Based on yesterday's discussion at Dan Allosso's Book Club, we don't include defense spending into the consumer price index for calculating inflation or other market indicators. What other things (communal goods) aren't included into these measures, but which potentially should be to take into account the balance of governmental spending versus individual spending. It seems unfair that individual sectors, particularly those like defense contracting which are capitalistic in nature, but which are living on governmental rent extraction, should be free from the vagaries of inflation?

Throwing them into the basket may create broader stability for the broader system and act as a brake via feedback mechanisms which would push those corporations to work for the broader economic good, particularly when they're taking such a large piece of the overall pie.

Similarly how might we adjust corporate tax rates with respect to the level of inflation to prevent corporate price gouging during times of inflation which seems to be seen in the current 2023 economic climate. Workers have seen some small gains in salary since the pandemic, but inflationary pressures have dramatically eaten into these taking the gains and then some back into corporate coffers. The FED can increase interest rates to effect some change, but this doesn't change corporate price gouging in any way, tax or other policies will be necessary to do this.

‘A Small Number of Fully Vaccinated People with COVID-19 in NSW Have Died — Here’s Why’. ABC News, 28 September 2021. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-09-29/why-a-small-number-of-fully-vaccinated-people-have-died-of-covid/100497770.

Washington Post. ‘Opinion | Remaining Unvaccinated in Public Should Be Considered as Bad as Drunken Driving’, 15 September 2021. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/09/15/remaining-unvaccinated-public-should-be-considered-bad-drunken-driving/.

Sam Bowman. (2021, January 25). If the govt can’t keep a few thousand people fed in hotel quarantine, how exactly was it supposed to provide for fifteen million pensioners self-isolating in Great Barrington-style ‘focused protection’ while the virus was spreading across the rest of the population? [Tweet]. @s8mb. https://twitter.com/s8mb/status/1353666214883684352

Goossens, K. (2021). Covid-19: Global attitudes towards a COVID-19 vaccine. Imperial College London.

I have been worried for a little while now about the construction industry in Australia turning their apprentices (heavily subsidised by Govt) into "sub-contractors" once there is no more subsidy available when the apprenticeship is completed.

It means that (often) young people are turfed into the business world with little business acumen, still treating themselves as "employees" of the company/tradesman who indentured their skills learning. Unable to negotiate their own income and terms because of limited financial planning skills.

If apprentices are to be shoved into this world, they are doomed to fail unless they are provided with the adequate business governance learning and advice. Understanding their legal and fiscal obligations as a sub-contractor is vital and being able to say NO to companies who demand rights to monopoly over their contractual services is imperative.