My family must live in a
balanced budget. If we spend more than
we make, we fail. Comparing my family to
country, a balanced budget seems needed by government.
 |
| A tree house |
A tree has different needs
than a forest. Forests may be made of
trees, but have different rules for success.
So to, rules for governments are different than individuals. We confuse needs of individuals with needs of the group at hazard to us all. As educated voters, we need to see a forest through the trees.
Money Tree
 |
| Viewing of forest from a tree |
An individual tree desires
sun, water, and soil. Its growth is
governed by managing limited resources to its personal gain. When resources shrink, growth is
limited. When resources disappear, a tree can die.
A tree must be efficient
in how it uses its small supply of water, soil, and sun.
Each extended branch or
lowered root comes at an opportunity cost.
When water is low, seeking water is more important. When sunlight is rare, branches must grow
tall to grab what light can be found.
When soil is bare, a single tree may never thrive.
Each tree is concerned
only with its own survival and growth. Trees nearby are competitors. Each tree
struggles to gain advantage for light and liquid in a local supply.
There is a local market of
resources. Those trees that are able to access
and then use resources efficiently grow and prosper. Trees that do not strive wither and die.
 |
| Healthy growing forest |
Forests of Wealth
It takes many trees to
make a forest.
Success for forests is tied to individual trees. When more
trees grow, a forest becomes larger.
Many healthy trees yield a more robust forest.
Forests live on, when any
one tree dies. When many trees die at
once, a whole forest can be threatened. A
forest is unconcerned with any one tree, but hopes that many will thrive.
Diversity in trees helps a
forest be more robust. When many kinds
of trees compete, disaster to one species of tree will not decrease odds for forest
survival. A self interested forest
desires competition between trees, encouraging the fit to prosper.
Tree Herding
If a single type of tree
becomes dominate, forests are at risk. A
mono-culture is more prone to disease.
Lack of diversity creates vulnerability.
If only a few trees cover
a forest, it is in greatest peril.
Monopolizing resources must be avoided so a forest will not die.
 |
| Fires kill trees and threaten the whole forest |
Forests want corpses of
some trees to fertilize others. Regular,
localized death in a forest promotes growth for a majority of trees.
To promote diversity and
stop monopolization, a strong forest will redistribute resources. Some balancing of sun, water, and soil helps
a forest remain strong and growing.
Over balancing resources
will limit competition between trees.
No balancing of resources
will allow one kind of tree, or even a small number of trees to dominate a forest.
Disaster and Growth
Forests under stress must
do things that individual trees can not.
When fire ravages many
trees, only a few kinds of trees will sprout from the ashes. Local lack of diversity is necessary until a
more robust ecosystem can revive.
Temporary differences in diversity are necessary sometimes.
Floods will kill many
trees and redistribute soil and dead trees so that another area can start
to thrive. Forests will change shape to
accommodate this disaster for individual trees.
 |
| Regrowth after disaster takes time |
Forests promote growth
toward areas rich in nutrients, water, and light. It is in the best interest of a forest to
grow toward these areas, even if single trees are stuck in a place. Trees have more prosperous children by being
on near an edge of the forest.
Forests promote death to
move away from poor resources. When some trees may struggle on weak soil, flood prone areas, or even upon a shadow of a mountain, a forest will not prosper there.
In times of trouble and
danger, forests that use up soil and water more quickly will return to states
of stability faster. When a forest is
under stress it is the wrong time to conserve soil and water. Forests invest in their future by using more
resources now.
Overuse of resources
can not be maintained forever. Some
trees may have to die in order for a forest to survive. Forests slowly move toward more
abundant resources, abandoning old, used up land.
When disaster is gone a forest will start to build up resources again, saving up for the next
disaster.
Metaphorical Return
A tree may die, but a forest will grow. Some people and
companies will get hurt in our economy. Government’s role in an economy is to help as many of us survive as
are fit.
 |
| My tree house is not the national forest. |
Sometimes key trees must
be saved for a whole forest to be safe.
Sometimes governments must intervene for a tree or local grove. Individual intervention is often in
the best interest of a forest.
Encouraging a forest to grow after a disaster is prudent. Cutting back on growth after a disaster makes the return to a healthy forest take much longer, if it ever even recovers.
When a nation faces a disaster, government must act like the forest. Government helps
those areas in need in order to keep a majority healthy.
When an entire forest is stressed,
it will use up stored resources. Resources are used when needed the most. Running a deficit in a time of trouble is
necessary by governments in order for economies to recover. Only government has an ability to borrow on
shared futures, a forest does not. Wise borrowing
can be healthy for an economy.
When we fail to help those areas hurt by financial disaster, we hurt the nation. As individuals some of us may have to give more to help those in need. Sectors of the economy may need assistance during crisis in order to help us all in the long run. United we do better. Divided we fail.
Controlling interest rates, boosting the money supply, and transfers of wealth by taxation are the tools the government has at its disposal. These tools can and should help some sectors in crisis. We will not return to prosperity by letting sections of the forest permanently die off.
Taxes are not paychecks for the nation. Taxes are our universal will writ large. Paychecks are payment for labor. Confusing the two as being the same leads to bad assumptions about proper government action.
In times of plenty, we
should save up for future disasters, as forests store nutrients in the ground. The
time to balance a economies budget is during times of growth. When we fail to put by for a dangerous future,
we fail that future. Our mistake has been to not save. Now we all must pay a price in the future.
Families do not behave
this way. Families and businesses tend
to spend in good times and scrimp when fortunes wither. Families can not manipulate the money supply, change interest rates or tax.
Resource budgets for
forests must be managed differently than resources budgets for trees. Likewise, government’s budgets work
differently than families.
Be sure to see the forest,
even when you are only a tree.
Note: The
economist Kenneth
Boulding should be given credit for the forest/tree economic metaphor. If you desire to have better understanding of
the difference between micro and macro economics, his books are a great
resource. He is also famous for the Spaceship Earth view of
economics moving from a infinite to a finite resource based economy.
Additionally, J. Doug Ohmans provides a great summary of Professor Boulding's ideas.
