On the Subject of David Shannon’s Viewpoints Article in the June edition of PM World Today

3 June 2009

Dear Editor,

David Shannon wrote that "with construction price inflation reported by some authorities as running at 10% and the British economy in less robust state than for many years this will be an interesting time to see what, if anything, gives; whether one is a pure Monetarist or a Keynesian project management practitioner." The question should be "What gives, gives, gives, gives, and gives, and then takes everything away?" As Hayek and others from the Austrian School of Economics have argued convincingly, what starts as temporary governmental fixes usually become permanent and expanding government programs, which stifle the private sector and civil society, who are sold down the road to serfdom. Profligate indeed! His article is right on the money (pun intended).

Across the pond, our Federal Reserve (an unelected body that Congress has no right to audit) has absconded in the most Keynesian ways with the keys to the republic. We have forgotten the timely words of one of America's wisest founding fathers Thomas Jefferson. He wrote in 1802 "I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around the banks will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered."

Just as the genie cannot be put back into the bottle, the bubble cannot be re-inflated. We can be certain that uncertainty will increase dramatically as these deep movements cycle, and that in the face of this uncertainty the ability to choose the right projects and deliver them successfully will determine our fate.

Sincerely,
John Schlichter
CEO, OPM Experts LLC
http://opmexperts.com