WHAT: This site’s function is to serve as a public de-mystification (in both academic and common language) of: 

a] basic monetary-economic terms,** 

b] their origin and how they became ‘mystified’ (mostly over the course of the 20th century), c] while also introducing (a global-historical consistency to) core political-economic concepts that were and/or are deemed necessary for the common good.

  ** A sub-domain and/or complementary “wiki”-style website, moneypedia.US , is under construction, like a smaller wheel (that money-currency is) within the larger wheel of political economy. For the time being, this singular site, http://politicaleconomy.help serves as the work-in-progress.

WHY: ‘Everyone’ these days (2020’s) seems to have their own long list of observations on how the ongoing crises (or ‘long crisis’) of the 21st century is challenging-- if not upending-- many 20th century institutions. Not to pick or play favorites here, it seems that what (at least the lion’s share of) the institutional crises have in common pertains to the (already much remarked upon) great millennial-era transition from the ‘2nd Industrial Revolution’ (c.1870’s-1970’s) to the often contrarian ‘3rd Industrial Revolution’ (from the 1970’s--); and this truly revolutionary transition is of course also concurrent with mankind having to negotiate a hitherto unprecedented environmental crisis in the Earth’s biosphere. Crises, of course, are not all bad, given a long-term orientation (危机).  Like it or not, ready or not, salient institutional “change” is now upon us, as a species (negotiating with its physical-trophic environment); Monetary Economics is (increasingly) the one mystery factor that circulates, like blood, between within and through nearly all of these institutions-- making them, it is (habitually) presumed, more effective and efficient. But ‘effective & efficient’ for whom, and at what cost? Monetary and other political-economic institutions should be growing more comprehensible and accountable with the monetization phenomenon, not less.

     Why wait another, say, twenty years or so for formal academia to essentially ‘prove what we already know’ (or what has already long been in existence)? The Crisis (in political economy) is now, and is not being resolved with (second millennium-esque) judgement-based ‘reaction-think’ of the past. It is possible to bring clarity and coherence sooner rather than merely later, in an ethical and consistent manner.  

 

WHERE: The bird does not stop its flight at the imaginary/abstract political boundaries that demarcate the political institutions of man; neither have the sea or wind currents that primarily distribute the things that mankind needs for basic sustenance and growth. This site’s analysis, although encompassing the world economy, is primarily from the vantage of a longterm American viewpoint and perspective, bearing in mind the American people’s traditional, constitutional, and historical charge (concerning open, accountable, and clearly-articulated public institutions). 

WHEN: All of human history has been a relationship between mankind and the trophic-eco resources of the Earth’s biosphere/environment. It is not (ethically) possible to ‘start from scratch’. Today’s institutions have roots that are often very deep, if not culturally ‘sacred’. From a historian’s perspective++, getting one’s head around the interplay of institutions requires a lot of digging and a consistent application of ‘5 Ws & H’ type questioning, in addition to open-mindedness to the (common sense) demands of changing evidence. 

++- http://www.nationalityinworldhistory.net  

HOW: A world of increasing institutional complexity is a world with more puzzle pieces. This does not have to be overwhelming; it can also be edifying, given the discipline of intellectual consistency and coherent organization. One doesn’t have to be ‘Shakespeare’ to take liberties with the (built for liberality) English language** and information age capabilities of word processing, formatting, and c-o-l-o-r. Tools are made to help us. 

**- www.nationalityinworldhistory.net/LanguageandCulture.html

WHO: Your '3rd Estate’ EDITORS and primary CONTRIBUTORS