Posted on 04/01/2016 4:05:23 AM PDT by expat_panama
The problem is - tax and spend is fully supported by our Federal Reserve. An unbacked, fiat currency, issued by a Federal Reserve that can manipulate interest rates, create money out of nowhere, and buy up debt gives politicians carte blanche to run all the leftist political and social-engineering schemes they want.
Happy Friday Morning -- New Quarter -- April Fool's Day! After a week of what (imho) I'd call last weeks 'window dressing' stocks yesterday were "flat and quiet". My bandwidth's gone now so y'all need to find your own links, but earlier I saw futures expecting more flat stocks and more upbeat metals.
Hopefully I'll have a better connection by opening bell. If not, don't let anything happen till I can get there...
There is some chance that the direction one goes off the cliff will make something of a difference with regards to how soon we hit bottom, how much is left at the bottom, and how regrouping/rebuilding might go, but the manner in which these factors interact is almost anyone’s guess.
The only hope is to increase monetary velocity. Negative interest rates are intended to do that but the money needs a place to go. The increased regulations on banks (but not Fintechs) is distorting how small business owners and consumers borrow. As Obamacare continues to get implemented, it has proven to be as much of a drag on the economy as everyone here predicted.
Relatively low energy prices have kept the economy out of recession but has not increased velocity of money due to the lack of investment opportunities.
We have fiscal/cultural problems.
Dodd-Frank, Sarbanes-Oxley, the criminalization of carbon dioxide, ridiculous product liability laws, lax enforcement of copyright laws, government protection of favored entities, nascent fascism(but I repeat myself), political correctness interfering with the hiring process, Obamacare changing the relationship between employer and employee.......the vilification of the salesman, the entrepreneur, white males and the clergy in the culture and on college campuses, the exaltation of “public service” likewise, massive productivity losses due to the progressive tax code and the ubiquitous state lotteries.....creating a pervasive entitlement mentality, and a short-circuiting of boardroom decision making.
Fiscal/cultural problems combine to paralyze the entrepreneur and erode the work ethic.
Fully supported by the earth too, without the planet the entire federal government would drift into space until it fell into the sun. As for national policy I'd much rather be watching both the earth and the Federal Reserve supporting tax cuts and a respect for private property that would let America create wealth at the rates we had in past decades.
Then we can let governments all over the world "manipulate interest rates, create money out of nowhere" like they've been doing for centuries.
Let’s try tariffs, consumption(sales) taxes and eliminate income taxes. Gee that only worked for the first 130 years....
So the price of goods go up and consumers are *taxed* more on top of it?
Do you want to turn us into North Korea?
Entrepreneur’s are vilified?
Have you been to the bay area lately? Or any incubator in a major city?
Everyone wants to be an entrepreneur because of how worshiped they are now. And its a good thing.
There you go again defending the income tax like a good Communist that you must really be. Stuff it you progressive < expletive deleted >.
Where am I defending an income tax?
Your arguments on trade are right out of Bernie’s handbook.
They are incredibly wrong, come from dubious sources, and have been used by liberals since Reagan’s era.
You actually want higher tariffs+plus a consumption tax. Just imagine how much consumer goods will cost average Americans.
It’s just as likely that the ultimate outcome might be better with a more rapid conclusion, rather than a prolonged slide. What I will say is that there is no magical just-in-time emergency exit waiting for us, and everything will just be great going forward. A fiscal disaster is now unavoidable, and what comes after, nobody can predict, but all of the outcomes I can guess at are dire.
You are so brainwashed you cannot even read a post correclty because when you see the "tariff" your conscious goes into a psychotic rage. Like an animal. I know your type. They used to be called Fascists.
Do you think it was a good idea for Reagan to save Harley Davidson, or do you wish it had just been allowed to die, for an example of free-trade purity in action?
BFL
Until they can't. And then, all hell breaks loose.
Perhaps I should have said entrepreneurship? I suppose I am referring to the fact that in TV shows, kiddie cartoons, Hollywood films, yes, the evil factory owner is ubiquitous. Businessmen in general are depicted as void of any morality whatsoever. Greedy, haughty, corrupt, murderous, even, while those in government, who do display those qualities, are the good guys.
College commencement speeches invariably portray "public service" as the higher calling. Capitalism itself is maligned, if not vilified in the culture at large.
The business owner, small and large, is the openly declared enemy of tax and regulatory policies. It is assumed they are greedy and evil, all of them, and must be restrained by the "good" who chose public service.
I suppose the "budding" entrepreneur is somewhat exalted as you say, but once they achieve success, they join the reviled, in many, many cases.
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