That the vast majority of us don’t grasp the intricacies of economics is fine, just fine. The vast majority of us don’t grasp theoretical physics either, most of us not having caught up with the fact that it’s not all just quantum these days. And Britain has been famous for a millennium on how the vast bulk of the nation is rather behind the curve on cuisine.
However, when it comes to writing about the subject it does help if those doing so have a clue.…
See MoreThat some people have differing views than us capitalist pig dogs is fine, just fine. We are, after all, the liberals around here, freedom and liberty mean that people do indeed have the right to disagree with us. But it is views, morals, desires, which are free to choose, not the basic facts about the universe. You know, those facts which are sacred rather than the comment which is free?
Which brings us to The Guardian, its columnists, and our exemplar for the day, Frances Ryan.…
See MoreBernie Sanders says that rich people – rich people like him and his wife that is – should pay higher taxes. Bernie Sanders does not voluntarily pay those higher taxes he thinks rich people should pay. He’s thus not really in favour of higher taxes upon rich people, is he?
The thing being something that economists like to point to. There’s a difference between expressed preferences and revealed preferences. In the vernacular, talk is cheap and actions count.…
See MoreOne of the things that the usual progressive whines about inequality miss is that the more unequal the incomes in our society the more tax revenue there is to pay for progressive goals. For we do indeed have a progressive taxation system with respect to incomes. So, if the better off among us start earning less money then there will be less tax revenue. Or, if they leave the country for somewhere more amenable, there will be less revenue to pay for all those diversity advisers, five a day consultants and whatever else it is that Jocasta and Tristram do to be paid a crust these days.…
See MoreAs someone who has pottered around several different parts of the world – not just as a tourist, but to live and work – there’s a great deal of truth to this from Quora:
Bogomil Gospodinov, MSc Artificial Intelligence, University of Edinburgh (2018) I’ve stayed in the UK for 5 years. Before that I lived in Bulgaria all my life i.e. for 18 years. Compared to Bulgaria, life in the UK, as I have experienced it so far, is significantly easier.
Michael Marmot is back with another iteration of his insistence that it’s economic inequality which causes health inequality in the UK. The problem with the insistence being that our evidence shows that it’s not true. We’ve had declining inequality this past decade and yet also rising health inequality and rising inequality of lifespans. Reality appears to disagree with the national expert on the subject.
Reality wins in such circumstances.
Marmot’s basic point is that it is economic inequality which causes health inequality.…
See MoreVaried – Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, you know, the brain dead end of the Democrats – seem to think that if you just whack up the rate of tax on the top taxpayers then you’ll get lots more tax revenue. This isn’t in fact so. As we’ve pointed out before those 70 and 90% marginal top tax rates of the 1950s didn’t mean the Federal Government collected more of GDP in revenue. And the percentage of GDP collected by the income tax was actually lower:
We can also look at the percentage of GDP raised by the income tax.
The Intergenerational Foundation has released a report concerning student loans, interest rates and repayments. It’s all most unfair they insist. In the course of this assertion they tell us that income tax rates in Britain are much too high. Much, much, too high. For they tell us that one of these unfairnesses is that those earning more than £25,000 a year face a 40% or so marginal income tax rate as they pay off their student loans.…
See MoreThere’s a certain puzzlement in this from Alexandria Ocasio Cortez. For she tells us that taxes on high earners and the rich should be raised in order to fund the Green New Deal. But this is the same Alexandria Ocasio Cortez who has told us that the Green New Deal is going to make the most lovely profit, isn’t it? And if there’s a profit then why do we need higher taxes to fund it?
Could of course be that Ms.…
See MoreSenator Elizabeth Warren has decided to treat us all to her insistence that she’d make a really good President of the United States. That’s what her announcement of an exploratory committee means. Essentially, she can collect and spend money exploring the idea of running for the Presidency without actually running for it and thus coming up against campaign finance limits. Isn’t it just so great when those insisting there should be campaign finance limits adhere to the spirit of the law so completely?…
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