Balls and Walnuts
more than you ever wanted to know
I love this guy.
Former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich has a blog, and now that he has a new book, you can no doubt look forward to appearances on The Daily Show and Colbert Report.
Watch him not hawk his new book, Supercapitalism.
Interestingly, on his blog he recommends tax cuts to help avert the coming recession — but not tax cuts for the wealthy, who he correctly points out already spend as much money as they please:
It’s middle and lower-income Americans who spend more when their taxes are cut. And because the biggest tax they face is the payroll tax, the payroll tax needs to be cut in order to keep them spending and avoid a recession.
I say exempt the first $15,000 of earnings from payroll taxes for a year, starting as soon as possible. Sure, this may cause the budget deficit to widen a bit. But if the economy goes into the tank, the deficit will be far bigger.
Makes perfect sense to me . . . and we could easily offset the tax cut by rolling back some of W’s breaks to the super-wealthy.
D.
Is it just me, or does pursuing a policy that encourages consumerism and increased resource exploitation seem a bit on the nose?
I honestly don’t understand why economists (particularly US, but the Oz ones are just as bad) continue to assume that econonomic growth can be sustained indefinitely in a world with finite and dwindling resources. It’s time for a new model.
econonomic
“I can spell bananana. I just don’t know when to stop.”
Whence that quote?
Yeah, I see your point, but try to persuade Americans (or Aussies, I imagine) to adopt a policy of austerity. IIRC Jimmy Carter tried it, and got his head handed back to him.
I don’t think we can change human nature, especially the grabby nature of the ultra-rich. If oxygen were in short supply, to make sure they had plenty, they’d build scrubbers to suck up what little was left.
Bring on the benevolent dictatorship.
As for the quote: not sure where I heard it.
Google shows song lyrics from 1958:
Wasn’t it a different song?
Yes, I realize you did nothing to deserve such treatment.
🙂
I watched his little anti-promo. His talents, it seems, go beyond economics.