Thursday, April 15, 2010
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
The Enormity of the Fiscal Gap - Tax Policy Center
Excerpts:
"A study we conducted at the Tax Policy Center found that Washington would have to raise [income] taxes by almost 40 percent to reduce -- not eliminate, just reduce -- the deficit to 3 percent of our GDP, the 2015 goal the Obama administration set in its 2011 budget. That tax boost would mean the lowest income tax rate would jump from 10 to nearly 14 percent, and the top rate from 35 to 48 percent.
What if we raised taxes only on families with couples making more than $250,000 a year and on individuals making more than $200,000? The top two income tax rates would have to more than double, with the top rate hitting almost 77 percent, to get the deficit down to 3 percent of GDP."
"A study we conducted at the Tax Policy Center found that Washington would have to raise [income] taxes by almost 40 percent to reduce -- not eliminate, just reduce -- the deficit to 3 percent of our GDP, the 2015 goal the Obama administration set in its 2011 budget. That tax boost would mean the lowest income tax rate would jump from 10 to nearly 14 percent, and the top rate from 35 to 48 percent.
What if we raised taxes only on families with couples making more than $250,000 a year and on individuals making more than $200,000? The top two income tax rates would have to more than double, with the top rate hitting almost 77 percent, to get the deficit down to 3 percent of GDP."
Did FDR End the Depression? - Burt Folsom: WSJ.com
EXCERPTS:
"'He got us out of the Great Depression.' That's probably the most frequent comment made about President Franklin Roosevelt, who died 65 years ago today. Every Democratic president from Truman to Obama has believed it, and each has used FDR's New Deal as a model for expanding the government.
It's a myth. FDR did not get us out of the Great Depression—not during the 1930s, and only in a limited sense during World War II..... The New Deal, by forcing taxes up and discouraging entrepreneurs from investing, probably did more harm than good."
"'He got us out of the Great Depression.' That's probably the most frequent comment made about President Franklin Roosevelt, who died 65 years ago today. Every Democratic president from Truman to Obama has believed it, and each has used FDR's New Deal as a model for expanding the government.
It's a myth. FDR did not get us out of the Great Depression—not during the 1930s, and only in a limited sense during World War II..... The New Deal, by forcing taxes up and discouraging entrepreneurs from investing, probably did more harm than good."
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Progressives can't get past the Knowledge Problem - Glenn Harlan Reynolds
EXCERPTS:
"Market mechanisms, like pricing, do a better job than planners because they incorporate what everyone knows indirectly through signals like price, without central planning.
Thus, no matter how deceptively simple and appealing command economy programs are, they are sure to trip up their operators, because the operators can't possibly be smart enough to make them work.....
There's good news and bad news .... The bad news is obvious: We're governed not just by people who do screw up constantly, but by people who can't help but screw up constantly. So long as the government is this large and overweening, no amount of effort at securing smarter people or "better" rules will do any good: Incompetence is built into the system.
The good news is less obvious, but just as important: While we rightly fear a too-powerful government, this regulatory knowledge problem will ensure plenty of public stumbles and embarrassments, helping to remind people that those who seek to rule us really don't know what they're doing.
"Market mechanisms, like pricing, do a better job than planners because they incorporate what everyone knows indirectly through signals like price, without central planning.
Thus, no matter how deceptively simple and appealing command economy programs are, they are sure to trip up their operators, because the operators can't possibly be smart enough to make them work.....
There's good news and bad news .... The bad news is obvious: We're governed not just by people who do screw up constantly, but by people who can't help but screw up constantly. So long as the government is this large and overweening, no amount of effort at securing smarter people or "better" rules will do any good: Incompetence is built into the system.
The good news is less obvious, but just as important: While we rightly fear a too-powerful government, this regulatory knowledge problem will ensure plenty of public stumbles and embarrassments, helping to remind people that those who seek to rule us really don't know what they're doing.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
What's the Next 'Global Warming'? - Bret Stephens - WSJ.com
Bret Stephens: What's the Next 'Global Warming'? - WSJ.com
EXCERPT:
"So global warming is dead, nailed into its coffin one devastating disclosure, defection and re-evaluation at a time. Which means that pretty soon we're going to need another apocalyptic scare to take its place.... Something is going to have to take its place.
EXCERPT:
"So global warming is dead, nailed into its coffin one devastating disclosure, defection and re-evaluation at a time. Which means that pretty soon we're going to need another apocalyptic scare to take its place.... Something is going to have to take its place.
White House Rouses Workers to Seek Wage Rights - WSJ.com
EXCERPT:
"The Labor Department is encouraging low-wage and immigrant workers to turn in employers who are shortchanging their pay, as part of an expanding effort to enforce wage and hour rules.
Labor Secretary Hilda Solis launched a campaign last week called "We Can Help," asking workers in industries from construction to food services to notify the agency of suspected wage and hour violations.
The agency is also relying on tips from worker advocacy groups, widening efforts by the Obama administration to enlist activist groups to help with enforcement in a range of sectors from toy safety to distracted driving.
However, business groups are expressing concern that the Labor Department's effort will generate unfounded complaints... Mr. Johnson also questioned the appropriateness of the agency's partnerships. "Deputizing people outside the government who may have their own agendas is troublesome," he said.
"The Labor Department is encouraging low-wage and immigrant workers to turn in employers who are shortchanging their pay, as part of an expanding effort to enforce wage and hour rules.
Labor Secretary Hilda Solis launched a campaign last week called "We Can Help," asking workers in industries from construction to food services to notify the agency of suspected wage and hour violations.
The agency is also relying on tips from worker advocacy groups, widening efforts by the Obama administration to enlist activist groups to help with enforcement in a range of sectors from toy safety to distracted driving.
However, business groups are expressing concern that the Labor Department's effort will generate unfounded complaints... Mr. Johnson also questioned the appropriateness of the agency's partnerships. "Deputizing people outside the government who may have their own agendas is troublesome," he said.
Monday, April 5, 2010
Growth of Unpaid Internships May Be Illegal, Officials Say - NYTimes.com
Heny David Thoreau said something to the effect that if a man comes to your door and says "I'm from the government and I'm here to help," run away as fast as you can. If you don't understand why one would think that government attempts to help you may often in reality hurt you, read this article. It describes how government is "helping" young workers by protecting them from employers who offer unpaid internships.
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