| | Help the Poor by Focusing on Growth rather than Inequality Daniel J. Mitchell | Mar 19, 2014
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The political left obviously hopes that it can score political points by pitching some Americans against others with a campaign based on income inequality and class warfare taxation.
Is there any merit to this approach? Are the less fortunate suffering because some are succeeding? And would more government alleviate this problem, to the extent it actually exists?
George Will has a must-read column in the Washington Post on the topic of inequality, including a very relevant observation that the rich on Wall Street are the ones who benefit from the easy-money policy embraced by the Washington establishment.
In this sixth year of near-zero interest rates, the government’s monetary policy breeds inequality. Low rates are intended to drive liquidity into the stock market in search of higher yields. The resulting boom in equity markets — up 30 percent last year alone — has primarily benefited the 10?percent who own 80 percent of all directly owned stocks.But his main point is that the lack of growth in the real economy has been very damaging to ordinary Americans.
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Topics: GOVERNMENT SPENDING WELFARE ECONOMY NEWS INVESTMENT JOBS AND ECONOMY FINANCE FREE MARKETS INCOME INEQUALITY REDISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH DANIEL J MITCHELL
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James64 Wrote:22 minutes ago (12:05 PM)
If gov't wants to "invest", they need to change their methods - first by admitting money won't do it.
In gov't investing, like individual/household investing, there is risk and risk avoidance is high priority. There, the similarity ends.
While individuals/households risk a portion of WHAT THEY HAVE, then making do with somewhat less in the hope of more in the future. They invest with faith in their actions and the market; gov't hasn't that sort of strength or fortitude.
Gov't steals from others first, rather than potentially sacrificing what they have - THEN they try to act like brokers. Sometimes they even consider themselves venture capitalists. These are decision based on fear, not faith.
While fear is a great motivator, it is a lousy decisin-maker.
Gov't "investment", performed in a fashion more typical of real-life economic activity, would be to sacrifice a portion of it's income - to be invested by "brokers" (people, business, etc) into the economy where they see the best return, in the hope (faith) that it will ultimately increase value and bring in more income.
Unfortunately, the current approach of these "professionals" is more akin to going to your neighbor's, stealing $100, then spending it on booze, drugs, and cigarettes - then wondering a week later, why your life doesn't seem to be improving.
The only thing; first, last, and ever; that government can truly affect, economically, is confidence. All else follows along quite predictable paths.
While words may spike it one way, or other; it is the actions that matter. Right now, these actions say: " don't bother, we don't want growth."
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James64 Wrote:1 hour ago (11:22 AM)
Well, the Left will never do anything to truly promote growth, because once people hold property, they start drifting Right. Private property earned has that effect. There is a difference between "me losing mine" and "you losing yours" - tho there shouldn't be. After all, once "yours" is gone, who is left, but me?
In the end, this is why the Progressive/liberal/social/left experiments fail, they seek to build thru destruction and confiscation until there is not enough left for either. |
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