Asymptosis: Always Approaching

Tag: taxes

  • More American Exceptionalism: Government Revenues

    Let’s adopt the unpresuming assumptions that: 1. A prosperous, modern economy needs a certain amount of government (taxing, spending) to become and remain prosperous. And that government has to be paid for via taxes and other government revenues. Simple enough. 2. Either too much or too little government in a country results in a poor…

  • Cutting Taxes Creates Growth: Yeah, Right

    Cactus at Angry Bear does yeoman’s work yet again to drive a spike into the heart of voodoo/trickle-down/supply-side Reaganomic ideology, demonstrating what economists have known for decades: Keynes was right. Over the short term–one to three years–raising taxes hurts economic growth. Deficit spending (read: low taxes and high spending) promotes economic growth over the short…

  • We Need to Spur Business Investment. Yeah, Right.

    Comes before the court: Floyd Norris to point out that the heady dividends delivered by corporations 2004-2008 were in many cases not profits, but recycled loans. They borrowed the money, then paid it out to shareholders. Every penny in profits ($2.4 trillion) went out in dividends ($.9 trillion) and stock buybacks ($1.7 trillion), plus another…

  • Depression Lessons: How Much Fiscal Stimulus?

    There's lots of talk these days on upcoming fiscal stimulus–how much it should be and how it should be delivered. The NYT Economix blog offers recommendations from several economists, assuming a $500-billion package. Here's one that Greg Mankiw likes. When it comes to the size of the stimulus–and as Krugman argues quite cogently, in this…

  • Why Prosperity Requires a Welfare State

    I’ve been spending a lot of time lately pondering James Livingston’s insights on how modern, high-productivity, post-industrial economies work, as expressed in two of his posts which I link to and encapsulate here. What finally closed the loop for me was re-reading Ray Kurzweil and others on past trends, and what the future holds: exponential…

  • Reagan, Bush, and McCain: Selling America First

    This 2003 article by Warren Buffet–explaining in his usual pithy manner how we’re frittering away our future well-being by borrowing abroad and selling off our assets–got me looking once again at our country’s long-term financial position in the world. And once again, I came across one of those profound inflection points at–you guessed it–1980. The…

  • I’m Patriotic: I Pay Taxes

    Don Pedro says it better than anyone else I’ve heard, with this woulda-coulda-said-it response for Biden: “Governor Palin, if paying taxes is not considered patriotic in your neighborhood, who is going to pay for the body armor that will protect your son in Iraq? Who is going to pay for the bailout you endorsed? If…

  • John McCain Pledges to Eradicate Government

    John McCain has promised to balance the federal budget by 2013. He's also pledged to enact a tax plan that will deliver a budget deficit of $650 billion dollars in 2013. Just to give these numbers a little perspective: Agency 2013 Projected Outlays Agriculture $120 billion Commerce $9 billion Education $86 billion Energy $30 billion…

  • Yeah, The Economy Rocks Under Dems. But It’s Not Their Fault.

    Greg Mankiw pooh-poohs the data using one of his favorite tactics: Fun with Statistics Princeton economist Alan Blinder says Democratic Presidents are better for economic equality between rich and poor. Chicago economist Casey Mulligan says Republican Presidents are better for economic equality between men and women. My take: These articles are completely persuasive, as long…

  • Tax-Cutting Republicans? Get Real

    Put aside for the moment the current Republican presidential candidate’s tax plan, which imposes higher taxes on 250 million Americans than the Democratic candidate’s plan. The simple fact is–as innumerable sages (at least since Adam Smith) have pointed out–spending is taxing. Three choices (laid out very nicely by Brad DeLong): Raise taxes in the future.…

  • Even Fox Sez McCain’s Lying About Taxes

    Major Garrett: McCain’s TV commercials assailing Obama’s tax policy contain serious distortions, if not out-right lies. On Aug. 8, FactCheck.org, published this report on a spate of new McCain TV spots on Obama and taxes. Read it here: www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/more_tax_deceptions.html That report followed one in July that raised similar concerns about the truthfulness of the McCain…

  • Pro-Growth Republicans? Get Real

    Republicans like to claim that they’re the party of growth and prosperity. Even though all the facts say otherwise. I’ve pointed out repeatedly that when you compare a lot of developed countries over decades, you see that lower taxes and smaller government don’t result in faster growth. Tax cuts are an effective vote-buying political pander…

  • Mankiw Endorses Obama, Slams Palin

    The former chair of Bush II's Council of Economic Advisors, in his manifesto, Smart Taxes: An Open Invitation to Join the Pigou Club (pdf): "It is not a stretch to believe that more thought about an issue leads to more reliable conclusions." Okay well, not explicitly. And in any case he does contradict this sentiment…

  • Obama and Small Business Cap Gains: Where’s the Beef?

    My friend Steve Broback asks a very good question: Obama says he will: …eliminate all capital gains taxes on small and start-up businesses to encourage innovation and job creation. This is all that’s mentioned about this elusive break in the “Barack Obama’s Plan For Small Business” PDF on his site. I don’t understand. Where and…

  • Do Voters Prefer Death or Taxes?

    Today's NYT/CBS poll gives the answer: Taxes. 67% of voters think it's "more important to provide health care coverage for all Americans" than to "hold down taxes." Related posts: Tea Partiers: Old, White, Rich, Educated Men Business Roundtable Proposes Obamacare to Restore American Competitiveness ‘Pubs Love Catastrophic Coverage. Too Bad the Free Market Doesn’t Provide…

  • Maybe Obama’s Not So Bad…

    My wonderful friend and former business partner Steve allows as how maybe Obama isn't going to drive our economy into extinction after all. His route to that revelation, via a Mankiw post, puts aside that sage's other comment in the post: [Obama quote:] Over the past decade, we've seen…hefty corporate profits, but a shrinking share…

  • Pubs and Dems: Brands and Beliefs

    There's a pretty stunning new NPR poll out (PDF) (conducted by one Republican and one Democrat) showing that Pubs actually prefer Democratic policies by wide margins. This is Very Good News. But what's amazing is how brainwashed Pubs are by party affiliation, compared to Dems. If their beliefs aren't validated by Herr Comrade Party Leader,…

  • Government: BAD? — Part 3: Taxes and GDP Growth

    Do higher taxes result in slower growth? That’s the basic assertion made by tax-cut advocates. If we lower taxes, we’ll grow faster and all boats–rich and poor–will rise. It’s a great idea. Too bad it’s not true. Few will disagree that in the short term (generally), tax increases impede growth. But over the long term…