3 ms·

You're describe an age where the government was a wash with surplus dollars. Secondly, most of these research institutions run as non-profits that effectively j

by rapatel0 11mo ago

You're describe an age where the government was a wash with surplus dollars. Secondly, most of these research institutions run as non-profits that effectively just cover costs (but run a large hedge fund as a side business) The escalation in costs have come from: - Incentives around US News College rankings (and the amenities that drive the rankings) - Administrative (non-teaching, non-research) bloat Research is definitely in need of reform though, but not sure these outcomes are actually causal or even corrilated.

entropicdrifter 11mo ago
>You're describe an age where the government was a wash with surplus dollars. Hey, good point. We should really bring back that 90% top tax bracket rate to get the government back to being financially solvent again.
- philipallstar 11mo ago
  The government has a spending problem, not an income problem.
  - throwway120385 11mo ago
    Every spending problem is also an income problem. Whether you see it as a spending problem or an income problem is really just showing whether you value the things we spend money on or not.
    - philipallstar 11mo ago
      Yes, correct.
- rapatel0 11mo ago
  In the 20s-40s (pre-ww2), tax revenue was ~2% of GDP. It is currently >20% of GDP It's a spending problem. You're anchoring on a talking point with out actually running numbers. Don't believe me, run the numbers yourself.
  - myrmidon 11mo ago
    I think your 2% number is extremely misleading. From what I can see, taxation as GDP percentage was never really under 10% since 1950, while big cuts to the top tax rate happened in the 60s and 80s (and the federal budget was continuously in the red since mid 70s basically, with one brief exception before 2000).
    - rapatel0 11mo ago
      OP was specifically talking about the 20s, 30s, 40s but just to add a complete picture. Just to add some empiricism to the conversation Fiscal Year Tariffs/Customs Individual Income Corporate Income Top Marginal Rate Receipts (% GDP) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1928 14.0% (approx) DNF DNF 25.0% DNF 1935 8.4% 14.6% 14.7% 63.0% 5.1% 1940 6.1% 13.6% 18.3% 81.1% 6.7% 1944 0.9% 45.0% 33.9% 94.0% 20.5% 1952 1.2% (approx) 42.2% 32.1% 92.0% 19.0% 1960 1.3% (approx) 42.0% 23.0% 91.0% 17.8% 1970 1.1% (approx) 46.0% 18.0% 71.8% 17.9% 1980 0.8% (approx) 47.0% 12.0% 70.0% 18.9% 1990 1.3% (approx) 45.0% 9.0% 28.0% 17.8% 2000 1.1% (approx) 49.0% 11.0% 39.6% 20.0% 2010 1.2% (approx) 41.0% 9.0% 35.0% 14.6% 2015 1.3% (approx) 47.0% 10.0% 39.6% 17.6% 2019 2.0% (approx) 50.0% 7.0% 37.0% 16.3% ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DNF=Did not find - Tariffs fell from ≈14% of receipts in 1928 to <1% by WWII -> income taxes replaced trade duties. - Individual income taxes overtook all other sources after 1943 - Corporate shares peaked during war mobilization (~⅓ of revenue in 1944–52). - Top marginal tax rate was surprisingly not too corrilated to government revenue. (REALLY wish HN did basic markdown formatting)
4ggr0 11mo ago
you're describing this during an age where trillions of dollars are spent for the military industrial complex, which makes it hard to believe that there's not enough money. priorities are just...the way they are.

entropicdrifter 11mo ago

>You're describe an age where the government was a wash with surplus dollars. Hey, good point. We should really bring back that 90% top tax bracket rate to get the government back to being financially solvent again.

philipallstar 11mo ago
The government has a spending problem, not an income problem.
- throwway120385 11mo ago
  Every spending problem is also an income problem. Whether you see it as a spending problem or an income problem is really just showing whether you value the things we spend money on or not.
  - philipallstar 11mo ago
    Yes, correct.
rapatel0 11mo ago
In the 20s-40s (pre-ww2), tax revenue was ~2% of GDP. It is currently >20% of GDP It's a spending problem. You're anchoring on a talking point with out actually running numbers. Don't believe me, run the numbers yourself.
- myrmidon 11mo ago
  I think your 2% number is extremely misleading. From what I can see, taxation as GDP percentage was never really under 10% since 1950, while big cuts to the top tax rate happened in the 60s and 80s (and the federal budget was continuously in the red since mid 70s basically, with one brief exception before 2000).
  - rapatel0 11mo ago
    OP was specifically talking about the 20s, 30s, 40s but just to add a complete picture. Just to add some empiricism to the conversation Fiscal Year Tariffs/Customs Individual Income Corporate Income Top Marginal Rate Receipts (% GDP) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1928 14.0% (approx) DNF DNF 25.0% DNF 1935 8.4% 14.6% 14.7% 63.0% 5.1% 1940 6.1% 13.6% 18.3% 81.1% 6.7% 1944 0.9% 45.0% 33.9% 94.0% 20.5% 1952 1.2% (approx) 42.2% 32.1% 92.0% 19.0% 1960 1.3% (approx) 42.0% 23.0% 91.0% 17.8% 1970 1.1% (approx) 46.0% 18.0% 71.8% 17.9% 1980 0.8% (approx) 47.0% 12.0% 70.0% 18.9% 1990 1.3% (approx) 45.0% 9.0% 28.0% 17.8% 2000 1.1% (approx) 49.0% 11.0% 39.6% 20.0% 2010 1.2% (approx) 41.0% 9.0% 35.0% 14.6% 2015 1.3% (approx) 47.0% 10.0% 39.6% 17.6% 2019 2.0% (approx) 50.0% 7.0% 37.0% 16.3% ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DNF=Did not find - Tariffs fell from ≈14% of receipts in 1928 to <1% by WWII -> income taxes replaced trade duties. - Individual income taxes overtook all other sources after 1943 - Corporate shares peaked during war mobilization (~⅓ of revenue in 1944–52). - Top marginal tax rate was surprisingly not too corrilated to government revenue. (REALLY wish HN did basic markdown formatting)

4ggr0 11mo ago

you're describing this during an age where trillions of dollars are spent for the military industrial complex, which makes it hard to believe that there's not enough money. priorities are just...the way they are.