tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1883551996126668365.post2973162220545012289..comments2024-01-11T21:24:44.379-07:00Comments on A Blog of Tom: More about the obscene lie of "trickle-down" economicsTom Cantinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06234109728445439457noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1883551996126668365.post-31053071776339461362016-06-01T22:47:23.063-06:002016-06-01T22:47:23.063-06:00Looks like EI argument all over to me. The way you...Looks like EI argument all over to me. The way you approach it, it is not about the way government rules or community works but narrow-mindedness of those who argue, who prefer to concentrate on personal gain as an end game. That and seeing economy as a zero-sum game. These people just managed to get ahead and now see those behind as a dead weight, or the competitors for "thy nookie". So out of narrow mindedness they look for ways to get rid of the "freeloading scum" completely ignoring really big players that are being helped in the process. Or even worse, helping them on purpose, hoping to get some token of appreciation in return or maybe even chance to join their ranks (hard earned, for sure). So like John Oliver said "Yup, I can clearly see this game is rigged, which is what is going to make so sweet when I win this thing."<br />Sounds rather ominous. Will be waiting for your post.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11804930522890773523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1883551996126668365.post-36726077993469684812016-06-01T20:54:44.133-06:002016-06-01T20:54:44.133-06:00Thank you for your comment. You're right, of c...Thank you for your comment. You're right, of course, that taxes do still figure into the profit/loss analysis, though arithmetically they're supposed to do so by reducing positive profit only; they're not supposed to push one from profit into loss territory. And yes, that will certainly factor into the cost-benefit analysis of whether it's worthwhile to go through the effort of hiring someone new.<br /><br />I'm not trying to argue that taxes are just peachy keen and don't have negative effects. Low taxes are in many ways better than high taxes. But the problem here seems to be that people are so personally invested in THEIR tax bill, and so motivated to seize absolutely any old argument that seems to support lowering taxes, that they will glom onto sloppy math (i.e. not understanding that taxes are on PROFITS, not revenue), or overly simplistic economics (I for one welcome our new job-creators) that fail to take into account that on the system level, money isn't a scarce resource that must be carefully allocated between government and private use, but a fluid that flows THROUGH the economy; the health of the economy has nothing to do with how many dollars there are, but how they're circulating.<br /><br />I have been thinking of a way to formulate this argument more clearly, but I haven't got it yet. I'd say to expect a blog post on the subject soon, but I really have no idea how soon.<br />Tom Cantinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06234109728445439457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1883551996126668365.post-77578799368900739402016-05-31T10:37:07.888-06:002016-05-31T10:37:07.888-06:00I saw that argument and enjoyed it much. Yet while...I saw that argument and enjoyed it much. Yet while not trying to protect that particular business owner or his logic, I would still like to try and play devil's advocate in a sense.<br />While you are correct in saying that only profits are being taxed and therefore taxes are not to be blamed for lack of desire to hire people, taxes are still a part of PnL equation. Higher tax would mean that more profits would need to be made to retain the same amount of money, which means less income spent on expenses, specifically salaries. Granted, it has more to do with the will to retain more profits than will to pay taxes, but people seem to cling to that sort of thing..<br />The other argument goes as following: adding workers or increasing their salary is always seen as a discrete increment (regardless of your profits or income, your expenses will always increase by Xk dollars a year), which may tip the PnL equation over the balance for quite some time, until the worker gets up to speed and start pulling his worth. While it is obvious to me that it has nothing to do with taxes or trickling down of any sort, that transitional period is what I am pretty sure a lot of business owners refer to when saying that they cannot afford to hire new people. My problem here is how to properly separate the necessary risk of expanding your workforce from hiding from that risk behind "high tax" or "trickle down" reasoning.<br />I am writing these down here not in order to protect their logic but to find arguments against it myself, as I am afraid I fail to see the proper response to these arguments so far. Your help will be much appreciated.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11804930522890773523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1883551996126668365.post-26605536790372665052016-05-04T23:19:11.260-06:002016-05-04T23:19:11.260-06:00I don't think he's winning. He has, to be ...I don't think he's winning. He has, to be sure, secured the Republican nomination, which means he's won that particular contest, but the Republican Party has long ago ceased to even try to represent anything close to a majority of Americans, and I suspect (and hope) this will become stunningly evident in November. It's very important to him to be SEEN as a "winner", which part of why he spends so much time calling other people losers, but we have no obligation to amplify and validate his message. <br /><br />Unless, of course, you mean he's winning in the sense of being a beneficiary of the trickle-down ideology?Tom Cantinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06234109728445439457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1883551996126668365.post-10555749291446657572016-05-04T20:29:36.120-06:002016-05-04T20:29:36.120-06:00Why do you think Donald Trump is winning in Americ...Why do you think Donald Trump is winning in America?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com