mover problem of providing valuable services for others by more accessible means, only to be locked out of the housing necessary for this to happen. For that matter, one of the main reasons wages recently increased for the lowest income levels, is that employers were faced with the fact no housing existed nearby which their employees could afford. 

Societies need to focus on non tradable sector production issues, since they are at the heart of recent inflation which is proving difficult to eradicate. However, there's something else important about productivity expectations which needs to be noted here. When productivity involves final product which is independent of personal labour, these areas do have capacity for exponential output. Since our economic time is not exponential, it often demands a higher price as a fixed quantity. In these instances, people rely on investments in knowledge and skill to increase their time value. Alas, institutions then tend to respond by substituting away from time based input, in order to meet their financial obligations! Despite the obvious drawbacks of this effect, our current understanding of productivity gains makes it a rational approach, especially if institutional budgets are already in jeopardy. 

How, then, could good deflation be achieved in skills use without having to substitute away from time based input? One way is to make mutual time commitments, or time arbitrage, a valid and measurable economic unit. Skill sets would be voluntarily chosen and independent of monetary value. However, group effort would also utilize monetary compensation as a base to keep the process in motion. Time arbitrage might help societies maintain and preserve what they build and create, plus the knowledge and skills involved would be simultaneously measured as cumulative gains. Time as an economic unit of value is also one way to overcome the Baumol effect and ultimately, achieve good deflation in time based services. Again, production gains would transpire on completely different terms in these settings. Once housing production reform begins in earnest, economic validity for mutual time commitments would be the logical next step.

Incentives Matter for Continuous Procedural Maintenance

As economies gradually become more complex, basic structural maintenance grows more complicated also. Yet the maintenance of our lives, physical environments and knowledge structures is perceived as economic burden, and societies now lack sustainable market structure in crucial areas. During cycles of primary market dominance, societies come to rely on continuous procedural maintenance through monetary and non monetary means. Now however, some of what we've relied on for full maintenance capacity, has been lost. This is particularly true for the use of knowledge in society. 

Just the same, maintenance needs don't go away, and we need new thought processes which can recreate reliable continuance. Doing so means the transformation of our dependent (or secondary) markets, as these areas especially lack incentive to maintain societal stability through monetary compensation alone. In all this, governments are increasingly pressured to minimize fiscal burdens in the use of applied knowledge and skill. We have already seen how procedural maintenance is perceived as taxpayer burden, as political groups now seek to undo the institutions of knowledge and action with nothing sustainable to take their place.

Private enterprise also lacks incentive to make full use of applied knowledge, especially if doing so is perceived as a problem for profit maximization. This isn't good news for societies in the years ahead, since more effective use of knowledge is needed to overcome numerous obstacles to continued progress. These are just some of the reasons I've advocated for time arbitrage commitment as an economic unit of value, to supplement crucial maintenance where monetary compensation so often falls short.

Nevertheless, some reluctance on the part of governments and private enterprise, is understandable. After all, various interest groups have been notorious for creating maintenance "requirements" which are basically about profit making opportunities, instead of true systemic support. Despite the fact faux maintenance isn't often immediately obvious, it occurs routinely in the knowledge based demands of healthcare, education, finance and legal professions. As these additional costs accrue across the spectrum, it only gets more difficult for people, governments and businesses alike to preserve their efforts in society. 

Unproductive forms of economic complexity increasingly dominate our redistribution flows. If this weren't enough, the recent cultural battles leave more productive forms of economic complexity on shaky ground. Clearly, too many economic incentives haven't been well aligned for basic maintenance needs. Indeed, a major part of what makes it difficult to maintain productive economic complexity over long periods, is that societies tend to downplay the very activities which conserve valuable patterns of production. How might this be changed?

Our Meritocratic Knowledge Systems Are Quite Fragile

War can create many problems, and this time it includes difficulties for supply side circumstance, central bankers, and monetary policy. Some are also debating (although they are divided) how Putin's actions will ultimately affect global currency patterns. I'd suggest that while no one knows how long global dollar dominance could last, this is still an opportune moment for special interest groups to dial back on their dependence of global financial flows for monetary compensation. Especially since this decades long global positioning has added to income inequalities, many of which stem from administrative privilege. In particular, inequality in the U.S. is largely due to tax dependent secondary markets (and their associated housing valuations) where knowledge and skill are essential. 

Meritocratic organizational patterns in dependent markets have become like an endangered species, by aligning too closely with other aspects of elite tendencies (both left and right leaning) in advanced economies. Consider how this matters, for political opponents are now so opposed to each another that both sides are losing the ability to effectively function. This really matters for merit based organization, once profit becomes defined as the strongest limits possible to total applied knowledge participation. Even though the patterns we observe are more often knowledge use losses in rural areas, this is nevertheless symptomatic of continued losses for valuable skills in general, in all of society.

For decades we have taken administrative dominance for granted in the compensation of meritocratic time based knowledge. But unfortunately, administrative capture of monetary value for time based skill sets, creates extensive participation limits in terms of both supply and demand. When price making is used in excess of price taking in equilibrium conditions, the result is inevitably reduced societal coordination patterns (hence loss of mutual trust) for knowledge use. Indeed, our housing asset markets closely represent the pinnacle of what people hope to achieve in monetary compensation for knowledge and skill, instead of the compensation many citizens actually receive. 

The supply side conditions which allowed this circumstance have only been exacerbated since the turn of the 21st century. Small wonder that our educational and healthcare institutions now experience problems at systemic levels with few solutions on offer. Yet applied skill losses tend to occur in ways that aren't necessarily evident, such as in U.S. justice scenarios which greatly impact both lower and middle income levels. For that matter, much of the cultural resistance to vaccines took place in "red" states where rural areas have already long since lost their hospitals and other local healthcare settings.

Should we finally reform knowledge centered citizen participation, recall as well, how closely linked these time based services are with housing. States such as Texas (where I live) have been heavily dependent on property taxes to fund the services citizens rely on, for instance. There are other important economic connections between housing and services as well. A prime example is how the Fed frames housing as a transmission mechanism for monetary policy, which in turn affects the money available for services in given time periods. 

