I am a fan of Danielle Park, a Portfolio Manager, attorney, finance author, and writer of the Juggling Dynamite blog. I have always found her thought process and reasoning to make sense. I believe she has a keen understanding of how the economy works.
It was therefore with great surprise that I read her post We Have to Give to Get, in which she espouses the theory that what we really need to fix the economy is higher tax rates! No kidding, that’s what she says. Her basic theory is that a large divide between the wealth of the rich and the wealth of the poor leads to revolution, so the government should get more money from the well to do, and use that money for massive infrastructure spending, and that would create jobs, and everything would be fine.
I disagree, so I posted this comment on her blog; I’m not sure if my comments will be posted, so if not, here they are:
Attention Ms. Park: someone has stolen your identity and is posting under your name on your blog! This doesn’t sound like you.
I agree that an oppressively huge gap between the rich and the poor can lead to revolution. The real question is what to do about it. Your solution is “higher tax rates, smaller governments.” You are half right. Smaller governments means less government spending, so that consumers can decide where to spend their money.
Cite the case where higher tax rates have led to smaller governments? I can’t think of one. Governments are an entity unto themselves. They want to grow bigger to increase their power, and to grow bigger they need more tax revenue (or more deficit spending, or money printing).
You assume a benevolent government, that will take my money and spend it on what’s best for me. You assume the government knows better than me where to spend my money. That’s absurd.
You suggest higher tax revenues be used for more infrastructure spending. Great, let’s build a highway to no-where, and then we will all be rich! Let’s build huge government buildings to house government workers to deliver services we don’t need; then we will all be rich! That’s what governments do; they take from the rich (or middle class) and give to the lower middle class.
Here’s a better idea: let’s put the wealth in the hands of people who can make decisions based on what the people want. If I invest $1,000 in a business and the business invests in something silly, the business goes bankrupt. If the business makes wise decisions, it creates jobs, and real wealth, which is the best way to “re-distribute” wealth.
I would argue that successful business people, who created true wealth, have done more to help the poor than every government program ever conceived. Let’s leave it to the people to decide where the people spend their money, not to some unaccountable, faceless bureaucrat.
Loading ...