A lot to fix in this country

[da guy in france]

The 2 Harvard guys whose calculations were found to be in error ???

several other elite (and Noble Prize winning economists) already disagree with Krugman.

The findings came under a cloud last month. Thomas Herndon, a graduate student at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, found a spreadsheet error in the Rogoff-Reinhart calculations in attempting to replicate the paper for an econometrics homework exercise. Mr. Herndon published his findings with two UMass Amherst professors, Robert Pollin and Michael Ash.
Mr. Rogoff and Ms. Reinhart conceded the spreadsheet error but stood by their findings.


I do agree with Stockman regarding the artificially low interest rates and the bubble they are creating. But then again do you raise rates while there are a lot of people still suffering ??? I guess it is what it is, pay now or pay later or best is to pay a little at a time but seems this doesn't occur with bubbles. The shit hits the fan. Anyways ...

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-0...man-brawl.html

[JuTMSY4]

no

[TerpEagle]

Better then a flat tax is the fair tax. A national sales and service tax. Imagine the savings involved by cutting the irs down to tracking and collecting sales tax. Plus EVERYONE pays illegal immigrants, tourists everyone.

There's no simple tax solution. In reality it likely needs to be a combination of multiple methods.

Flat and "fair" taxes have their problems. Taxation on necessary items/services remain the same for everyone, regardless of income if the items are of equal value.

Therefore a gallon of gas will have approximately the same absolute additional cost to the consumer regardless of income. That cost of that gallon of gas and the taxation on it are more detrimental to the family making $50K compared to the family making $500K.

It could be argued that the gallon of gas is more valuable to the lower income family whose need for transportation to maintain income is higher.

In terms of progression with income, a wealth based tax is probably one of the fairest. Progressive income tax has loopholes (inon-ordinary income) and often people with lower incomes pay a higher percentage (Warren Buffet's secretary). Wealth based taxation would be based on total assets. Its problem is that assets often do not have liquidity, therefore payment can be difficult.

One example is property tax. It's fair in the sense that the value of an asset is being taxed, however if the owner's income is fixed and they can't realized the value of that asset due to it's lack of liquidity, it becomes a burden.

[Two Gap Penetrator]

You can't compare the Post WWII era to now

Europe, Russia, and Japan were destroyed after the war and the US dominated the world economically. We had NO foreign competitors, just foreign customers ( sort of like China now). 2.9% unemployment in 1953 because of it. All of that equals ALOT MORE people paying taxes and ALOT LESS people needing something from government.

[TerpEagle]

Europe, Russia, and Japan were destroyed after the war and the US dominated the world economically. We had NO foreign competitors, just foreign customers ( sort of like China now). 2.9% unemployment in 1953 because of it. All of that equals ALOT MORE people paying taxes and ALOT LESS people needing something from government.

Government spending (!!!!!!!) is pretty much what drove our economy then as well and what made America a superpower. Everyone loved that shit back then.

[TerpEagle]

One of the biggest problems we face is the democrats attacking the republicans and vice versa. The left right paradigm which keeps the people fighting amongst ourselves keeps us blund to what is actually happening in washington. At the end of the day the left and the right are two sides of the same broken record.

The idealistic flip-side of that coin is that fighting by parties is what prevents seismic shifts in policy in this country.

The reality is that the things they fight over are fairly meaningless and simply window-dressing to entertain the public while they have typically agreed to expand government power and influence since day one.

[Big Little]

Simple fix would be a corporate tax rate that makes sense and that can't be worked down thru loopholes.

That and a flat consumption based tax for individuals will capture the fair amount of taxes for everyone!

Can't have corporate fat cats not paying shit, while at the same time we can't have medicare and welfare recipients rolling around in Benzs and what nots

[Mt Iggle]

Boy - I'm with you 100%!
The clock is ticking.

[Mt Iggle]

And it won't be enough.

[Mt Iggle]

But in all scenarios I have seen, the rich pay less.
So, who does one think would make up that difference?

[Mt Iggle]

I agree with this post.

[Eagle Road]

But in all scenarios I have seen, the rich pay less.
So, who does one think would make up that difference?

Honestly, I think to a degree the "rich pay less" is blown out of proportion, after all, politicians have to be able to point a finger in a direction that is not there own.

If you would go to a flat or fair tax scenario a LOT of those loopholes disappear.

[harls]

Honestly, I think to a degree the "rich pay less" is blown out of proportion, after all, politicians have to be able to point a finger in a direction that is not there own.

If you would go to a flat or fair tax scenario a LOT of those loopholes disappear.

Absolutely. Plus with a fair tax the rich most likely will have a $80, 000 car instead of the $5, 000 junker the poor have. The same goes for food houses and all other bills.