Hence when we highlight possibilities for greater housing affordability, it helps to remember that services access and participation would be closely connected to these efforts. Since services values are reflective of housing, only recall that good deflation in housing would require good deflation in time based services costs. This time based adaptation of local property taxes would only work for citizens if they can actually count on lower mutual time costs for group coordination. In many earlier posts I advocated for time as a formal economic unit. Fortunately, we could design means to connect economic time value to originating wealth or monetary value, via local building patterns for participating groups. I continue to hope that production and ownership reform efforts such as these, might be considered in the near future.

The Baumol Effect: Benefit, or Problem?

Is the Baumol effect a positive contributor to economic activity, or is its frequent description as the "Baumol Disease" more realistic?  Perhaps much depends on who and what is involved in the discussion. Timothy Lee (in a January post) explains how a negative framing can be unfortunate:  

From my perspective as a parent, it might be a bummer that child costs are rising. But my daughter's nanny probably doesn't see it that way - the Baumol effect means her income goes up.

Lee explains how productivity gains in some industries may mean higher wages in areas with a more personal focus, via time based activity. He sees this as beneficial, for humans are social beings who often value personal experiences with others over robot encounters to get things done. Indeed, time based product is subjective, which is why it can be more highly valued than products requiring more technology than labour. Personal instruction is a good example, particularly when a given subject is actively and voluntarily sought out by avid students. 

Nevertheless, a concerning issue re the Baumol effect, is its uneven equilibrium dispersion which impacts both short and long term outcomes. As it turns out, well paid and fully functioning service markets are generally limited to places where originating wealth plays a dominant role. Despite the fact many scenarios lack this level of economic complexity, it's easy to assume the societal coordination of the Baumol effect is more widespread than is actually the case. Yet anyone who spends much time outside the more prosperous regions, will notice a dearth of markets for many important skills sets and services. Since applied knowledge and its related maintenance are necessary for modern economies, places where the Baumol effect is largely missing, tend to lack social cohesion and community purpose.

Hence we need to come to terms with the Baumol effect as an incomplete societal coordinator, not really capable of generating the level of applied knowledge which is crucial for modern day economies. Granted, the Baumol effect functions as a positive where it does contribute to economic dynamism. However, time based services run the gamut from the mundane to what are far more aspirational goals. Fortunately, many people remain willing to pursue their higher aspirations on non pecuniary and even solitary terms. That said, not all that is necessary and mundane in our lives is accomplished this way, particularly when recognizable markets for time value remain missing. We need to recognize where personal freedoms are too often lost to cultural expectations - expectations where many are pressed to sacrifice the whole of their lives for mundane and necessary tasks, while others remain free to pursue broader goals or perhaps higher callings.

Consider again the fortunate nature of free market framing, which at least has created partial equilibrium compensation via the Baumol effect in today's secondary markets. Since Timothy Lee could afford to pay his daughter's nanny (who accepted this work voluntarily), that created tangible benefits not only for the nanny, but Lee's family also in terms of their own expanded time use options at home. 

Alas, it's a shame the Baumol effect is often missing in places where it is needed most. Which is why we are challenged to bring stronger economic value to a wide range of time use options. Let's face up to the fact we can't always achieve interpersonal goals through money alone. Without a broader range of economic options, societies stand to lose even more voluntary societal coordination, to what are often outdated and rigid cultural "norms".

To sum up, the Baumol effect is problematic due to what it can't readily accomplish for a majority of citizens, despite what people hoped for via monetary and fiscal policy potential. This is one of the main reasons I've promoted time arbitrage as an economic option, especially whenever the Baumol effect falls short. Let's make certain that free markets can be preserved in the meaningful use of our time, and that voluntary economic coordination remains a real possibility for the foreseeable future.

Is Time Arbitrage Feasible For Post Covid Economies?

Even though time arbitrage would be a complex undertaking (particularly for large scale versions), today's time based services are nevertheless being called into question, as post Covid realities gradually emerge. Plus there's plenty of unknowns in time based service markets which represent a wide range of knowledge, skill, and yes, physical activities as well. How will societies ultimately respond?

While problems were already evident in secondary markets such as healthcare before the pandemic, there's also recent troubles for time based services that are directly linked to originating (primary market) wealth. For instance, both manufacturers and home improvement retailers have limited incentive to compensate the time based labour involved in installations and repairs at private residences. Worse, these resulting service labour shortages are amplified by resistance among service workers who were never really keen on commuting to outlying areas in the first place! Indeed, a CEO for Whirlpool expressed concern that labour shortages may in fact be structural. Likewise, Zillow, recently had to stop purchasing homes when it struggled to secure sufficient timely labour in order to resell at a profit.

More specifically, what can be done at local levels, should time centered services become increasingly difficult to procure from a distance? Just as time arbitrage could function as a primary market substitute for some of today's secondary markets in knowledge and skill, it could also shore up missing services associated with traditional primary markets. In many instances, time arbitrage could benefit coordination patterns in local services where strength and physical stamina may be just as important as knowledge and skill. Since many manufacturers and retailers have become compromised in terms of services employment potential, they could shift towards establishing commodity and goods specific educational support for their product to local community levels. Doing so would also allow local citizens to more meaningfully incorporate home renovation and appliance maintenance needs in their (time symmetric) educational settings Even though local citizens would not be employed by home improvement manufacturers and retailers, they still have incentive to work with these firms for an outcome that would help both groups. Best, a hub and spoke (or city to country) educational approach could help recreate formal services economies where they are most needed. 

Better use of coordinated time symmetry could eventually help restore structural balance to economic conditions in general. Chances are, efforts to bring time value to the table for market outcomes, would result in greater general equilibrium representation for direct forms of wealth creation than is presently the case. After all, there's a good chance that 80 percent monetary representation for services was too much to begin with, to maintain long term economic stability. Only consider the prominent example of structural imbalance in our healthcare knowledge use patterns. Even Noah Smith recently challenged "shoveling money at overpriced service industries", hence has become one of many who wonder why governments continue to subsidize vital services purposely made scarce in the twentieth century.

Long term economic stability may well depend on whether societies are able to make time value a more important component of formal economic activity. All the more so, since many communities already struggle to provide the kinds of local services which are so beneficial for citizen outcomes. When it comes to general equilibrium dynamics, time arbitrage might at least be able to reduce the discrepancy between monetary representation for services versus traditional wealth sources, to 70 percent versus 30 percent. 

