Sunday, April 29, 2012
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Link o' the Day
http://www.bobkrumm.com/blog/?p=2354
Hmm, is it ethical to apply this much calculus to a napkin sketch?
Friday, April 20, 2012
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
A government big enough to give you all you want
It's not Republican, it's not Democrat. Honestly, it's not liberal, it's not conservative ... It's economics," says Economist Art Laffer. "If you tax people who work and you pay people who don't work, don't be surprised when you get a lot of people not working. -- Art Laffer
Previously, with the help of Hauser's law, we looked at the revenue available to government through taxation.
Hauser's law neatly shows that the amount of money available to the government is nearly constant, irrespective of tax rates. If the relationship holds, the amount of revenue is always going to be about 19% of GDP. When faced with this information, wouldn't it seem appropriate to focus on increasing GDP as a way to increase revenue?
The hidden time bomb in this relationship is the realization that there is only 19% of blood that can be squeezed out of the income of the people. However, the government has ways to spend more than they take in.
But, you can also chart government spending as a function of GDP.
The spending has blown past 19 %, and may never look back. Does everyone see where this is going?
Previously, with the help of Hauser's law, we looked at the revenue available to government through taxation.
Hauser's law neatly shows that the amount of money available to the government is nearly constant, irrespective of tax rates. If the relationship holds, the amount of revenue is always going to be about 19% of GDP. When faced with this information, wouldn't it seem appropriate to focus on increasing GDP as a way to increase revenue?
The hidden time bomb in this relationship is the realization that there is only 19% of blood that can be squeezed out of the income of the people. However, the government has ways to spend more than they take in.
But, you can also chart government spending as a function of GDP.
The spending has blown past 19 %, and may never look back. Does everyone see where this is going?
Edgar the Entrepeneur
A man who gives his children habits of industry provides for them better than by giving them fortune. -- Richard Whateley
Edgar the Entrepeneur is a video cited by the Ludwig Von Mises Institute, which beautifully describes the consequences of minimum wage policies. I recommend you see it.
I have long advocated that minimum wage laws should be abolished. They are the cruelest hoax currently being perpetrated by the elected ones. I have two teenage boys neither of which, apparently, is worth $7.35/ hr. Both are good workers with many skills, but neither is employed despite many applications.
I would quickly send them both to work for a combined $7.35 an hour just to get them some experience. Each of them would be better off, as would the lucky company that could use their talents. But sadly, because of misguided public policy, the three bottom rungs on the ladder are missing.
Qui Bono? Who is this benefitting? China I suppose. China and the other growing countries that have an unlimited supply of 3 dollar labor. Unfortunately, we would rather export the jobs than allow the companies that produce the products succeed in manufacturing those goods here.
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