I'm no economist. Thank God. Which means that I haven't had my veins pumped full of economism (a religion that is very much the opiate of the academies, and a much more effective soporific than Christianity, Islam, or Judaism).
"I never met a tax cut I didn't like," said the Nobel-winning Chile-miraclizing Milton Friedman. Yeah? Well I've met a few. For instance, every single one of George's gifts to the ultra-wealthy. I know, I know: "a rising tide raises all boats." Which is great if you own a yacht. If you don't own even a dinghy, then a rising tide merely destroys your home and drowns your neighbors, as we've just witnessed in New Orleans. If those tax cuts (along with the Iraq war) hadn't gutted FEMA's budget, then perhaps we might have seen an adequate response.
Even Reagan met a few tax cuts he didn't like, which is why he raised taxes during his administration. Not to mention George's Dad, who read his own lips, carefully, and discovered that they in fact whispered: we need more revenue.
Nevertheless, mainstream economists (not those Krugman firebrands) will tell you that the economy cannot withstand a high tax rate. The economy. Not the wealthy — who cannot stand a high tax rate — but the nation's economic health, and competitive edge, require taxes to be mean and lean. Since I never took ECON 101, let me detour around those damned statistics and turgid prose, to present an interesting little fact:
Finland has the world's most competitive economy. Finland. Edging out even the United States. This from a survey of 11,000 business leaders, in the Global Competitiveness Report, released today by the World Economic Forum.
Augusto Lopez-Claros, chief economist and director of the Geneva-based institute's global competitiveness program, "said the Nordic nations were disproving the common belief that high taxes hinder competitiveness:
"'While the business communities in the Nordic countries point to high tax rates as a potential problem area, there is no evidence that these are adversely affecting the ability of these countries to compete effectively in world markets, or to provide to their respective populations some of the highest standards of living in the world,' he said. 'Indeed, the high levels of government tax revenue have delivered world-class educational establishments, an extensive safety net, and a highly motivated and skilled labor force.'"
Damn. And if I had a PhD from Chicago, I'd know that was false. I could marshal impressive models and statistics (and some truly bad writing — ever read Friedman?) to demonstrate the counterfactual nature of that, um, fact. I might even win a Nobel Prize for my tendentious special pleading.
Article comments
1 - WTF
Yeah, right on, and too bad the most religious, kindest, most inept President of all cooked it up. Who? Jimmy Carter.
2 - Douglas Anthony Cooper
Actually, Carter did *not* cook it up as a "faith-based initiative" -- he set up FEMA as a fully funded, independent federal agency. Under Clinton, it was an astonishingly competent entity. No, it became a faith- (as opposed to reality-) based initiative under George Tartuffe Bush. And fucked up monumentally.
3 - The Searcher
Are the United States and Finland equal in all other factors beside tax rate?
4 - Douglas Anthony Cooper
Well, no. Another conference, meeting yesterday in China, pointed out that Finland has the lowest rate of corruption in the world. No DeLays, no Savafians, no Roves. So yeah, that helps economically (not to mention morally).
5 - The Searcher
Interesting idea, and certainly makes for good rhetoric, which for most these days is usually enough to pass for fact anyway :)
6 - WTF
FEMA has never been a fully functional, competent anything. If your talking about Andrew, forget it, the national guard was hard at work, while FEMA was trying to figure out why communications were so screwed up. I was there. FEMA finally realized that all the money they invested in HF radio gear was only good for the long haul. To top that off, FEMA relied heavily on FAX based communications. Email happened in 1998 or 1999. Oh, and when Floyd hit, guess what FEMA couldn't understand why they couldn't broadcast emergencies on cell phones.... having given up on radio communications in favor of fax/email/cellular. FEMA is a bunch of dunderheads. FEMA has always been a delagating authority, they don't coordinate, they don't do anything except show up and show people how to fill out paperwork for Federal money to replace their uninsured coastal flood zone homes.
7 - The Searcher
Well, if you look at Mr. Cooper's posting history on this site, it's not difficult to tell what groove his record is spinning in.
8 - Douglas Anthony Cooper
Damn. Which groove would that be? I'm still trying to figure it out.
9 - The Searcher
Well, why don't you reply with the titles of say, your last 10 posts and see what answers you get to that question :)
10 - Douglas Anthony Cooper
Ah, but if you read beyond the titles, things get murky.
11 - Temple Stark
Douglas,
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