A more reasonable sectoral balance could improve the long term odds of good economic complexity in our formal activities. One way to think about the processes involved, is how such efforts might ensure reliable forms of societal coordination to transfer knowledge and skill which can be understood by most citizens. Otherwise - if and when service markets become distorted - people understandably react with DIY measures instead of - for example - benefiting from healthcare services provided by others. Granted, DIY is often the most practical strategy. But done in excess, extreme self reliance might put the long term preservation and transfer of knowledge use through society, in doubt. And should too many of us end up resorting to DIY, when might the process eventually evolve into a tipping point of informal economic activity, even in places where it was never expected? Alas, informal economies have their problems (such as oppressive amounts of gang activity) and often prove difficult to change once entrenched. If we can avoid it, let's just not go there. Hopefully, societies will learn to better coordinate services so that knowledge and skill can be preserved, hence remain part of our formal economies in the foreseeable future.

Walkable Community Can't Happen Soon Enough

If only we already had more walkable communities! While they are occasionally found in high income locations, lower income groups could especially benefit from them. After all, local walkability reduces transportation costs, which in turn makes it easier to budget for local housing options. 

One wonders whether this logic is included in billionaire Marc Lore's plans which could eventually produce a walkable city. Alas, his vision is only on the drawing board at the moment. Indeed, for anyone whose life could be enhanced by walkable community in the here and now, Lore's initial starting point of 2030 must seem a long way off. According to CNN:

The former Walmart executive last week unveiled plans for Telosa, a sustainable metropolis that he hopes to create, from scratch, in the American desert. The ambitious 150,000-acre proposal promises eco-friendly architecture, sustainable energy production and a purportedly drought-resistant water system. A so-called "15 minute city design" will allow residents to access their workplaces, schools and amenities within a quarter-hour commute of their homes.

For one thing, it's not helpful to frame these efforts as cultural battles, as Tucker Carlson recently did.  In particular, petroleum production will continue to be an important part of near future market patterns for all populations. There's no need to imagine petroleum production as mostly advantageous for rural dwellers and others who embrace the low population densities associated with automotive ownership. Hopefully, petroleum production will continue to enhance a wide range of global markets, even as other energy sources gradually come to the fore. In all of this, we can encourage free markets which represent a diverse range of population densities. If national governments are willing to remain open minded re diverse market preservation, we stand a better chance of preserving market freedoms at local and state levels as well. 

Nevertheless there's some wishful thinking in this latest city building attempt, which needs to be addressed. While "human centered" communities are a reasonable desire, who really knows what that means? Fortunately, a better understanding could be gleaned via the active discovery of individual and group time preferences, through markets for time value. Time based service markets would make it easier to discern preferences that could translate into local time and space design. A free market orientation for time value, is vitally important for any "15 minute city design" to function as intended. Otherwise, participating groups would struggle to effectively coordinate times and places for getting things done.

Mutually determined individual/group needs are key for services based markets in the 21st century. In all of this, intentional markets should not mean imposing specific group preferences on other groups with different outlooks and lifestyles. Rather, intentional markets could create better defined environments that respect personal choice, so as to broaden market possibilities for everyone.

Frozen Foods Brought Economic and Cultural Change

As it turns out, frozen foods came with unanticipated effects which are still relevant. Once electrification transformed factory production, it also made widespread refrigeration feasible, which ultimately led to frozen foods manufacture. A quick Google search further elaborates:

During the 1940s, the volume of frozen foods available to consumers boomed. It wasn't until the 1950s, though, that the first frozen ready meals hit the shelves in the United States.

Once frozen meals made their way into our homes, the production based expectations of our interpersonal relationships began to dramatically shift. Not only did time use patterns change among those primarily responsible for kitchen duties, but also other family members - particularly for families with limited incomes. Even now, frozen foods in the form of prepared meals, remain one of the simplest cost effective ways to "save time" in the course of a day. 

However one trade-off in these recent changes, is that many processed frozen foods aren't necessarily healthy! Even so, frozen foods are valuable production and consumption options, since they promote personal autonomy by freeing more time for daily routines. Further, the trade-off decisions involved for optimal health versus time saving convenience, are a reminder how personal health involves more time based commitments, than today's healthcare systems can readily provide. 

There was also a cultural trade-off, in terms of the ambivalence surrounding what women could accomplish with their newfound freedom from domestic responsibilities. How might gender relationships change, once women experienced new lifestyle options? 

What was perhaps not widely recognized, is that women were only a part of this changed cultural equation. For one, frozen foods manufacture has given real benefits to men insofar as their own preferences for meals. Equally important is how young, old, and disabled individuals became able to assume more central and often desired roles in kitchen responsibilities. Nevertheless, some of us still love to cook from scratch, even though due to market evolution, cooking is no longer highly valued as a practical skill. Basically that means we end up having to eat more of the leftovers ourselves!

Consider what these changed realities also suggest, regarding other domestic burdens many still face. In particular, some individuals with limited income, lack the stamina to fully maintain dwellings which have yet to benefit from new technology. Only imagine, how innovation in building design and manufacture, might one day alter this unfortunate reality. Once individuals with limited means become better able to take care of needed renovations, their non economic time value would also be improved. Granted, frozen foods manufacture reduced non economic time value for many women. Hopefully these individuals (and countless others) can one day regain value for their non economic time, so as to master their environments with less need of expensive services and other assistance.   

In all of this, technological advances have changed social expectations and there's no going back to earlier cultural realities. This is relevant for both the right and left. Indeed, consider how many individuals of both sexes come to prefer cooking for one, to the compromises involved in routinely sharing meals with others. Likewise, some forget that a truly healthy diet includes more hours in the kitchen than what might be possible. Perhaps these are moments when one can at least cut some fruit and cook some fresh vegetables on the stove, to go with that prepared frozen entree which only needs to be briefly heated in the microwave. 

The Natural Equity of Tradable Sector Dominance

Was the post war period a golden age? In an article for CapX, Tim Worstall argues that it was not: 

It's terribly fashionable to want to return to that post-war consensus but as with all too many intellectualisms there's remarkably little evidence that it's actually a good idea. 

While I'm not quite on board with some of Worstall's conclusions, I agree that neoliberalism certainly hasn't been a "failure" in all this. Plus, despite what was so beneficial about those post war years, there's no turning back the clock, to regain the previous structural alignments which made life easier for lower income levels than is the case today. Despite the current hardships of those with limited incomes, nations would be ill advised to reengage in industrial management as a policy strategy. 

