A Meta Economy

... is what our Monks of Miscellaneous Musings note about a new proposal to allow Californians to use State IOUs to pay bills they owe to the State.

The bill by Assemblyman Joel Anderson, R-La Mesa, languished for a while but is building steam as the budget season drags on and IOUs loom. Medical providers, businesses and individuals could use the state IOUs as payment for everything from taxes to vehicle registration to fishing licenses.

Essentially, this creates a new currency, one only valid within the government. The money is trapped entirely within the State economy since you can't use it to buy things from private parties. The idea of being able to use the IOUs within the State seems like a good idea until you pair it with our growing Justicialism. Consider this.

The government owns GM. Ford is a private company. If you can use IOUs to buy government products, but nothing else, then Ford is at a significant disadvantage. This example is Federal, but it illustrates the entangling nature of fascism. Working with the government becomes the preferred means of doing business when the government grows in all directions. Anyone left outside has all kinds of problems, from regulatory ones to being able to be paid.

If I were the legislature in California, I'd pass this thing right away. After that, I'd propose all kinds of new regulations that required fees so that those IOUs would never have to be paid in real cash because they'd all be coming back in the form of mandatory payments for the new regulations and fees.

I owe my soul to the State's company store.