Sunday, December 23, 2007

My Basic Attack on the Affluent

Greg Mankiw tells Us the Fed is doing an excellent job, and We should allow it to do its duty. His entire article in the NY Times suggests that a natural Cost of Money does not exist, or if it does exist, the Fed is the natural instrument to nullify that Cost. Greg also mentions that loss of Currency value (which some fools would even consider to be Inflation--well me, with the Inflation simply pushed off on the Consumer) does not matter, as long as Business has a cheap access to funds with which to pay off their rising debt (he lacks entrance to the deep Question of whether this attitude fueled the Credit Crisis through provision of deeply inadequate real returns on the Money). I suppose Greg holds to the Fed reaction that overall Inflation numbers can be ignored, as long as Core Inflation remains low (even when the Volatile sector begins to absorb a much greater share of the finance of the Economy). Perhaps my greatest criticism of Greg’s actually good article lay in the assumption of a Intellectual aristocracy, remembering that a great part of the success of Hitler, Stalin, and Mao Zedong lay in the excellent intellectual advisors they had in abundance; come to think of it, the Saudi family is probably the most excellently trained Intellectual family in the World, and may even surrender Third World Slave practices if Americans apply high levels of bad PR to such activity.

Here is an article which should be titled ‘Tax Evasion for the Affluent’. I enjoy the term of ‘Tax harvesting’ as used in the article, which for Those slow to understand such terms, can be translated as Measures to cheat on your Taxes, so the Middle Class will wind up with more of the Tax Bill. This title, though, may cloud the Issue with Class Conflict issues. Maybe the title should be ‘How to utilize Tax discounts which your Employees are forbidden to use’. No, that will still not do it! Let’s go with the title ‘How to Draw your own Tax Bill, using the Pencil set of Tax Discounts built just for you’. Remember, this article is written only for Those owing more in Taxes higher than the Income levels of most Labor.

Mark Thoma finds an article from Gregory Clark which claims We can survive the experience of cheap Oil. I have nothing against that View believing it myself, but detest the avoidance of true discussion of what must be done to obtain such an idyllic state of being. Things like Federal prohibition of Property Tax exclusions, coupled with a progressive, graduated Property taxation based on square footage. Vehicle taxation set by Miles traveled, adjusted by the MPG enjoyed by Vehicle type. Legal enjoinment of Home Delivery of all Purchases, making Public Transportation more attractive. Legal requirement of Local and State Governments to fully fund Public Transportation facilities, based upon a national grid of Public Transportation. A federally-mandated Public Parking tax of $2 per Space, collected immediately and good only for a 24-hour period; think on how many Meter Maids could be employed collecting taxes. Employers could pay up to $2 per Day for Employee Parking, but going out for Lunch will cost the Employee. An Energy Tax will be mandated which will be set by Building Temperatures determined by Utility monitors based on an internal Temperature between 68–78 Degree F, with Tax frequency based upon Hours at each Temperature (square footage not adjusted because of the graduated Property tax based on footage). It is only these measures which will change American preference patterns, and lose the desire for high Energy use. lgl

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