Why so? Granted, we could benefit from greater monetary and GDP representation for tradable sector share, but it needs to be achieved through a return to basic market options in non tradable sectors. Good deflation in these areas would - in turn - mean additional discretionary income for tradable sector activity, hence more positive outcomes for lower income groups. New organizational alignments in non tradable sectors has become the logical response. All the more so, since tradable sector activity is now so technologically evolved, it can no longer provide the extensive employment options which were feasible for so long. 

Nevertheless, both sides of the political aisle remain tempted to interfere with tradable sector markets. In part this is due to growing concerns regarding shifting demographics. Unfortunately, aging populations only exacerbate the already excessive non tradable sector dominance and its fiscal burdens. In particular, price making in healthcare worsens cultural divides in large nations (such as the U.S.) where applied knowledge redistribution is no simple matter, since millions of citizens are involved.

Alas, there is also good reason for the growing frustration with widespread inequality, since no simple solutions present themselves. As it turns out, nations were able to rely for long periods of time, on the relatively natural equity of tradable sector abundance. Indeed, a quick perusal of Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations highlights the extent to which that abundance was already being taken for granted, centuries earlier. What's more, the residual effects of exponential output could be readily shared with most citizens in these fortunate nations. 

More recently however, since non tradable sector activity lacks this exponential quality, there are fewer opportunities to share national resources on the same equitable terms as before. Since much of non tradable sector activity derives from the time based scarcity of human capital, it is presently organized on hierarchical terms so as to fully function alongside the originating wealth patterns of tradable sector participants. In other words, due to its time and place based scarcities, non tradable sector dominance has resulted in a less equitable society. Whereas the earlier revenue enhancing tradable sector model, often meant "living" wages for workers and healthcare access as well.

How might we change this unfortunate circumstance for the better? For one, time value can be aligned so the time scarcity of human capital isn't continuously lost to input, relative to services output. What's more, local groups could symmetrically align mutual services activities, so more wealth gets created in the here and now. Even though non tradable sector dominance makes it difficult to redistribute money equitably in society, we can still find more fruitful ways to utilize the time we actually have at our disposal. Let's get started now, to create a new version of that lost "golden age" - a new version which holds incredible hope for the future, not unlike the twentieth century version some of us still fondly recall.

Supply and Demand is Vital for Economic Time Use

Despite the fact we often try to disassociate our private lives from economic activity in general, much of our identity - not to mention self respect - results from how effectively we manage our time with others. And let's face it: much of this time management tends to occur on market based terms. Equally important, is that we live in an era when economic time factors into countless personal interactions in the circumstance in our lives. 

How might one think about this? Since people routinely seek to take part in supply and demand for mutual time priorities, life becomes difficult for those who essentially find themselves excluded from the process. Nevertheless, many institutions have reduced the degree to which most individuals are able to effectively manage competing time demands. Even though higher income levels can still hire others for time based services, most income groups lack this luxury. What's needed now is innovation which leads to freer markets, for the supply and demand of mutual time based services preferences. 

Markets for time value would benefit from a focus on local time/space coordination, in the provision of services both basic and experiential in nature. For instance, how might greater autonomy be preserved for all participants? Only consider the preferences often expressed by senior citizens who occasionally need personalized attention, but otherwise would benefit from simpler physical environments so as to remain responsible for other aspects of their lives. Indeed, elder citizens sometimes opt to choose assistance from strangers (or even robots) over family, if they are concerned about loss of autonomy and consequently, self respect.

During the twentieth century, many institutions "professionalized" to such a extent that societies could scarcely tap into the potential which all citizens hold for mutual assistance. Alas, formal schooling became the main setting where students deemed to be "responsible" enough for future meaningful employment, were separated from everyone else. How can societies maintain viability for the long term, if a core of 25 percent (core employment with benefits) is expected to somehow "take care" of the near 75 percent who end up on the short end of the social equation? Small wonder that many citizens have taken to daydreaming about somehow returning to a previous "golden age" of manufacturing work with ample pay and benefits.

In all of this, we've also lost perspective as to the kinds of mutual time preferences individuals would prefer, if given the chance. Indeed, the present dearth of settings where personal priorities are expressed and taken into account, has impacted our personal relationships as well. Clearly, people are happiest when they have real choices in the the nature and frequency of their personal interactions. This is true not only for people of normal working age, but also for young and old. Without those choices, many of us gradually forget how to even interact "normally" with others. Perhaps in the near future, we can better adapt market freedoms toward the supply and demand of personal preferences and priorities in our lives. It's certainly not too late to get started.

Quality Product Isn't the Same as Rising Standards of Living

Often it appears that quality product gains and productivity gains are one and the same. However, might quality product occasionally detract from rising standards of living? Confusion about quality product as an aspect of productivity, deserves more attention than it receives. For example, recently Timothy Taylor opened a post re the productivity slowdown after 2005 with this observation: 

In the long run, a rising standard of living is all about productivity growth. When the average person in a country produces more per hour worked, then it becomes possible for the average person to consume more per hour worked.

But, how do we know when this desirable process actually occurs?  When might organizational processes to generate product quality, diminish aggregate consumer potential instead? Societies need better measuring indicators to determine how aggregate input/output requirements affect basic levels of consumption potential. Only recall how presently, many of the costs of excessive inputs for quality services are being shifted to future generations, via deferred debt and budgetary burdens. Indeed, much about our future economy, depends on the extent to which human capital contributes to exponential output gains, symmetric time coordination, or else the excessive time scarcities that today's knowledge providers have generated.

The differences in time versus exponential product designations, are vitally important for how we frame organizational capacity and the productivity which contributes to GDP representation. Nevertheless, these sectoral differences are difficult to conceptualize, because productivity is not often described in such terms. Consequently, the highly valuable yet costly product of time based services, poses undue financial societal burdens. Our lack of understanding as to the actual inputs and outputs that time scarce services involve, might consequently leave some of this future organizational capacity in doubt. 

Oddly, much of the present confusion, actually comes down to a one size fits all productivity perspective. Given the lack of more precise tradable sector and non tradable sector measures, the present combination is statistically confused as what an "average person in a country produces". Since this perspective doesn't distinguish between time centered output versus exponential forms of output, many forms of applied knowledge lack economic clarity. In particular, we still don't know approximate time increments that are expected of the average individual for the most basic aspects of non discretionary consumption. Before anyone gets sidelined by productivity factors such as leisure time or seemingly "free" consumption gains, basic non discretionary requirements are really the starting point for other productivity considerations. Plus, knowing a base level of expected consumption costs in relation to multiple income levels, provide clues how production input/output ratios matter most for consumers and producers. 

