3 ms·

75% in taxes? Get a grip man... taxes are quite high, but definitely not that high. Check out this report by the tax foundation, which breaks down federal and s

75% in taxes? Get a grip man... taxes are quite high, but definitely not that high. Check out this report by the tax foundation, which breaks down federal and state taxes by the average household: http://www.taxfoundation.org/files/sr151.pdf http://www.taxfoundation.org/files/sr151.pdf

noonespecial 19y ago
Good link. Yes, in fact I did pull that number out of my... well, you know. It was merely to illustrate that such a point exists. After a certain absolute percent, raising taxes will REDUCE tax receipts and wreck your economy at the same time. I'm certain were all the way down the back side of that curve near the "wreck your economy" shoulder. Yes, even though our absolute tax is lower than some smaller countries whos economies have evolved to operate at a greatly reduced rate. It does also miss many of the 'hidden' taxes we still pay. For example, everyone in this state has to get a silly sticker on their car every year so the mechanic can pretend to look at the breaks and then try to charge you $35 for a $5 light bulb. The sticker costs $25 but I've never made it thru in less than an hour. The price of the silly sticker AND the wasted hour is a tax. There's one $25 fee and at least one wasted hour for every car in the state. This kind of thing is particularly noxious because they could have just had a little courage and added the $25 to the regular car tax, but instead wasted 100's of thousands of man hours a year on what is almost always a fictitious "inspection". You should see what it takes to be able to build a shed in the back yard for your lawnmower... Inflation is usually a tax as well. If a government needs money, can't borrow it, and its not politically expedient to raise taxes again, it can simply print up some money and steal a little from each of the other dollars that people already have. There's also start of and end of life taxes that have to be amortized over the years of the life of a person. If you make a little money or live in a place that sees real estate rise, this is non-trivial. Even the tax code ITSELF is a tax. The ever increasing burden of compliance is nothing but dead weight for individuals and businesses. Finally, there's a stack of extra tax and extra man-hour-wasting hassle headed your way if you have the audacity to try to work for yourself and not simply settle into a nice job in an industry with lobbyists and get your w2 like everyone else. This is probably the one that interests the readers of this forum the most. One slightly other off subject comment on the article. The government using taxation as a vehicle to transfer wealth from the "rich" to the "poor" is a recipe for economic disaster. Ever dollar "robin hooded" is a dollar sucked directly and completely from economic growth. Its a near perfect disincentive for innovators to innovate. Sorry to slasdot/troll the issue but I am passionate about this particular area! The point of all this is, there are better ways to fix the economy than an interest rate cut!
- curi 19y ago
  I basically agree with all you say, except the idea that all this constitutes being on the verge of massive disaster. One reason is that, on the whole, a wide variety of things are getting better over time. Including our wealth -- we are getting richer, despite all our taxes. Another issue is that if we are on the verge, then, for example, the UK is already too far gone. But that doesn't really seem to be the case. Civilization is very resilient.
  - noonespecial 19y ago
    I guess that depends on the magnitude of disaster meant by "massive". A 1930's style depression is unlikely at this point because so much of the worlds wealth and means of producing wealth is now located outside of the USA. The USA is still a major player in the world economy but it is no longer the center. That said this downturn may bust us Americans down a notch or two on the world stage, perhaps even enough that we have to make some serious lifestyle changes. So the question emerges: If I can't drive my hummer down to Mickey-D's and supersize that please... is it a disaster or what?
    - curi 19y ago
      We're going to have a disaster relative to the rest of the world? I thought most countries had even worse taxes.

noonespecial 19y ago

Good link. Yes, in fact I did pull that number out of my... well, you know. It was merely to illustrate that such a point exists. After a certain absolute percent, raising taxes will REDUCE tax receipts and wreck your economy at the same time. I'm certain were all the way down the back side of that curve near the "wreck your economy" shoulder. Yes, even though our absolute tax is lower than some smaller countries whos economies have evolved to operate at a greatly reduced rate. It does also miss many of the 'hidden' taxes we still pay. For example, everyone in this state has to get a silly sticker on their car every year so the mechanic can pretend to look at the breaks and then try to charge you $35 for a $5 light bulb. The sticker costs $25 but I've never made it thru in less than an hour. The price of the silly sticker AND the wasted hour is a tax. There's one $25 fee and at least one wasted hour for every car in the state. This kind of thing is particularly noxious because they could have just had a little courage and added the $25 to the regular car tax, but instead wasted 100's of thousands of man hours a year on what is almost always a fictitious "inspection". You should see what it takes to be able to build a shed in the back yard for your lawnmower... Inflation is usually a tax as well. If a government needs money, can't borrow it, and its not politically expedient to raise taxes again, it can simply print up some money and steal a little from each of the other dollars that people already have. There's also start of and end of life taxes that have to be amortized over the years of the life of a person. If you make a little money or live in a place that sees real estate rise, this is non-trivial. Even the tax code ITSELF is a tax. The ever increasing burden of compliance is nothing but dead weight for individuals and businesses. Finally, there's a stack of extra tax and extra man-hour-wasting hassle headed your way if you have the audacity to try to work for yourself and not simply settle into a nice job in an industry with lobbyists and get your w2 like everyone else. This is probably the one that interests the readers of this forum the most. One slightly other off subject comment on the article. The government using taxation as a vehicle to transfer wealth from the "rich" to the "poor" is a recipe for economic disaster. Ever dollar "robin hooded" is a dollar sucked directly and completely from economic growth. Its a near perfect disincentive for innovators to innovate. Sorry to slasdot/troll the issue but I am passionate about this particular area! The point of all this is, there are better ways to fix the economy than an interest rate cut!

curi 19y ago
I basically agree with all you say, except the idea that all this constitutes being on the verge of massive disaster. One reason is that, on the whole, a wide variety of things are getting better over time. Including our wealth -- we are getting richer, despite all our taxes. Another issue is that if we are on the verge, then, for example, the UK is already too far gone. But that doesn't really seem to be the case. Civilization is very resilient.
- noonespecial 19y ago
  I guess that depends on the magnitude of disaster meant by "massive". A 1930's style depression is unlikely at this point because so much of the worlds wealth and means of producing wealth is now located outside of the USA. The USA is still a major player in the world economy but it is no longer the center. That said this downturn may bust us Americans down a notch or two on the world stage, perhaps even enough that we have to make some serious lifestyle changes. So the question emerges: If I can't drive my hummer down to Mickey-D's and supersize that please... is it a disaster or what?
  - curi 19y ago
    We're going to have a disaster relative to the rest of the world? I thought most countries had even worse taxes.