Calls for bottom up tax cuts on income ... no mention of FICA and plenty of out of paradigm statements.
.@realDonaldTrump slams "phony unemployment rate" and unveils tax plan to create jobs http://t.co/lHDGbjqQCX http://t.co/GU6uNfE7Zj
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) September 28, 2015
Spot on, unemployment rates in developed are total complete bullshit. Employment ratios are AT ALL TIME LOW!
ReplyDeleteDidn't hear anything about taxes in the video but I'm pretty sure most of the population wants progressive income taxes, he is taking some of the 'liberal' (in US terms which i don't agree with btw) talking points.
But that's not really the problem because people with no income or low incomes does not pay taxes, lowering the taxes is not going to help all that much, unless is done on indirect taxes (which I don't think the US has many of compared to Europe for example) on consumer goods (specially on the basic consumer basket goods, energy, food).
Andrew he and Bernie are really challenging the status quo from both sides....
ReplyDeleteIf Trump has only one ability it his ability to hold people accountable and "fire!" them if he views them as unqualified and incompetent ... the high in the academe of economics are certainly unqualified and incompetent...
At some level he realizes this (not as well as we do.... iow his level of understanding is not as developed as ours is in these matters...) and he wants to "fire!" these people...
I don't like the word phony though. It implies that it is fake or made up, which its not. Its just that one has to look at more of the picture than the U6 or U3 unemployment numbers. One has to know what those numbers are illustrating and the limits of decisions one can make from those numbers. Creating this mindset that the govt is trying to trick and deceive you is not good. We certainly need education on what these numbers mean, how they came to be and why and what other numbers we have to look at to get the complete picture we are looking for but no one is just fabricating numbers, they are fabricating narratives from the numbers. But narratives are always fabricated its just a matter of which ones hold up longer and withstand the scrutiny.
ReplyDeleteMost people think, in my opinion shaped from listening to people talk pop economics, that there are plenty of jobs out there (in the private sector) its just that we cant find people to do the work that some business owner would love to hire you for ....if he just could. They are mostly convinced its a combination of stupid govt rules about how much you have to pay someone/how many blacks you have to hire/ how many non white males you have to hire/how many gays you have to hire or how many EPA/OSHA hoops you have to jump through or how many IRS agents are standing ready to confiscate your hard earned production or just having a lazy and stupid electorate that is keeping our economy back.
While all those things sound right I think we know that those are not the fundamental problem (other than the stupid electorate) Finding the right set of measurements/graphs to show and the right story to tell are the key. It has to be both. People want evidence before they will support a huge change. 35-40% are mostly convinced that the above story is not adequate, given the evidence. About 35-40% are convinced the story is right given the evidence. The rest are still thinking we haven't made the right measurements nor have the complete story but they will end up taking a side because they know its important.
Greg he is trying to keep it simple...
ReplyDeleteBut what he is proposing is more or less textbook supply-side 101 with the "balanced trade" and carried interest tax treatment twist...
imo he wont get the result he is looking for without significant increase in govt top-line spending which he says he will actually cut.... so there you go...
It will help a bit but wont solve the real problem which currently is lack of increase of govt topline in whatever area, take your political pick... military/infrastructure/education, etc....
I just like to see SOMEBODY of his electoral magnitude finally call BS on the academe of economics...
I agree Matt, someone needs to call BS on the econ academe and I have been enjoying Trump attacking conservative shibboleths for a few months now.
ReplyDeleteI just don't think we need to simply dismiss govt stats as bullshit, as if they are untrue/lies. They are accurate numbers they are just measuring something that doesn't give the picture we really want to know. There isn't one number that does that. It takes a combination. To me it mostly sounds like he's attacking the govt not the economists. There is a lot to not like about the govt but the U6 and U3 numbers are accurate, they are just a meaningless measurement to a large extent.
Not using U6 numbers is an attempt at deception, to make the "recovery" appear better than it is. Lying through omission is not synonymous with 'phony', I agree.
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