Should tradable and non tradable sectors gain more accurate forms of input/output representation, it would become simpler to think about the differences in approach these groups really need for purposes of long term productivity gains. All the more so, since when non tradable sectors focus on quality product, thus far they've inadvertently done so in ways which detract from further consumption options in the marketplace. 

Ultimately, even though quality product isn't the same as rising standards of living, that doesn't mean time based forms of product aren't important. Not only are many forms of time based product desirable, the time scarcities of production and consumption are among the most important considerations for total or multi factor productivity. Even though organizations logically seek to "save" time (via traditional productivity reductions of time/hours in relation to other inputs), there's still our personal motivation to "use" our economic time in the most significant ways possible. 

Occasionally, the best choices in this regard turn out to be experiential time spent with others. For the most part, we seek to balance the economic time we hope to gain from others, with the economic time we hope to share with them. Rather than leaving such decisions to a relative few professionals or possibly artificial intelligence, the best approach really comes down to the kinds of economic time that all citizens hope to take part in.

Time Based Product and the Profit/Productivity Conundrum

When it comes to service organizations, an investment approach such as private equity can sometimes lead to problems, if personal time is an important component of final product. All the more so in healthcare, should patients need individualized attention for successful outcomes. How might we respond, if and when profit gains result in less personal time with patients in particular? 

For example, a recent NBER working paper, "Does private equity investment in healthcare benefit patients?" highlights the issue of patient neglect. In the abstract, the researchers note how

Our estimates show that PE ownership increases the short-term mortality of Medicare patients by 10%, implying 20,150 lives lost due to PE ownership over our twelve-year sample period. This is accompanied by declines in other areas of patient well-being, such as lower mobility, while taxpayer spending per patient episode increases by 11%. 

An article from Vox further elaborates:

The researchers studied patients who stayed at a skilled nursing facility after an acute episode at a hospital, looking at deaths that fell within the 90-day period after they left the nursing home. They found that going to a private equity-owned nursing home increased mortality for patients by 10 percent against the overall average.

As it turns out, the result was more pronounced for patients who were relatively healthier, since sicker patients benefited from time based regiments deemed too necessary for targeted reductions. Whereas other services appeared more amenable to time adjustments. So private equity changes

include a reduction in staffing, which prior research has found is the most important factor in quality of care. Overall staffing shrinks by 1.4 percent, the study found, but more directly, private equity acquisitions lead to cuts in the number of hours that front-line nurses spend per day providing basic services to patients. Those services, such as bed turning or infection prevention aren't medically intrusive, but they can be critical to health outcomes.

The researchers noted an increase in the use of psychotics which could have substituted for personalized care as well. This study is certainly getting attention, for instance Matthew Yglesias referenced it as an example of meritocracy issues in a recent post. He stresses how smart people may be inclined to do "bad things":

Why do private equity takeovers kill so many people? It's not because the Wall Street boys are dimwitted. Their job is to look for companies that, for whatever reason, are not managed in a way that maximizes shareholder value...There's a lot more you could say about this story looking specifically at the lens of nursing home operations. But I'm interested in meritocracy. And the point here is that things can go awry not despite, but because smart people are in charge.

Indeed, it is easy to frame the unfortunate circumstance of nursing homes as a morality play, and there are countless other time relevant service examples which can be told in similar fashion. However, getting caught in these stories, instead of finding positive ways to respond, ultimately depresses us all. 

Why not try a more dispassionate view in the form of a total equilibrium perspective? Money cannot be expected to accomplish all things equally well, for everyone involved. More specifically, unsettling things will occur when money occasionally fails in its coordination tasks for time based services generation. Again, I can't stress enough that money is problematic when it is expected to remain the sole representation of economic value. For that matter, should we elect to create valid service markets for a full range of personal time potential, people would gain more opportunities to meet the needs of their loved ones, when existing organizational capacity does prove inadequate. And family members would not have to shoulder the entire load of caring for loved ones (outside the time limits of today's services institutions), once community members can freely participate in local platforms for services generation.

By no means would time arbitrage supplant existing meritocracies and their associative hierarchies. Rather, horizontally aligned communities would work alongside meritocratic organizations, meanwhile reinforcing the positives which merit based hierarchies do hold.

Could Time Arbitrage Stabilize Medium Term Growth?

Many have spoken of the need to build new growth and employment strategies, for even our medium term economic reality is somewhat uncertain. I remain convinced that time arbitrage could ultimately contribute to economic stability, in part due to its advantages as a continuum for local services generation.

Symmetric alignment for the time based coordination of local communities, could add to wealth in the here and now. What's more, locally generated time arbitrage would gradually reduce the need for the future fiscal obligations so many services now require. Since decentralized markets for time value would evolve as direct sources of wealth, they could create positive long term effects in terms of total factor productivity gains. 

In particular, time arbitrage may prove advantageous for medium term gains by stabilizing workplace participation for those who engage in person to person service offerings. As things currently stand, technology is beginning to replace the digital tasks which many came to rely on during the pandemic. And while pandemic circumstance initially led to losses in lower income employment (due to social distancing), continuing technology gains will ultimately result in losses of higher wage work, also. Recently, Bryan Walsh of Axios noted that software bots are "learning" to perform tasks previously assigned to office workers. He adds: 

Bots can make digital work more efficient by taking on onerous and repetitive white-collar tasks, but the better they get, the more competition they pose to skilled workers who might have thought themselves exempt from the job-disrupting effects of automation.

What's at stake in this development are continued efficiency gains, and why they are often deemed not just desirable but necessary. Granted, the efficiencies of earlier automation tended to be more closely associated with tradable sector activity. Over the decades - as these processes unfolded - the wealth gains of automation meant that "excess" tradable sector workers could subsequently find work in areas of non tradable sector activity. All the more so, due to additional wealth in circulation via exponential levels of tradable sector output.  

Nevertheless, eventually there would be no escape from the sectoral wealth shifts which eventually transpired. As the overall balance of GDP representation shifted from tradable sectors to non tradable sectors, it gradually became more difficult for tradable sector redistribution to support non tradable activity, given the compensatory claims the latter tended to require - especially when its organizational patterns were hierarchical in nature. 

