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push.” Interest rates, for instance, are currently near zero percent, but with-
out adequate demand in the economy, even this has not stimulated new busi-
ness investment. The blatantly obvious levels of rancorous controversy over
bailouts, troubled asset relief programs (TARPs), and stimulus programs is
testimony to the ongoing historic differences of opinion not only about the
effectiveness but also about the ideal level of government intervention in our
economy. Rarely in our history, however, has this age-old debate so polar-
ized our national politics.
Revisiting the Capitalist Scenario
At this juncture, it is appropriate to reintroduce some concepts raised in
previous chapters, wherein we contended that further exploration of those
issues should await coverage in the macroeconomic section. That time has
come. During earlier coverage of production and productivity, the point was
made that economic theory is actually designed to address the productivity
of all inputs and not merely that of labor. That point was reiterated in the
previous chapter on distribution.
It is understandable that worker productivity, or the contribution of the
human input, received the lion's share of the attention at those junctures,
because it is, after all, the well-being of people that should be the ultimate
focus of any economic system. But macro , as a term, connotes a comprehen-
sive overall analysis—the big picture, if you will. Therefore, it is the time
and place to seriously consider issues related to the role of other factors of
production, such as land, capital, energy, and any of a number of various raw
materials, such as water, wood, and minerals.
Clearly, any consideration of all these other nonhuman inputs shifts the
focus back to the undisputable fact that the economy depends squarely on
the natural environment. From the macroeconomic point of view, there-
fore, attention must, by definition, be on the mix of inputs and endowments
of the world's resources, and not just on human labor. As we will see, this
balanced systemic perspective allows insights into the role of labor, which
are not apparent through a more targeted consideration of human produc-
tivity alone. But first, what are we able to say about all these other factors
of production?
There is ironclad logic behind this approach. World production clearly
depends on all resources that might go into the production of any (or all)
product(s). As the Capitalist Scenario at the end of Chapter 5 contends,
the production of any product will be first constrained by the most scarce
resource, or economic input, whatever that might be. And, given the extreme
worries, especially in the United States, about the unacceptably high levels of
unemployment (just under 10% at this writing), the constraining variable on
 
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