For John, BLUF: "We must destroy the village to save it!" Nothing to see here; just move along.
Here is a quote that Mr Perry de Havilland, writing from London, likes:
Yet Oxfam also claims, without any real evidence, that excessive inequality hampers economic growth. It suggests that, since we want that economic pie to be as large as possible, we should tax wealth and capital. The problem is that all taxes destroy some economic activity, shrinking that pie. And different taxes do so differently. We also know that capital and wealth taxes destroy more of the pie than almost any others (other than that Robin Hood Tax Oxfam also supported). So the argument is that we must shrink the economic pie in order to stop inequality shrinking it. This has shades of having to destroy the village so as to save it.The source is an article from City AM, by Mr Tom Worstall, "Why we should beware Oxfam’s claims about the world’s richest 1 per cent".
Hat tip to Samizdata.
Regards — Cliff
If America is to remain the great country that we have been, and need to be, we must eschew the European philosophies of socioeconomics. Quite literally, every negative social program in existence in America today and in our history have their philosophical if not operational roots in Europe. Regressive/oppressive taxation is just one example. Welfarism has its roots in Europe beginning as far back as Bismark Germany and progressing (play on words I suppose) through the growth of sociological countries such as Sweden and to a lesser degree Denmark. England (aka GB) has long been an incubator of socialistic and communistic thought translated into national policy. It is this very European progressiveness that has been the impetus behind migration to the US. And yet, we are hell bent on replicating every failed European socio-economic program, and improving on their failure. Welfarism in particular is destroying not only the American economy, but more importantly, American society. Never before in history have so many been so completely dependent on so few.
ReplyDeleteAnd yet, the band plays on.....