[GJM] #845, Re: [lbo-talk] The flat tax and income inequality

[wesburt at juno.com]

My thanks to Ken Hanly for the first, and  last two, 
of fourteen lbo comments on Kenneth Rogoff's Nov. 10  
article, "To Have And To Have Not," in The Guardian.
I share completely the opinions expressed below by 
Hanly, Rogoff, "cristobal," and "dougbamford;" but 
there was no mention anywhere in the fourteen 
comments of the fact that only unit prices can 
be equal in a free market. 
 
Figure 8i.gif, the attached file, illustrates several 
ways our present tax and disbursement structure 
subverts a free market to create a shortage of 
purchasing power for low incomes (50% capitalism) 
and an excess of unearned income at high incomes 
(100% capitalism). Earned incomes should be 
what ever a free market will pay.  The US should 
have restored the free market when the first 
Federal income Tax was proposed in the1890, but 
the money lenders said: Not now!

Wes Burt

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On Fri, 16 Nov 2007 06:36:32 -0800 (PST) ken hanly <northsunm at yahoo.com>
writes:
> 
> This guy is a Harvard economist. Does he belong to the
> flat earth society as well as the flat tax society?
>   As China illustrates opening markets far from
> solving the inequality of wealth distribution in China
> has made it much worse, so much according to the
> article that inequality is greater in China than the
> US.
>   How on earth is the flat tax supposed to help reduce
> income inequality? It does the opposite by doing away
> with a progressive tax system..
>    The URL is...
>
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/kenneth_rogoff/2007/11/to_have_and_to
_have_not.html
> 
> Cheers, Ken Hanly
> 
~~~~~~ Start Ken Hanly's quote from Rogoff's Article ~~~~~~
> To Have And To Have Not
>
> Fundamental tax reforms and open markets are needed to
> balance the global distribution of wealth. It doesn't
> look likely in our lifetime. 
> Kenneth Rogoff
>
~~~~~~ Snip balance of quote from Rogoff's Article ~~~~~~ 

~~~~~~~ One Comment On Rogoff's URL ~~~~~~~~~~
cristobal, writes inpart:

Comment No. 918563
November 11 9:10
Rogoff piece is another example of the poverty of 
economics to say anything meaningful. There are 
failed states and failed professions, economics is 
one of them. Feel sorry for his students at that 
overrated university named Harvard, who don't have 
some one to teach them how wealth inequality comes 
about and all he can come up with is the trite and 
discredited flat tax rate. Mr Rogoff is a sorrow case 
of an apologist for the establishment. He even went 
out his way to insult Joe Stiglitz in a public speech 
because he dared to criticize the shock therapies 
of the IMF/WB. The following year, Stiglitz got the 
Nobel prize. Rogoff will never get one. 
~~~~~~~~~ End One Partial Comment ~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~ Start Second Comment ~~~~~~~~~~
dougbamford, wrote in part:

Comment No. 919313
November 11 19:24
I would want to see gains upon sale of stock counted 
as income. So if someone has stock worth $100bn 
they pay no tax. Its only if they sell the stock at a 
profit that it counts as income and they pay tax on it. 
If they got the stock for nothing then the whole lot is 
gain/profit/income. So basically - I wouldn't take anyone's 
stock away from them. I support a progressive 
comprehensive income tax, not a wealth tax. 
~~~~~~~~~ End Second Partial Comment ~~~~~~~~~~

   TOP and TWP are cognoscible by sixth graders from
         Fig. 7-9.gif on Dr. W. Curtiss Priest's web site:
          <http://www.epie.org/cyber-soc/default.htm>
 TOP = 100% Capitalism --- TWP = 0 to 50% Capitalism
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