Posted on 12/06/2018 5:37:33 AM PST by reaganaut1
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It is likely that the economic ideas of the Yellow Vests are primitive and driven by resentment. Macron has suppressed the capital tax on financial assets, which had probably reduced overall tax receipts by driving rich people from France; but in conjunction with an increased tax on the consumption of a vital commodity, he gives the impression (not helped by the fact that he once worked in finance) that he unduly favors the rich at the expense of the poor.
Many people I know want six impossible things before breakfast. They clearly see that high taxes on individuals and enterprises, as well as the burden of regulation, inhibit economic activity; at the same time, they demand that state-funded public services and subsidies such as Social Security should not be reduced. The only way of squaring this circle, other than by borrowing, is by raising taxes. Thus, taxes on capital, already proved ineffective because those who would pay them in any quantity soon decamp to friendlier tax climes, are still the solution that most favor. It is perhaps no coincidence that the renowned economist, Thomas Piketty, who proposed a worldwide tax on capital, should be French. Such a tax would close the escape route of the rich French and enable the government to shear them like sheep.
The underlying problem in France is the same one faced by many countries, some to an even greater extent: namely of budgets, both public and private, that are never balanced, and of the consumption of more than is produced. Après nous, le déluge is not so much a cynical bon mot as an economic policy.
Macron was pelted with eggs as he spoke at the site of the riots once they had died down.
(Excerpt) Read more at city-journal.org ...
Pure unvarnished truth which covered the real inflation rate of 15 percent a year for food in recent years.
I always love the invocation of philosophy.
We are becoming a de-industrialized nation trading real estate and food for durable goods. They win - we lose. Thanks Free Traitors™!
Soon every grocery store will have an armed guard by every meat counter. I saw steak at a Food Lion ( the ghetto of grocery stores) for over $9.00/pd.
An Old Testament scenario of no straw for the Jews to make bricks.
Not only does socialism fail because it creates a disincentive for people to work and create, it also fails because government cannot deliver the goods and services promised.
Government is, by its very nature, inefficient, incompetent, and corrupt. Any corporation that was run like government (whether local, state, or national) would be bound to fail.
The French government doesn't need any more revenues, it doesn't even need to cut expenditures...it needs to be tossed out and reconstituted.
This group is frugal...so to escape France and it's taxes they hop on the EuroTrain to UK
and being frugal...they purchase one-way tickets to the first stop, the town of Ash in Kent.
The town of Ash is now the center of French entrepreneurs
If you do food inflation by itself...from the 2nd half of 2013 to the end of 2017...French food inflation rates were hovering between .75 to 1.25 percent. This year, 2018...they peaked near 2.8 percent in the summer period. You can walk into any grocery in France (or Germany) for that matter, and see regular in-country fruit/vegetables at hefty rates compared to five years ago.
If you ask any French/German housewife to go over budget issues in 2018...they will all say that their grocery bills are up 15 to 20-percent compared to 2016. A lot of this relates back to the drought period of the 2018 summer. Course, the insiders to the Macron system don’t see that problem and can’t comprehend the suffering to working-class people.
Doesn’t matter if you believe that or not. It’s fact.
They are pursuing their agenda even harder with Trump around. They are desperate and many are waking to their ideals.
When I was in Kiev, every food store I was in had many men with AKMs all over the place.
The correlation between leftist government and misery is cause for that government to increase its authority, arguing that misery must be wrung out of society by the implementation of government wringers squeezing the populas into ever more confining quarters. Only when the misery index stands at 100% can true equity be achieved.
There are multiple sides to this.
The first, and most obvious, is consumer reaction to the gas (”Global Warming”) tax and the increased cost of living. As Randy Quaid (”Cousin Eddie”) said in “Christmas Vacation,” . . . “Sh!##er’s Full!”
Every nation at some point reaches it’s “Sh!##er’s Full” moment. Even the USSR reached it.
A second-—not to be discounted-—issue is that there genuinely are commie radical anarchists who have infiltrated the movement and want to bring down the government so a full-fledged commie can move in. This is nothing new-—it happened in the “Freeze” marches of the 1980s and in virtually every western protest. They are a minority, but not to be ignored because few really know they are there, working under the surface.
Third, there is the anti-immigrant sentiment, though we haven’t seen much of this yet. But it’s there.
History tells us that while we may not like Macaroni, if this turns into a full fledged revolution, the results are very seldom good, especially in France. I think the best that could occur would be Maracroni forced out, Le Pen elected in an emergency (DeGaullish) election, and France begin to address its real problems by getting out of the EU, closing the borders, and beginning the slow Reconquista.
It is my understanding that food and gasoline are excluded from inflation calculations because of inherent volitility. I’m not an economist so will not argue the point.
It is my understanding that the US$ has been strengthening. I think that a strong US$ is a contray indicator to inflation and thus would argue that inflation is in fact, not out of control...... yet.
Fixed it.
In Otto keep inflation numbers low govt removed some of the factors. Been to the grocery store lately?
Sacre Bleu!!! Cheese eaters , that is. The French are slaves to their government and will never give up their 35 hour work week. The communists run the country for now until the islamists boot them out. Roquefort on demand! as well as the cake they will eat with it. Such a pitiful society. I wonder when the Eiffel Tower will be deemed anti something or other and the Arc de Triomphe will become a national disgrace. De Gaulle would be proud since that was the only emotion he ever felt, even though he was a complete a-hole, nose and all, front to back.
Tax hike!!! Ain’t socialism grand??? How ‘bout it Frenchie’s?? You wanted socialist presidents, now you have it, again. Enjoy or burn down Paris!!! Losers.
People believed in limited government, with limited costs; now people want the government to take care of them from cradle to grave with no expectations of the people themselves - and no contributions required.
France died in 1918, even though they won the war (or at least “phase one” - they lost “phase two” quickly 22 years later). The population never recovered, and they still won’t breed - the same stake in the heart of all of Western Europe.
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