Even so, much of today's non tradable sector endeavour is just as important for productive economic complexity, as what occurs in tradable sector activity. Unfortunately, many nations no longer have the full range of monetary flexibility they once had, for preserving the applied knowledge which modern economies need. Consequently, the challenge is to recreate more of this vital work on direct and reciprocal terms which are less hierarchical or costly to sustain. Time arbitrage is one way in which we might eventually make this possible. 

Increased efficiencies will always be a necessary component of getting things effectively done. And there is much efficiency to be gained through symmetric alignment which balances human capital inputs and outputs for time based service product. With symmetric time alignment, societies will eventually face fewer financial burdens which stem from the excess input requirements of human capital, in relation to time based services output. Time will always be our most scarce and precious resource. We can all realize productivity gains, by aligning our time with others in ways which make it simpler to meet markets for supply and demand in time based services generation.

Reimbursed Mutual Assistance > UBI or Guaranteed Job Programs

What if some form of universal basic income were to become a reality? Alas, should traditional employment decline in the near future, UBI is not a practical long term solution, especially given the nature of present day fiscal obligations. At most, UBI might serve as a stopgap measure, should a wide array of employment sources dry up simultaneously due to technological change. 

Chances are, UBI would also prove somewhat demoralizing, since many recipients would lose valuable opportunities for economic and social connections with others. Not only is a UBI approach likely to reduce our chances of greater economic integration, it could further polarize an already divided society - especially in terms of knowledge use and meaningful participation. 

Small communities in particular need proactive solutions for economic dynamism and long term potential, instead of compensation for basically being forgotten or left behind. Toward this end, compensation in the form of monetary reimbursement for voluntary mutual assistance, would be more practical than policy choices that don't address widespread social isolation. What's more, mutual assistance could be symmetrically aligned (via matched or reciprocal time) so as to create new wealth instead of additional demands on fiscal policy. Indeed, what could be better than creating internal rewards for our natural inclination as humans, to come together in order to get things done? 

Compensated or reimbursed mutual assistance at local levels, is also a better solution for many than guaranteed job programs. Unlike government generated work which often requires participants to relocate, compensated mutual assistance would allow local communities to create new job opportunities and workplace responsibilities in their own midst. And rather than attempting to fulfill the wants and needs of governments, the time arbitrage of mutual assistance would allow people to create entirely new local markets - markets which are responsive to shared individual wants and needs. 

Reimbursed mutual assistance contains other advantages as well. For instance, it could lead to the local creation of knowledge based services - services which otherwise tend to be difficult to access via hourly wages alone. Fortunately, the supply side approach of reimbursed mutual assistance would bring additional value to our collective time, so as to make it capable of meeting a full range of basic needs. Eventually, better coordination of time value could lead to greater community trust as well. This is especially needed in the U.S. where a substantial degree of trust has been eroded away.

New patterns of mutual assistance could lead to more voluntary and spontaneous forms of association than are now common in many time based service activities. As individual groups structure their combined efforts to build a shared continuum of activity, they gradually create new wealth which approximates what is often possible through more traditional forms of employment. In a time when advancing technology makes near future work potential less certain, people can breathe easier once viable replacements create new sources of normalcy and stability for all concerned.

Extensive Price Making is an Equilibrium Outlier

Even though many of us take extensive price making for granted in time based services, this set of circumstance is actually an equilibrium outlier among many nations. For instance, history provides ample evidence that systems of knowledge centered agglomeration which depend on other sources of wealth, can be quite fragile in the long run. All too often, when citizens can't utilize knowledge via non hierarchical means, they end up missing basic or critical steps which could help them achieve daily goals. Worse, they lack any viable patterns of participation in the institutions which bear responsibility for continued knowledge preservation. 

Since direct reciprocity has only become more difficult for services generation - especially during the 20th century - societies increasingly rely on asymmetric participation, production and consumption for a wide array of knowledge based activity. Alas, this approach has led to sectoral imbalances and accumulating debt loads. Much in the way of applied knowledge is publicly supported. However, this means that much of today's day high skill activities are financial obligations for future citizens, rather than market based production and consumption options for people who need them now. Despite the fact this set of affairs can't continue indefinitely, we still lack any Plan B which could stabilize and lessen budgetary burdens many nations face for knowledge based needs. Perhaps it's the fact no Plan B is being actively discussed, which encourages major political parties to completely ignore the possibility of imposed austerity and hardship in the near future.

A major challenge in all this, is to once again relearn how to use knowledge and skill through more directly reciprocated patterns. Not only would symmetric time use mean greater market participation for all citizens, reciprocal time matching can create more immediate wealth, thereby lessening the perceived need for governmental redistribution of all kinds. Time arbitrage is a viable Plan B which would build a more complete framework for time use potential in local community groupings. The local adaptation of production and consumption settings for knowledge, could ultimately transform communities which otherwise find themselves left out of knowledge production and consumption in urban markets.

The group time of local mutual assistance would function as a form of internalized market pricing. Since the majority of time use potential becomes accounted for in a market context, time begins to function as a valid price taking mechanism for participating groups. Likewise, being able to price take makes good deflation possible for services generation, such as extensive price taking in tradable sector activity has led to good deflation in countless forms of resource capacity.  

Consider how defined equilibrium settings can gradually restore sectoral balance by allowing participants to coordinate time more fully. Importantly, this market option makes time based services more sustainable over the long run. Meanwhile, however, the U.S. may be experiencing even more political polarization than other nations, since healthcare price making is more extensive than what generally occurs in most nations. Indeed, our healthcare organizational capacity actually makes U.S. healthcare more of an outlier, in relation to other mature economies. This extreme dependence on national support also helps to explain why it is often so difficult for both the production and consumption of healthcare in the U.S. to remain in a sustainable position, possibly even for the medium term. While price making is always an understandable urge, fortunately we can recreate market options which make room for the more sustainable practice of price taking, in the use of highly valued skill and knowledge.

Economic Integration Could Help Unify Us

After all the post election chaos, finally some relief with a change of command in Washington. Still, I know this respite could be brief, and it hardly signifies a return to normalcy. As things stand, too many budgetary issues are coming to the fore, and recent decades of structural shifts have yet to be addressed. So while Biden is a calming presence (for some of us), he's in charge of a government which is ill prepared to meet the expectations of its citizens. Unfortunately, Biden's hopes for greater unity are mostly wishful thinking - at least for now. 

