I agree wholeheartedly that the US government has seriously disadvantaged the USA in respect of trade. US goods are exported embedded with the full cost of the US government, and then the importing countries ADD their cost of government to the good. Advantage: FOREIGN COUNTRY!
Foreign governments rebate the cost of government to the companies that exported the goods and then the USA DOES NOT add the full cost of government to them. Advantage: FOREIGN COUNTRY!
IOW, exported US goods carry the burden of two governmets in their retail price in foreign markets and goods imported into the USA carry the burden, at best, of 1/2 a government.
Advantage: Foreign goods, both at home AND abroad!
I no wonder we have a huge and growing trade deficit!
The FairTax will restore the manufacturing base and level the playing field vis a vis USA manufactured goods and foreign goods.
Both at home and abroad, USA will be competing on a level playing field.
For more information, to to https://www.fairtax.org.
And that's just the minimum. The real cost of having unemployed includes the opportunity costs that are lost when they are not producing in this country.
But I'm not in favor of the fair tax. It would equalize some of the burden and get rid of the hated IRS, to be replaced with another hated agency to collect the consumption tax. But the problem with consumption taxes is that they aren't as stable as income taxes. Government revenues fall when consumer psychology causes the market to fall. Income taxes fall too, but not nearly as quick or severe.
I'd like to see the tariff income used to reduce individual and corporate income taxes as well as to pay down the debt. The real debt reduction would come from Americans going back to work and paying income taxes instead of receiving government support.
Not sure what you're really saying here. If you mean the cost of regulation and taxes, I agree. However, saying that our exported goods bear the full cost of the gov't doesn't follow, nor does it follow that our exports bear the cost of gov't for the importing country. If England imports agricultural products from us, watches from Switzerland, and cars from Germany, you seem to be saying that our goods bear the cost of the British gov't, but the other countries don't? Make no sense.
I would support the Fair Tax if they drop the idea of a prebate. If there are poor people who truly need help, let charities do it like it used to be. We have 5 generations of people on welfare in this country and probably 99% could work. I like the German system where, if you take public assistance, you must show up a gov't building every day at 7AM to clean toilets, sweep streets, or whatever else you're told to do. It's amazing how fast people under that system find new jobs.
The prebate scares me because it will be the politicians who set the prebate level and they will use that to buy votes just like they do now. My tax dollars for free cell phones? WTF.
Solution: 1) 17% flat tax, no deductions, as discussed by Friedman, 2) any politician who votes for a budget that increases the deficit by 3% or more cannot run for reelection. 3) Congress can no longer delegate regulatory authority.
Yeah, I know it will never happen. The truly sad part is that it should.