Adam Smith and George Bernard Shaw to the rescue

Where in the world is Adam Smith? The motor vehicle we call capitalism was running along on all fours until greed and an SUR-real estate market flatted all four tires, which brings us to where we are now — on the side of the road.

So what do we do? We can’t call Triple A, they can’t afford the gas to come and rescue us. We have to walk, and while we’re walking, we’re thinking about how we got here, and preparing a plan to avoid winding up on the side of the road again anytime soon.

The first realization we come to accept is that cutting taxes for the very wealthy does not stimulate the economy, it stimulates speculation.

The second realization we come to accept is that the trickle-down theory is to supply-side economics what a Virgin Mary statue that sheds tears is to religion. Those who believe in either one are in for a long wait.

And the third realization we come to accept is that an unfettered market is a gluttonous market, where a disproportionate amount of profit will go to an insatiable few.

Just as democracy needs checks and balances to keep it from becoming top heavy, capitalism needs checks and balances to keep it from becoming top heavy. In 1929, 46 percent of our total income went to the top 10 percent of earners, today it is closer to 48 percent.

George Bernard Shaw liked to remind us, “We have no more right to consume happiness without producing it than to consume wealth without producing it.”

So what would Adam Smith and George Bernard Shaw have us do? They might suggest three simple rules of play: total transparency, comprehensive oversight and containment of consumption by credit. MasterCard promotes their credit card as a vehicle to instant gratification. (Several Almost Instant photo shops have gone out of business because of that one archaic word, “almost”).

When MasterCard asks what a day at the ballpark with the family is worth, and the answer is “priceless,” well, they are very near to the ironic truth.

My friend, the days of instant gratification on the payment plan are all but over. The credit bubble blew out the window, and right behind it went the instant gratification bubble.

How do we prepare for life after the bubble? Here’s how I’m preparing for it:

Retirement? As they say in New York City, “Fugetaboutit!”

Health care? I’m going to learn to lay in my own bed until I get better.

Education? I thought education was expensive before this crisis, but don’t even want to see what the bill is going to be for ignorance.

Eating out? See Retirement, and invite Mrs. Stouffer over for dinner.

We’ll come out of this economic calamity alive, to be sure, and perhaps be better balanced for it all, but for now, to right the ship of state, we need to put our shoulders to the wheel and push for total transparency, comprehensive oversight, and containment of consumption by credit.

McAvoy Layne is an Incline Village resident who visits area schools as the ghost of Mark Twain.