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Joined: 28 Dec 2005 Posts: 11965
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Posted: Thu Aug 21, 2014 11:30 pm Post subject: Living Standards (Taxes & Government) |
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PeakTrader:
Smaller budget deficits can slow growth and employment.
However, the mix of output can improve.
For example, government can raise taxes and spending to pay people to dig holes and fill them up again.
Or, instead, reduce taxes and spending for a steeper improvement in living standards, although growth and employment are slower.
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Spencer:
Would you care to explain how slower growth and employment generate a steeper improvement in living standards.
It does not compute in my book.
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2slugbaits:
spencer I agree. It doesn’t compute in my book either. My hunch is that PeakTrader is one of those sorta-kinda-Austrians that believes government only subtracts value and never adds to it. The usual explanation from those types is that government spending only “artificially” juices GDP growth, so it shouldn’t count as real growth. Whatever. We hear that same junk from Ricardo.
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PeakTrader:
Do we get a higher standard of living paying workers to dig holes and fill them up again, or paying workers to produce valuable goods?
Income = GDP = output.
Digging holes and filling them up again is output.
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2slugbaits, you and spencer need books on the Scientific Method of Neoclassical Economics.
We need “good” government. You seem to believe there isn’t enough bad government.
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Hans:
PT, where is the applause button?
Governmental units are not known as drivers of efficiency.
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