The Finance – Economic – Political Articles
The Real Spending Problem . . . . New York Times
It’s Lose-Lose vs. Win-Win-Win-Win . . . . New York Times
My Comment& Opinion
These 1st two quotes are from the Tom Friedman article.
“ . . . our entire political system is guilty of the “soft bigotry of low expectations” for ourselves.”
“But a carbon tax that could close the deficit and clean the air, weaken petro-dictators, strengthen the dollar, drive clean-tech innovation and still leave some money to lower corporate and income taxes is off the table.”
The next quote is from “The Real Spending Problem” editorial:
“Each year the government doles out tax breaks worth $1.1 trillion. That is more than the cost of Medicare and Medicaid combined. It is more than Social Security.”
I have commented – perhaps even railed – at the need for an economic “level playing field.” The 100% purest form would be if there were no tax breaks. None. Note that if there were no tax breaks, we would “solve” our deficit & debt problem – immediately – of course, if such a “fix” didn’t affect the real economy – which, of course, it would! Economists call that “holding other things else constant.” (ceteris paribus.) ( investopedia.com )
With all that said, I still feel both these approaches have merit. All tax laws distort a “pure” free market economy to some extent. Therefore, it seems to me that those distortions should clearly – overwhelmingly – be in the best interest of our nation in total – not simply in the best interest of a small group of people, industry, or other small group.
The How-To Articles
Visualizing Bob Farrell’s 10 Investing Rules . . . . streettalklive.com
Other Reads
Chief of US Pacific Forces Calls Climate Change Biggest Worry . . . . . BostonGlobe.com
No End to Trauma for Older Vets . . . . New York Times