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About LinkBacksSo your objection is based on envy of business making money.Many businesses are losing money now in the recession, so your envy should be reducing.Originally Posted by parakeet
So your objection is based on envy of business making money.Many businesses are losing money now in the recession, so your envy should be reducing.
Simplistic demands for tax cuts, for the sake of tax cuts, is what has got us into the present economic mess in Ireland, i.e., massive structural deficit (taxes not matching spending). It was incessant demands for tax cuts during the boom (the celtic tiger bubble economy years), cheerleaded by the PDs and others, that have now left Ireland needing to borrow 10 (15?)% of current spending. It was this 'counter-cyclical' cutting of taxes during the boom (when they should have risen) that has now meant that taxes cannot now fall during the current depression. It is right-wingers in Ireland, with their singular obsession with low taxes, counter to the theories of neo-liberalism, i.e. taxes should RISE during a boom and fall during recessions, that have led us into this mess. Now when taxes should be falling they are rising and the blame should not be put on the public sector, the unions or common workers. The blame should be put squarely on those that called and insisted and pleaded again and again, in election after election, for taxes to be lowered in the middle of the greatest expansion in Ireland's economic history. Economic idiocy. We must have high taxes now, and for years (decades?) to come, all because of a short-sighted obsession (and mis-understanding of basic economics by the PDs and FF) with tax cuts when they were not appropriate. We have no choice now, taxes must rise...but please direct the blame to where it belongs...onto the shoulders of the PDs, FF and other right-wing cheerleaders that have led us into this mess...
This is the most hateful anguish of all among men, to understand much and to prevail in nothing.
- Herodotus, 9.16, on the Persian-Theban drinking party before the battle of Plataea (487 B.C.)
Yes there seems to be some confusion among posters between taxes and profits. Tax bases are normally fairly static, you don't "make it up on the numbers". In the case of CGT, that was going to explode anyway, looking at the environment, the cuts just added fuel to the fire.
No, it was grotesque increases in current spending that lead to the shortfall. Overall I'd be in favour of higher taxes IF the government was replaced with a responsible alternative, and IF those taxes went into infrastructure and domestic industrial growth projects. This is because people aren't spending now, and if you reduced taxes to 0%, they still wouldn't spend.
So you need to tax them to first off pay for essential services, which shouldn't entail any increase in taxes, and to pay for growth projects because they aren't spending, which does entail increased taxes. Direct those taxes to the right areas and you'll see great returns.
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Current spending had to increase, 'grotesquely' or not, due to the large increase in population of >10% that took place between 2004 and 2008. And even if this (public) spending was 'grotesque' it was still lower as a percentage of GDP than nearly all other OECD countries (if memory serves). The point, in any case, is that this spending was paid for from one-off taxes such as stamp duty, capital gains and the socially unjust one of VAT (hitting the lower paid harder as a percentage of income). When these one-off taxes, the fruits of a boom disappeared, we got the present shortfall as income and other taxes had not kept pace with the growth of current spending. This was the crucial mistake, with some blame going to political overspending (at rates much above inflation and projected growth rates) to buy elections...
We now either wish to maintain services at their present (low) levels or we cut them further to close the structural deficit gap. That is not politically feasible. So, either that or raise taxes...there is no alternative. So, any debate on this is really meaningless. Taxes will be raised no matter the reasons...
This is the most hateful anguish of all among men, to understand much and to prevail in nothing.
- Herodotus, 9.16, on the Persian-Theban drinking party before the battle of Plataea (487 B.C.)
What kind of project Dio's government makey up ones?
A champion of the people emerges with the age-old and appealing promise of "something for nothing" - to be financed through every-increasing taxes. Supply and demand are thrown out of gear - the overhead goes up; the effective use of human energy goes down; the standard of living is lowered because money cannot buy wealth that is not produced.
WEAVER, HENRY GRADY,
Nonsense. The Health budget alone quadrupled since 1997, and we're still stuck with third world facilities. Not to mention that most of the migrant workers would be lower consumers of public services than the Irish, being mostly young and in rude good health.
Unlike most other OECD countries we don't have a large modern standing army.
Road, rail, energy, telecomms. Investment in targeted education like a dedicated biotech university, dedicated materials university, and a dedicated software university, for starters.
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Couldn't most of these things be done by private industry,instead of government .
A champion of the people emerges with the age-old and appealing promise of "something for nothing" - to be financed through every-increasing taxes. Supply and demand are thrown out of gear - the overhead goes up; the effective use of human energy goes down; the standard of living is lowered because money cannot buy wealth that is not produced.
WEAVER, HENRY GRADY,
Why introduce a profit margin to something like road use? Some things the government actually is (or should be) considerably more efficient at doing, exampli gratia the highway system in the US. Education especially.
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They already do it's called a toll.
A champion of the people emerges with the age-old and appealing promise of "something for nothing" - to be financed through every-increasing taxes. Supply and demand are thrown out of gear - the overhead goes up; the effective use of human energy goes down; the standard of living is lowered because money cannot buy wealth that is not produced.
WEAVER, HENRY GRADY,
Which only exists on a tiny minority of roads, and should really be removed.
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