For that matter - as some noted regarding the heightened inauguration security - this was no peaceful transfer of power in an ordinary sense. It may be that political unity remains out of reach, until societies become more serious about economic integration for all citizens. Importantly, what's at stake in all this, isn't about continuous cycles of additional monetary redistribution. Rather, a broader framing for market orientation is called for - one which would ultimately make less monetary redistribution necessary in the first place. 

How to think about more concise forms of economic integration? For one, such strategies would focus on the economic potential of all human capital, regardless of formal educational levels. Once a wider range of time based mutual assistance becomes horizontally aligned, skilled services would no longer be limited to urban settings and limited budgetary directives. If we can establish applied knowledge networks in communities of all kinds, aggregate time value would become a more dynamic part of our economic destinies. If we truly believe in the power of free markets, then why not give ourselves greater ability to define useful time based consumption, in line with what others hope to provide. 

More viable platforms in human potential, could increase the supply and demand of useful economic time for all citizens. Eventually, the mutual reliance of shared time would lead to greater interdependence, thereby giving people new opportunities to trust one another and become civilized again. 

Only recall how the civil societies of recent centuries, were established through a more complete representation of specific resources. Toward this end, why not make time use potential as economically viable as other forms of commodity wealth. The resource representation which our tradable sectors made possible, led to extensive societal coordination, cohesion and voluntary cooperation. Let's hope that our non tradable sectors can now take a page from these earlier positive examples. Should we refuse to put additional and unnecessary burdens on resources that are already scarce, perhaps we have a chance to reduce the "uncivil wars" of our times.

What We Can Do, What We Can't Do

New years are a good time to reflect on life's possibilities, especially when it comes to societal progress. Nevertheless, how do we distinguish between realistic potential, versus what is essentially wishful thinking? For example, even though the world needs a lot more mutual respect and civility, desired outcomes such as these cannot be coerced. 

And while Adam Smith and many others celebrated the free markets which so contributed to civility in recent centuries, much of this fortuitous societal coordination takes place in tradable sector activity. Still, it's not unreasonable to ask: Could our non tradable sector markets also contribute to greater civility? How might they gain their own newfound freedoms? In particular, is it feasible for the resource of our scarce time, to garner more economic and societal value in the near future? Or will vital markets for time value, remain outside our realm of direct influence?

In the twentieth century, housing and time based services were regulated in ways which reduced the degree of autonomy and control individuals held over their own destinies - particularly those with substantial income limits. If millions were to regain control via new production and consumption potential, how much civility might we all regain in the process? At the very least, we still benefit from the civility which goes hand in hand with high levels of tradable sector resource coordination. And while we will never put a stop to what's bad in the world, we could still create more good, by allowing symmetrical (hence reciprocal) coordination of time via market tested means. Time arbitrage is one entry to this realm of possibility. It is a broad spectrum approach for improving personal autonomy and self worth, with potential to bring new hope to people from all walks of life.

With additional economic value for mutually coordinated time, millions more citizens would derive a greater sense of self worth. Consider one important reason why this matters. So much in the world which is unfortunate and destructive, includes the reality of poorly defined self worth. How can we expect people to be trustworthy or unfailingly good to others, when their time use potential lacks sufficient economic value to build a normal life? Granted, not everyone would personally benefit from stronger markets for time value. Just the same, millions more would finally learn to effectively negotiate with others for their wants and needs. I believe that gaining the chance to do so, would result in fortuitous circumstance whereby people are more inclined to be kind and civil. 

Even though the passing years have given me cause to excessively dwell on what can't be done, I still believe we are not helpless to act in positive ways. Clearly, we have reason to do so, when the evening news also dwells on what we seemingly cannot remedy. While there will always be instances when no one can decipher personal motivations for violence and hatred, there will still be positive ways to respond. Sure, some market efforts are going to fail, sometimes even miserably. But I continue to believe that viable and carefully representative market platforms are the best means we have, to build a better, more inclusive future. Plus, as Ricardo Hausmann recently noted in "The Missing Link in Economic Development":

If someone is not doing something that we as a society value it might be because they can't, not because they don't want to. This weakness in economics has far-reaching implications for our understanding of economic growth and development, which is fundamentally about the social accumulation of productive capabilities.

Markets should not be so willing to devolve, into a twisted rational of what societies supposedly can't do. When they become rigid and inflexible, does anyone really wonder why capitalism gets disparaged? Why not work to ensure greater freedom for our vital domestic markets, so they might better contribute to human civility and hope for the future? Why not 2021 as the perfect place to begin? Lets turn our non tradable sectors into realms where we regain hope for what we can do as a society, instead of remaining hopelessly divided over what we can't do.

Are There Really Too Many PhD's?

Some have come to believe the talent pool for PhDs is diluted in ways that result in diminishing returns to the marketplace. Might this actually be true? Even though the argument carries a certain logic, it hardly means that societies should shift toward workplaces where knowledge is deemed less important! In particular, a majority of citizens now rely extensively on knowledge and skill, to lead meaningful and successful lives. How might society respond to a perception of "too many" advanced college graduates, given this reality? 

Alas, the "too many PhDs" argument also presents thorny issues for many who seek well compensated workplace opportunities. Recall that much of the rationale for seeking advanced degrees, is due to non tradable sector expectations of degree enhanced incomes. Even though high income levels should not be a prerequisite for basic non discretionary spending, this structural circumstance has yet to be addressed. Consequently, it's not a good idea to argue that millions shouldn't even pursue advanced degrees, so long as there are inadequate supply side mechanisms in place making it feasible to maintain financial responsibilities with anything less than advanced degrees. 

Nevertheless, I have to admit that present day general equilibrium revenue is woefully insufficient, for millions who still seek to enter well compensated workplaces. So much of this revenue is already claimed by price making in secondary markets, that the wealth creation of primary markets has also been compromised to some extent. However, what frustrated me to the point of writing this post, are group identity arguments which question intellectual aptitude and even the supposed cultural limitations of various groups. How exactly are millions of citizens expected to bear financial responsibility, if they are deemed incapable of full participation at the outset? What this essentially boils down to, is the suppression of human capital (with general equilibrium limits as excuse), in a historical moment when human capital is vital for getting things done. And too much valuable human capital output is essentially time based in nature, for anyone to logically deny entry which boosts aggregate time based output.

