The Personal Paper Trail

[dherbs]

Introduction to Economic Amplifiers

Economic amplifiers are the active components of economic engineering. The basic characteristic of any amplifier (mechanical, electrical, or economic) is that it receives an input control signal and delivers energy from an independent energy source to a specified output terminal in a predictable relationship to that input control signal.
 
The simplest form of an economic amplifier is a device called advertising.

If a person is spoken to by a T.V. advertiser as if he were a twelve-year-old, then, due to suggestibility, he will, with a certain probability, respond or react to that suggestion with the uncritical response of a twelve-year-old and will reach into his economic reservoir and deliver its energy to but that product on impulse when he passes it in the store.

An economic amplifier may have several inputs and output. Its response might be instantaneous or delayed. Its circuit symbol might be a rotary switch if its options are exclusive, qualitative, "go" or "no-go", or it might have its parametric input/output relationships specified by a matrix with internal energy sources represented.
Whatever its form might be, its purpose is to govern the flow of energy from a source to an output sink in direct relationship to an input control signal. For this reason, it is called an active circuit element or component.
 
Economic Amplifiers fall into classes called strategies, and, in comparison with electronic amplifiers, the specific internal functions of an economic amplifier are called logistical instead of electrical.
 
Therefore, economic amplifiers not only deliver power gain but also, in effect, are used to cause changes in the economic circuitry.
 
In the design of an economic amplifier we must have some idea of at least five functions, which are:
the available input signals
the desired output-control objectives,
the strategic objective,
the available economic power sources,
the logistical options.

The process of defining and evaluating these factors and incorporating the economic amplifier into an economic system has been popularly called game theory .
The design of an economic amplifier begins with a specification of the power level of the output, which can range from personal to national. The second condition is accuracy of response, i.e., how accurately the output action is a function of the input commands. High gain combined with strong feedback helps to deliver the required precision.
 
Most of the error will be in the input data signal. Personal input data tends to be specified, while national input data tends to be statistical.

Short List of Inputs

Questions to be answered:
what
where
why
when
how
who
General sources of information:
telephone taps
analysis of garbage
surveillance
behavior of children in school
Standard of living by:
food
shelter
clothing
transportation
Social contacts:
telephone - itemized record of calls
family - marriage certificates, birth certificates, etc.
friends, associates, etc.
memberships in organizations
political affiliation

The Personal Paper Trail

Personal buying habits, i.e., personal consumer preferences:
checking accounts
credit-card purchases
"tagged" credit-card purchases - the credit-card purchase of products bearing the U.P.C. (Universal Product Code)
Assets:
checking accounts
savings accounts
real estate
business
automobile, etc.
safety deposit at bank
stock market
Liabilities:
creditors
enemies (see - legal)
loans
Government sources (ploys)*:
Welfare
Social Security
U.S.D.A. surplus food
doles
grants
subsidies
* Principle of this ploy -- the citizen will almost always make the collection of information easy if he can operate on the "free sandwich principle" of "eat now, and pay later."
Government sources (via intimidation):
Internal Revenue Service
OSHA
Census
etc.
Other government sources -- surveillance of U.S. mail.

Habit Patterns -- Programming

Strengths and weaknesses:
activities (sports, hobbies, etc.)
see "legal" (fear, anger, etc. -- crime record)
hospital records (drug sensitivities, reaction to pain, etc.)
psychiatric records (fears, angers, disgusts, adaptability, reactions to stimuli, violence, suggestibility or hypnosis, pain, pleasure, love, and sex)
Methods of coping -- of adaptability -- behavior:
consumption of alcohol
consumption of drugs
entertainment
religious factors influencing behavior
other methods of escaping from reality
Payment modus operandi (MO) -- pay on time, etc.:
payment of telephone bills
energy purchases
water purchases
repayment of loans
house payments
automobile payments
payments on credit cards
Political sensitivity:
beliefs
contacts
position
strengths/weaknesses
projects/activities
Legal inputs -- behavioral control (Excuses for investigation, search, arrest, or employment of force to modify behavior)
court records
police records -- NCIC
driving record
reports made to police
insurance information
anti-establishment acquaintances
National Input Information

Business sources (via I.R.S., etc):
prices of commodities
sales
investments in
stocks/inventory
production tools and machinery
buildings and improvements
the stock market
Banks and credit bureaus:
credit information
payment information
Miscellaneous sources:
polls and surveys
publications
telephone records
energy and utility purchases