How the government can help the economy.

[Nono]

What dictionary you usin' there, t?

[tman_ndsu08]

dictionary.com

[Canada.Smith.B]

I don't think a prerequisite of something being utopian is that it is also authoritarian.

[tman_ndsu08]

Just most of the time.

[Keith Hamburger]

Z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z ... The premise, man, the premise...
It's like saying "Please explain how I'm supposed to squeeze the toothpaste out of the tube when agents hired by dentists keep freezing it solid on me."

Yeah. That makes a lot of sense. I've completely changed my mind. We should give ALL of our money to the government, have them spend every dime, and the economy will EXPLODE!!!

Now, what premise are you actually questioning? That the overhead of government spending is 50%? OK. Perhaps it's only 49%. Or, maybe it's 75%. It sure as hell isn't 0%, though.

Or, are you wishing to say that the governments deserve their salary more than I deserve the 25+% of my household income that goes to taxes. Of course, when you add in the corporate taxes that are added to the costs of goods and services I purchase. And, add in the licensing fees paid by many of the service providers that they pass on to me. And on and on and on. It wouldn't surprise me if that isn't closer to 50% of my household income going to the government.

Of course, I guess you would claim that those bureaucrats use their salaries in the market and therefore helps the economy grow. But, why is their spending so much more sensible than if I were to spend that money myself? Have they proven themselves to be wiser with money than I am? I should hardly think not. Looking at how the government wastes money, I would think that it would be clear that their spending habits are no more sensible than my own, or that of any other citizen.

You're going to have to do better than nonsense (quite literally) if you wish to adequately challenge the market.

Keith

[Autolykos]

He proposed a different way to simulate the economy. We start in a place like Mississippi, because no one thinks "I want a vacation. I know, I'll go to Mississippi." So you go to Mississippi and hire a bunch of people to build a "big f*cking thing". Next, they'll spend the money, which helps the economy, too! Anyways, it doesn't matter what it is, it's just a big f*cking thing, because then, people will go "I gotta see the big f*cking thing!" Then there'll be a big f*cking thing restraunt, a big f*cking thing hotel and casino, a big f*cking thing day spa.

Except that you need to already have money/capital in order to build the "big f*cking thing". Where does it come from? Why, it must come from other people, of course. Well, what if they don't want to invest in the "big f*cking thing"? At this point the state says, "Too bad, so sad, give us your money anyways, or we'll shoot you and find someone else to give it to us."

We did this with the Hoover Dam also. What do you think is the best way to stimulate the economy? I think this is.

I consider the phrase "stimulate the economy" to be illusory. There is no monolithic institution or enterprise that can be called "the economy". This illusion comes from the idea that the world is somehow divided into nation-states, which each nation-state having its own "economy". While the rulers of those nation-states may wish it to be so, in reality the walls are made of only air.

- Rob

[Autolykos]

Of course government spending stimulates the economy. That's an inconvenient truth that the tax-breaks-for-the-comfy right-wingers can't acknowledge for fear of exposing themselves for the chiseling egotists they are.

It's all a question of tax and spend, of redistributing wealth in society and -- until someone comes up with a better machine -- the government is in a better position to do this than anyone else.

Could this be because the government has the power to steal money from people without (for the most part) them kicking up a fuss?

- Rob

[5010]

What does 'economy' mean? It means being thrifty or frugal with yo money. If you wanna make folks get thrifty, just take away their money! Take away their bling bling! Then they gotta be frugal to survive. That's how the govuhment helps da economy.

(Sorry, that's my best attempt to be a comedian...)