If there is any supposed "excessive dilution" in the provision of ideas or intellectual strategies, it is only due to the inefficiencies of a general equilibrium structure - one which never accounted for the possibility of full citizen participation in the first place. For this and of course other reasons, I continue to promote time value as a more inclusive source of wealth building, so that all citizens gain a chance to contribute to positive economic outcomes. Time arbitrage could create a durable free market context, so that personal ability and aspiration can be more fully represented. 

Again, the 21st century - in order to have real meaning - is about raising the value of all human capital - not just the opportunities of the best and the brightest. If we neglect to create time based wealth options for left behind communities, these recent rounds of anti-intellectualism and political division are likely to worsen. And anti-intellectualism is a poor substitute, for the kinds of useful and experiential knowledge which may not continue to flourish, should it remain mostly the province of experts and prosperous regions. We can make knowledge valuable in the eyes of all citizens once again, if we allow it to become part of the economic potential of all communities.

Until now, part of what has made it difficult to take definitive action, is the understandable frustration surrounding near future income limitations. While the fact we cannot raise all incomes is of course bad news, the good news is we can innovate our way to good deflation in non tradable sector activity, so that high income levels aren't necessary to live a good life. Fortunately it is within our ability as a society, to create the non tradable sector innovation which brings new spending power to small incomes. In the future, whenever money falls short of hopes and expectations, time value could be tapped as well, for the creation of durable economic outcomes. And best, we can ultimately change our perceptions, as to who is eligible for full participation in a knowledge based society. 

Could Healthcare Providers Reduce Our Political Turmoil?

Perhaps there is a role for healthcare providers, in addressing our ever worsening political circumstance. For one thing, much of our political polarization is due to struggles between different groups for access to high skill services. Healthcare tops this list, and its present variance in job specification, is a prime example of the widening asymmetries between skills use potential for all concerned. The millions with limited skills on offer in our workplaces are finding it more difficult as time goes on, to contribute the taxes that - regardless of party - governments find necessary in a knowledge based economy. Yet the fiscal and monetary contributions of these millions are nonetheless sought, to compensate the skills of present day knowledge providers. All citizens need a chance to participate more fully, so as to maintain the viability and sustainability of coordination systems for knowledge based economies.

As societies become ever more dependent on applied knowledge for either employment potential or simply getting things done, too many find themselves limited in their ability to help themselves or assist others. How might we bring back greater employment symmetry for the skills capacity and employment potential of all citizens? Healthcare providers could be part of the answer, especially since when it comes to sought after time based services, one person's supply is another's demand. And markets for skilled time product are more scarce than they may appear, especially in communities and regions which have been left behind. 

Nevertheless, during election cycles, politicians often make promises about services generation for their constituents that they are in no position to fulfill. In the U.S. we face a constant bombardment of television ads where political candidates insist they are the ones who can best manage healthcare access. Supposedly it's all about preserving consumer demand for appropriate "in" groups, whereas if the "wrong" candidate happens to be elected, healthcare services will be reduced or even lost for one's constituents. For instance, one recently aired commercial sought to convince viewers that should the "wrong" candidate win, more rural hospitals would shut down! Seriously, could the politically "unfortunate" outcome prove responsible for that? For anyone who has closely observed healthcare realities for decades, this sort of nonsense can make one reluctant to even show up at the polls. Yet ads such as these tend to be only mildly divisive and hurtful, in contrast with other attacks.

Sometimes I wonder, what must healthcare providers think when exposed to such ridiculous goings on every two years at election time? Clearly, in many instances it is the healthcare profession which has the ability to change our supply side dilemma for services generation and the use of helpful knowledge, not pundits and politicians. This vital supply side matter should no longer be used as political fodder for division and societal turmoil. 

I continue to hope that healthcare providers will have the courage to step forward and create effective change in the years ahead. We can all do better than this as a society. It is still possible to restore hope for the future, by reaching out to one another for integrative solutions in workplace employment and collaboration with knowledge. Let's get started, and also hope there will not be further disruption and turmoil in our nation once the elections finally come to pass. For that matter, why not place the entire concept of healing into the broader societal arena where it is so desperately needed.

Time as Journey, Money as Destination

Why is economic time an important consideration, especially in terms of GDP measure? Recall that today's GDP is all about what transpires in the current year of our economic journeys. After all, few aspects of life capture this process more effectively than the time commitments we assume, in part to meet our financial obligations. For anyone who doubts the significance of time based participation as wealth creation, the close correlation of nominal income with aggregate spending is an apt example. 

Nevertheless, some of the more obvious forms of wealth end up as destinations such as buildings and other physical assets. Real estate in particular tends to be passive holdings that aren't closely associated with economic dynamism, once they are constructed. Despite their reliable qualities in terms of asset values, passive holdings are mostly indirect contributors to current economic circumstance, and their value fluctuates accordingly. 

Since money naturally flows toward real estate holdings, this passive tendency helps explain why monetary representation isn't completely straightforward in the measure of GDP. Meanwhile, much of our aggregate time value lacks monetary equivalence. Despite the importance of time participation in the measure of GDP, aggregate time value is so unevenly represented, that consumer inflation does not readily correlate with asset inflation in general equilibrium. 

If we are to achieve greater economic stability in the near future, more emphasis will be needed on the journey itself, and not just the destination. By no means is the measure of GDP unimportant in all this, for it is closely connected to how we go about our economic lives. Should economic time become a valid measure alongside money, not only would this increase the overall value of GDP measure, it could create additional market depth for the time value of all citizens. 

Our focus on economic journeys is especially needed for the long term preservation of applied knowledge. By far the most important aspect of economic time, is its ability to function as a vessel which carries experienced knowledge from person to person. Time is the vessel which gives societies the ability to carry forward applied knowledge in recognizable patterns. Even though money preserves activities for applied knowledge to some extent, money will always be better suited for ends than means. Alas, when money is the sole representative unit of economic value, so much of it eventually flows into passive economic destinations, that not enough remains for the actual journeys of our lives. 

Fortunately, time arbitrage patterns could supplement money by ensuring that more economic activity remains in active roles, instead of excessively flowing to passive destinations. Time arbitrage as a valid unit of economic measure, could help ensure that important knowledge flows can be maintained even in historical moments of budgetary and financial limitations. Hopefully, we will be able to create new means to sustain full levels of economic participation in the near future. Time as an economic unit of value alongside money, could bring better balance to the activities of our journeys and their eventual destinations.