Well, I'm all ears. AFAIK, the income tax is regressive and wealth destructive. If a more stimulative policy exists, I'd certainly be open to it. Of course, it would require a total overhaul of the draconian US tax code Government is loathe to do away with. Since we're on the topic of wealth maximization, why not enact tariffs against Chindia to protect existing incomes? That's a worthwhile endeavor to, is it not?
A small non distortive excise tax on all imports (something like 3% to 5%) would be an efficient tax that would not hurt long term growth so long as the tax was non discriminitive and all mercantile tariffs were repealed and reduced to the non discriminating low blanket number. Such a tax would not likely distort the economy as it would be absorbed into the general price structure and it could be collected once as part of delivery of the import. I would not have a problem with a modest tariff structured as an excise tax. Mercantile tariffs targeted agains sector goods or trading partners do reduce growth and should be avoided as they destroy more revenue than they produce.
Even if Washington were to pay off $1 BILLION per day, it would still take about 366 years before theyâre paid off. The U.S. Federal deficit at $1.6 trillion The officially recognized national debt at $12.1 trillion $3.5 trillion owed to foreign investors Unfunded national obligations of $106.5 trillion Another $9 trillion in cumulative deficits over the next 10 years At least another trillion dollars needed for health care reform! Grand total: $133.7 TRILLION IN DEBT! http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article15977.html
This debt is Bush's legacy The moral of this sorry story must be don't elect monkeys to do a man's job
Wrong. Bush was bad; Obama is worse by a long shot. He's added more to the debt in under 2 years than any other president. Of course, he's never run a business, never had to make payroll and couldn't run a lemon-ade stand. But he's happy to have his innumerate supporters join him in blameshifting all his problems away.
I know nobody can be objective about politics but i) We don't know what would have happened to the economy during the 2001 recession/post 9/11 downturn if Bush hadn't passed the tax cuts. ii) At the time Bush didn't know he was going to be in the middle of two Wars for the next 10+ years (although some people will say he choose at least one of those wars) So as much as we want to blame Bush its difficult to know how much he is truely to blame. iii) It's difficult to assess Obama's effectiveness already. It's impossible to know how many of todays problems are a Bush legacy and how succesful or unsuccesful Obama's policies will be in the next several years. So as much as we want to blame Obama its also difficult to know how much he is truely to blame.
U.S. Dollar Is `One Step Nearer' to Crisis as Debt Level Climbs, Yu Says The U.S. dollar is âone step nearerâ to a crisis as debt levels in the worldâs largest economy increase, said Yu Yongding, a former adviser to Chinaâs central bank. Any appreciation of the dollar is âreally temporaryâ and a devaluation of the currency is inevitable as U.S. debt rises, Yu said in a speech in Singapore today. âSuch a huge amount of debt is terrible,â Yu said. âThe situation will be worsening day by day. I think we are one step nearer to a U.S.-dollar crisis.â Yu also said China is worried about the safety of its foreign-exchange reserves including those invested in U.S. Treasuries as the U.S. currency weakens, reiterating his earlier views on the dollar assets. The U.S. will record a $1.3 trillion budget deficit for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, the Congressional Budget Office said Aug. 19. Complete article-: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-...to-crisis-chinese-former-adviser-yu-says.html