Economics Questions

Re: Higher Taxes Help the Economy!!

shackleford — Sat, 10 Nov 2012 18:02:36 GMT

The problem is people have implicity ingrained in their mind that government is the source of the economy. Everything centers around government. Let's think about this.

We should be concerned with the health of the private sector, the free market, not government. How does government grow the economy by taking more from those who use their capital to create jobs and grow the economy in the first place? It doesn't. It's simply redistributing that wealth. Now, technically, using the lousy GDP calculation, when the government confiscates more from one and gives it to another, the GDP remains the same. However, was that money actually used to increase productivity and grow the economy? In virtually all cases the answer is a resounding no. The government is a net drag on the economy past a certain point. The anarcho-caps will disagree, but I'm just arguing from the limited-government perspective, i.e. only fund defense, courts, police, and that's about it.

Even in the off chance the government takes more from one and uses it to actually increase productivity, there is still the administrative cost included in doing just that. Government has no business doing such things in the first place. Taxes should be reduced in all cases whatsoever - or at a minimum not raised.

Re: Higher Taxes Help the Economy!!

Neodoxy — Sat, 10 Nov 2012 17:38:19 GMT

So then deflation isn't good, it's just better than inflation which is caused by the state?

Re: Higher Taxes Help the Economy!!

No2statism — Sat, 10 Nov 2012 07:29:26 GMT

@Neodoxy: Market forces contracting the money supply is better than the Fed printing money.

Re: Higher Taxes Help the Economy!!

EmbraceLiberty — Sat, 10 Nov 2012 04:54:17 GMT

Sending money overseas.

Re: Higher Taxes Help the Economy!!

Neodoxy — Sat, 10 Nov 2012 03:25:18 GMT

Which?

Re: Higher Taxes Help the Economy!!

EmbraceLiberty — Sat, 10 Nov 2012 03:12:01 GMT

But wouldn't that devastate investment which grows the economy?

Re: Higher Taxes Help the Economy!!

Neodoxy — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 22:31:04 GMT

Why is deflation generally good?

Re: Higher Taxes Help the Economy!!

No2statism — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 21:56:17 GMT

Higher top marginal income tax rate could help result in deflation (which is generally good) if a higher top marginal income tax rate, among other factors, would result in more tax evasion which means the money would be taken out of circulation (stored in an offshore bank account). However, the govt can't cause deflation only the market can do that.

Re: Higher Taxes Help the Economy!!

Clayton — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 21:34:04 GMT

As I noted, I was joking. The point is that forced conscription into pyramid-building, road-building, the war machine, and so on, can of course guarantee a zero unemployment rate through involuntary employment. So what? We institute a disguised form of slavery to solve a problem that the market already solved effortlessly prior to government intervention... by definition, there can be no involuntary unemployment in a free labor market. And whatever employment there is in a free market is also, by definition, voluntary, by contrast to the State's forced labor schemes.

Clayton -

Re: Higher Taxes Help the Economy!!

Aristippus — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 21:23:39 GMT

It depends how you define slavery. Most Egyptians were serfs. In addition to that, they owed corvee labour to the King. They can certainly be viewed as his slaves.

Re: Higher Taxes Help the Economy!!

Wheylous — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 20:59:01 GMT

Iirc about my being there...

Re: Higher Taxes Help the Economy!!

HabbaBabba — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 20:55:04 GMT

lol@ "iirc". You were there?!?!

Re: Higher Taxes Help the Economy!!

Wheylous — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 20:41:14 GMT

Clayton, iirc, the pyramids were not built by slaves.

Re: Higher Taxes Help the Economy!!

EmbraceLiberty — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 20:24:29 GMT

How is the rates today relevant? Why wasn't there high unemployment back then when taxes were much more higher than now?

Re: Higher Taxes Help the Economy!!

Anenome — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 20:07:26 GMT

EmbraceLiberty:

Well why wasn't there mass unemployment during this time period? And if GDP isn't an indicator of economic growth than what is adequate enough?

Currently the U-6 unemployed number is ~14%, and that's offset by places like North Dakota that discovered oil and have incredibly tiny unemployment rates. Some states have a U-6 number as high as 22%. Is that mass unemployment?