Ghosts of economists past, present and yet to come (again) sing along in the spirit of Christmas on this video:

It’s a great video that gets the big question right – is more consumption or production the path to prosperity? I know that sounds stupid, but economists tends to obsess over the former and pay lip service to the latter.This distorted thinking flows through to government policy, resulting in the current debt induced macro mess.

While it’s a shame much of the profession did not watch such a witty clip in first year, it would profit from an even greater emphasis on production. Having your savings squandered by someone else on more “toys” is not a path to prosperity. It matters little if our bankers bonuses go on ferraris,  yachts or more homes. They will not generate a sufficient future income stream to reward the saver.

It’s productive investment which is the key. Or more precisely, attempted active productive investment. Look around, are your savings being invested in income producing assets which will fund your future comfort? Or are they being squandered on government white elephants and crony capitalist excesses?

But this is all too long and serious for an excellent video clip. Watch it, have a laugh and possibly even learn something

Hat tip Steve Kates