Low Taxes Do What? [WSJ:Sowell]

Wall Street Journal ^ | Feb 24, 2004 | Thomas Sowell

[The Raven]

Some years ago, the distinguished international-trade economist Jagdish Bhagwati was visiting Cornell University, giving a lecture to graduate students during the day and debating Ralph Nader on free trade that evening. During his lecture, Prof. Bhagwati asked how many of the graduate students would be attending that evening's debate. Not one hand went up.

[My back yard]

My son recently came home from his highschool social studies lecture telling me he had learned today that welfare helps to stimulate the economy.

[Sam Cree]

An interesting article by Thomas Sowell.

[Sam Cree]

I was wondering what they mean by "social studies."
Is that history?

[MrB]

It's funny that the socialists call the free market capitalists "greedy" for wanting to keep more of what they earn -

when in reality, it's the socialists that want to use the lethal force of government to confiscate the wealth of those who earn it.

THAT'S greedy.

[templar]

In reality, the number of jobs in the U.S. increased by millions after Nafta went into effect and the unemployment rate fell to low levels not seen in years. Behind the radically wrong predictions was a simple confusion between wage rates and labor costs,

Since Mr Sowell bemoans demagoguery beating date shouldn't he supply some statistics (data) along with this statement? Like how many jobs were created as a result of NAFTA and how many were lost as a result of NAFTA? And how much did our trade surplus with Mexico increase?

[templar]

it's the socialists that want to use the lethal force of government to confiscate the wealth of those who earn it.

That pretty much applies to whoever controls government at the time, not just socialists. How it is used is more the question between socialists and other social/economic philosophies than the taking of it.

[.cnI redruM]

>>>>>>>What Mr. Reagan's "tax cuts for the rich" actually cut were the tax rates per dollar of income. Out of rising incomes, the country as a whole -- including the rich -- paid more total taxes than ever before.

Beautiful. Sowell reasons this out so well. This explains, with simple elegance, why the Laffer Curve is parabolic in shape and that raising taxes does not guarantee an increase in government revenue.

[Sam Cree]

"How it is used is more the question between socialists and other social/economic philosophies than the taking of it."

There's plenty of truth in that. However, IMO, the tradition of individual freedom that is the basis for the founding of our country does not include a central government controlling and regulating private wealth. Socialism, OTOH, by definition most certainly does do this in its milder forms, taken to its logical end, socialism does not even allow private wealth.

So I think it pretty clear that conservative views of taxes differ significantly from leftist. Or should.

[hedgetrimmer]

Didn't Siemens just announce they were shutting down operations here and moving elsewhere?

Sowell claims that foreign car manufacturers that build cars here are imported jobs. They build cars here to sell here. The cars are not being built here and shipped back to the corporations country of origin.

The jobs going to India and China are building products there to sell here,not to sell in their country. Their products are for export back here. There's a big difference in this.

[MrB]

There is a plain definition in the Constitution where the line from allowable "common good" spending to the illegal socialist spending.

Congress spends the tax money, and it may only be spent on those items listed in Article I, Section 8 - as the founders intended.

I know that blows a lot of things that everyone thinks they are entitled to - Social Security, Medicare, etc,
but "them's the rules."

[tillacum]

"Give me your children"......remember that? So we now have teachers who do not realize they are teaching socialism/communism to the kids. Getting back to the kerrys, the kenedys the clintons and their socialist/communist beliefs. Do you think x42/#97 will give up one tenth of either of their houses to someone poor, will kerry give Terea's $$$$ to someone who is poor, will kenedy give anything of whatever his father built away? I think not. Lenin was very clever when he encouraged his minions to invade our schools, universities and colleges of learning and even our government. He has spread his beliefs into every phase of America. It's up to some of us to curtail these beliefs as best we can and eventually, hopefully, America as she should be will return. "Inititive of the Individual for prosperity".

[Sam Cree]

Sure, it's pretty clear that the founding fathers didn't mean to create the leviathan that now poses as our government. The Left doesn't think the state has enough power even now, though.

[technochick99]

I hope you complained to the Principal and wrote a letter to the editor(s) of your local newspaper(s).

[the invisib1e hand]

It is a wholly different ball game when hundreds of millions of people individually keep track of the relatively few prices they need to know for their own decision-making in a market economy.

the fingers of The Invisible Hand do the walking.

great piece. hope someone can make a sound-byte out of it.

[Oldeconomybuyer]

...My son recently came home from his highschool social studies lecture telling me he had learned today that welfare helps to stimulate the economy...

The social studies teacher probably researched the topic by reading "The Nation" magazine instead of an Economics text.

[Pharmboy]

This guy is a national treasure. He makes economics so approachable even I get it.

[GreenAccord]

The cars are not being built here and shipped back to the corporations country of origin.

My father-in-law worked at Honda (in central Ohio) until his retirement ths past year.

Honda makes plenty of right-hand drive Accords along side the American versions. These right-hand drive cars are all sent back to Japan for consumption.

[CharacterCounts]

Socialists don't want wealth themselves - they only want to prevent YOU from acquiring it.

The statement is half right... socialists want to prevent you from acquiring wealth.

The have no such qualms about becoming wealthy themselves. In fact socialists wish to become wealthy by forcibly directing you on how you can spend yours.

[InterceptPoint]

”Those who complain loudly about how many jobs have been "exported" to other countries because of international free trade totally ignore all the jobs that have been imported to the American economy because of that same free trade. Siemens alone employs tens of thousands of American workers and Toyota has already produced its ten millionth car in the U.S. Management guru Peter Drucker has said that this country imports far more jobs than it exports and no one has contradicted him. Indeed, those who are loudest in denouncing the exporting of jobs totally ignore the importing of jobs. “

This is the most important message in this article. Point this out to your friends and family and spread the word. If the fact that we import more jobs than we export sinks into the American consciousness then this nonsense about exporting jobs to India et al will hopefully whither on the vine even if it doesn't sink into Ralph Nader's thick skull.

[P.O.E.]

Socialists don't want wealth themselves - they only want to prevent YOU from acquiring it

Can't help but wonder if the latter part of that statement is what motivates George Soros.