Saturday, October 12, 2013

AFP — International Monetary Fund strongly suggests countries tax the rich to fix deficit

Tax the rich and better target the multinationals: The IMF has set off shockwaves this week in Washington by suggesting countries fight budget deficits by raising taxes.
Tucked inside a report on public debt, the new tack was mostly eclipsed by worries about the US budget crisis, but did not escape the notice of experts and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs).
“We had to read it twice to be sure we had really understood it,” said Nicolas Mombrial, the head of Oxfam in Washington. “It’s rare that IMF proposals are so surprising.”

Guardian of financial orthodoxy, the International Monetary Fund, which is holding its annual meetings with the World Bank this week in the US capital, typically calls for nations in difficulty to slash public spending to reduce their deficits.
But in its Fiscal Monitor report, subtitled “Taxing Times”, the Fund advanced the idea of taxing the highest-income people and their assets to reinforce the legitimacy of spending cuts and fight against growing income inequalities....
The IMF’s Copernican revolution is still in the twilight stage. In its report, the IMF continued to push for a wider scope for value-added tax (VAT), a tax consumption tax that some say is inherently unfair, and on reductions in public spending. 
The Raw Story
International Monetary Fund strongly suggests countries tax the rich to fix deficit
Agence France-Presse

6 comments:

Roger Erickson said...

Oh my lord. Show me a wealthy person who ISN'T bonkers. [Ok, Warren Mosler, but he's not quite "elite" enough to hobnob with LaGarde.]

Translation: Unleash public fiat by constraining those 0.1% who are diverting most of it.

Well, ok. But how about we just stop CONSTRAINING expression of fiat by the other 99.9%

Just lower or remove all the regressive taxes that are constraining net expression of our electorate's fiat?

those trying to hoard vs leverage fiat would always see it inflated away.

What kind of fool tries to hoard public fiat? Aka, hoard public initiative?

Might as well hoard sitting on your butt. Same thing.

James said...

"But in its Fiscal Monitor report, subtitled “Taxing Times”, the Fund advanced the idea of taxing the highest-income people and their assets to reinforce the legitimacy of spending cuts and fight against growing income inequalities...."

This was a Labour election poster from the 1930's, rightly mocking the same type of nonsense proposed by the high priests at the IMF.

http://i.imgur.com/UBGfH43.jpg

Over 80 years later and they refuse to acknowledge the failures of their "ideas", its just a never ending stream of stupidity, stupidity that they never have to face the consequences of. They will still be well fed, well housed, with huge salaries and the best of everything from healthcare to education. Yet here they are proposing a continuation of the cuts which are devastating millions of lives.

I'm not sure if they're fools or liars, either way their actions, ignorance and arrogance is breathtaking at times, they have no shame. There should be a lot more anger directed at these "experts".

Ralph Musgrave said...

That IMF idea contravenes the Tinbergen principle. I’ve set out more details on that point on my own blog:

http://ralphanomics.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/imf-says-tax-rich-so-as-to-cut-deficit.html

Magpie said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
The Rombach Report said...

OK, so let me get this straight. IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde, who along with other IMF employees have a special dispensation from having to pay taxes, feels compelled to lecture the world on how the rich should be taxed.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/robertwood/2012/05/30/imfs-christine-lagarde-i-dont-pay-taxes-but-you-should/

Reminds me of Napoleon the pig from George Orwell's Animal Farm as he raised a glass to toast nearby farmers he had recently entered into an alliance with at a dinner he hosted for them.

"All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others"

Roger Erickson said...

Tax Fiat, To Supply Fiat!

That's a helluva effective campaign poster. Know what I mean, Verne?

Sometimes the best success is failure. Especially if you can see it BEFORE hitting it head on.