Tag: taxes

–A wonderful book you will enjoy.

The debt hawks are to economics as the creationists are to biology.

Let me tell you about a wonderful book. It’s short, simple and educational. It’s written in an easy, interesting style. It’s sure to be controversial. You can read it in an hour, and you never will forget it.

The title is Seven Deadly Frauds of Economic Policy, by Warren Mosler. Frankly, I’m not too crazy about the title. Sounds a bit dull. But I promise you, the title is the only dull part of this terrific book, that reads more like a novel than a text.

Yes, its an economics book, but not like most economics books. No formulas. No economics jargon. Just straightforward English, rational discussions that clear up some of the biggest, counter-intuitive mysteries about our economy. Learn how to cure the recession, how to save Social Security and Medicare, how to pay for universal health care, how to end federal debt problems — all kinds of good stuff.

You can read it for free, online by going to the above link and clicking: “Seven Deadly Frauds of Economic Policy (June 17, PDF Link).” Go ahead, do it. You absolutely will not regret it.

Rodger Malcolm Mitchell
http://www.rodgermitchell.com

No nation can tax itself into prosperity

–Let’s destroy the food, clothing and shelter of the rich

The debt hawks are to economics as the creationists are to biology.

Here’s an idea to help our economy. The rich have access to more food, more clothing and better shelter than have the poor. So let’s take some food, clothing and shelter from the rich and destroy it.

What? You don’t see how that can help the economy? You think it’s a stupid idea? Well, maybe. But isn’t it identical with what the politicians want to do right now?

You see, money is the food that makes the economy run. Today’s economy is starved for money. Yet, the politicians want to increase federal taxes on the rich, which will destroy some economic “food.” That’s right, federal taxes destroy money. The federal government doesn’t use taxes for spending. There is zero relationship between federal taxes and federal spending. (This is different from state and local governments, which do rely on taxes for spending.)

So, if you understand that taking food, clothing and shelter from the rich, and destroying it is useless and harmful, then you also understand that increasing federal taxes on the rich is equally useless and harmful. And if you understand it, why don’t your federal government representatives understand it?

Rodger Malcolm Mitchell
http://www.rodgermitchell.com

No nation can tax itself into prosperity

–Britain’s grand experiment: The debt hawk agenda

The debt hawks are to economics as the creationists are to biology.

This should be interesting.

Here are some quotes from The Economist:
“The budget, unveiled by George Osborne, the new chancellor of the exchequer, in June: To balance the books, he raised some taxes, notably VAT, but three-quarters of the savings will come from spending cuts. Most government departments will shrink by a quarter, though Mr Osborne excluded the National Health Service from his savagery. In the heated debate between Keynesian economists (who worry that a weak world economy needs more government spending) and fiscal hawks (who believe deficits must be tackled now to stave off Grecian disaster), Britain is the prime exhibit for tough love.”

“Mr Osborne plans to get the job essentially done by 2014-15. If all goes to plan, the deficit will fall from 11% of GDP in 2009-10 to 2.1% in 2014-15. The structural deficit, which strips out the effects of the economic cycle, will drop from 8.7% of GDP to 0.8%. On a similar basis, the government will by then be running a small surplus on the current budget, which excludes net investment (due to be slashed anyway over the next couple of years). This is a much faster retrenchment than the previous Labour government envisaged. It planned to return the cyclically-adjusted current budget to balance in 2016-17. Labour’s fiscal consolidation would have amounted to 4% of GDP by 2014-15; Mr Osborne is aiming at 6.3%.”

Never mind that Britain can’t have a “Grecian disaster.” Britain is monetarily sovereign. Greece is not. Completely different situations. Raise taxes; cut spending. Government runs a surplus. That is the debt hawk mantra. If Britain actually follows through on these steps (doubtful), it will suffer terribly.

All you debt hawks out there; what is your prediction?

Rodger Malcolm Mitchell
http://www.rodgermitchell.com

No nation can tax itself into prosperity

–How soon will Medicare run out of money?

The debt hawks are to economics as the creationists are to biology.

Today (8/11/10), the Chicago Tribune editors asked, “How soon will Medicare run out of money?” The Tribune editors asked that question because payroll taxes, specifically collected for Medicare, are projected to be less than Medicare spending.

The Tribune editors did not ask, “How soon will the Pentagon run out of money?” Presumably, the Pentagon faces a worse “crisis” than does Medicare. After all, the Pentagon spends billions, with zero payroll taxes specifically collected for the Pentagon.

The editors also did not ask, “How soon will the Supreme Court, Congress and the White House run out of money?” Here again, zero taxes are collected for these three federal institutions, though they spend quite a bit.

The editors did not ask, “How soon will the following agencies run out of money money?”:

The Bureau of Prisons
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
The Coast Guard
The Department of Justice
The Department of State
The Department of Labor
The Department of Transportation
The Department of the Treasury
The Department of Health and Human Services

All of these federal agencies, and many more, have huge budgets, but none collects a singe penny in taxes. Surely, they must be teetering on the brink of bankruptcy! But the Tribune editors seem unconcerned.

Why do the Tribune editors focus on Medicare, and often on Social Security, both of which supposedly do collect taxes, when no other Federal agency collects any taxes at all?

I’ve never seen the editors ask, “When will the National Weather Service run out of money?” Nor have I seen any graphs purporting to show the exact year when OSHA will go broke. Nor have I heard dire predictions of imminent bankruptcy for the Army Corps of Engineers.

Have you?

I’ve asked the Tribune editors this question numerous times, and never have received an answer. Perhaps you’ll have better luck. You can contact the Tribune editors at: ctc-tribletter@tribune.com. Let me know what they tell you.

Rodger Malcolm Mitchell
http://www.rodgermitchell.com

No nation can tax itself into prosperity