From you and me, Joe "Shmuck" TaxpayerWhere is 20bn+ a year going to come from?
From you and me, Joe "Shmuck" Taxpayer
The government won't be able to borrow it, just like a person with an income of 30k can't keep spending 60K every year without being called to account.Everybody in this country has an extremely difficult job and deserves every cent they get, so the government will borrow it and our kids can pick up the tab down the line.
A look at the international money pages gives the thumbs up to Ireland's management of this economic hole. The WSJ has OK'd it, The Herald Tribune has wafted to and fro. But the overriding comments overseas is that Ireland's media and opposition parties keeps crucifying and regurgitating the bad news like a pernicious mother-in-law. Stephen Stanley says that USA's figures do not herald a double-dip ......... but that doesn't stop the homegrown soothsayers in the opposition from flinging this cliche around (like snuff at a wedding). Ireland (and the world) will get over this ........ much to the chagrin of the Jeremiahs.
Not as bad as people make out. Ireland still has very low personal taxation with nearly half of all earners paying no net tax. So we have scope to raise a lot of money with some tax system reform and a more even spread of tax collection. We also had a very low debt when this crisis started.
Countries like Germany, which have very high personal & corporate taxation, and a high national debt, have no means of raising extra money - not a good position to be in.
"I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around [the banks] will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered. The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs."
Thomas Jefferson
"Rousseau was very suspicious of banks and money men (he dies penniless and was an abject failure in every other aspect of his life)."
Big judgement there Purple, can you provide some links please as I have never heard Rousseau described in such terms before. God knows what one has to do to be successful in your realm. Accumulating great amounts of money one has no practical use for does not constitute success for everyone you know.
I wouldn't go as far as acceptance, but there is certainly less denial. And you are right, the reason the hard and right decisions are not being made is because they are politically unpopular and involve a lot of sacrifice.The UK did devalue last year. They also tried the money helicopter. Now they have to make genuine structural changes. There are no silver bullets. If your economy's broken it eventually has to be fixed. The problem is nobody, anywhere - this isn't an Irish thing - nobody likes taking the hard decisions.
Personally I'm more optimistic now. Not because we're sorted anything, but because there's a greater acceptance of how deep we are.
But Germany is not trying to increase its taxation it is doing the opposite, and at the same time reducing the size of government. The reason Germany is and will continue to do well is because they are focusing on production while at the same time spending less, at private and public level.Countries like Germany, which have very high personal & corporate taxation, and a high national debt, have no means of raising extra money - not a good position to be in.
You have some great knowledge of early US history, it's a fascinating topic. What I like most about the process that lead to the constitution is that it was written with the intent to limit the power of government while specifying what it should do.This was one of the major stumbling blocks to the creation of a strong federal government in the fledgling United States. The second constitutional congress was made up of two major philosophical blocks; those who wanted a loose confederation of agrarian based states, sort of a utopian puritan land owning model, and those who wanted to embrace a more capitalist system that acknowledges the power of the money men in places like Boston and Philadelphia and wanted a stronger central government. The former was generally favoured by the southern states and the latter by the northern states. In the end those at the convention with international experience and a more worldly view won the day. They realised that a relatively strong central government with taxation powers was necessary to defend the cohesiveness of the Union.
In the lines quoted above Jefferson was arguing in favour of the establishment of a central bank (or more specifically the establishment of governmental mechanisms to control the state’s finances). Interestingly Jefferson was US ambassador (or Minister) to France while the second constitutional convention was taking place though he did strongly influence James Madison (known as the father of the US constitution) by sending him many letters and hundreds of books during the nearly six month convention he did not actually attend. Jefferson was heavily influenced by the French Philosopher Rousseau who first articulated the notion that governments derive their power from the people, not a divinely anointed monarch. Rousseau was very suspicious of banks and money men (he dies penniless and was an abject failure in every other aspect of his life).
This is a very good point that is generally misunderstood or misrepresented. Money is not wealth, it is only a means of making transactions easier. Wealth is what we are able to buy with money. If our money buys a lot of products and services, i.e. the currency is strong, then we have more wealth. Higher prices are loss of wealth, lower prices are increased wealth.That's a bit harsh; money is just a tool, a means to an end. Anyone who judges success in the basis of monitory value is a pretty shallow person.
You have some great knowledge of early US history, it's a fascinating topic. What I like most about the process that lead to the constitution is that it was written with the intent to limit the power of government while specifying what it should do.
But in regards to Jefferson being in favour of central banking I believe you are very mistaken. Jefferson was very opposed to a central control of the coinage, and believed it to not be constitutional. The US constitution specifically states that only gold and silver should be money, and in such a case there is no need to have it centrally controlled. Here is a more accurate version of the quote:
"The central bank is an institution of the most deadly hostility existing against the Principles and form of our Constitution. I am an Enemy to all banks discounting bills or notes for anything but Coin. If the American People allow private banks to control the issuance of their currency, first by inflation and then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them will deprive the People of all their Property until their Children will wake up homeless on the continent their Fathers conquered."
I've only read parts of Nock's book "Jefferson"(http://mises.org/books/jefferson.pdf), but it focuses a lot on the fact that Jefferson was very opposed to centralized government and control.
My point was that success should not be measured by the accumulation of material goods but by the development of the person, their relationships with others and their level of personal achievement.This is a very good point that is generally misunderstood or misrepresented. Money is not wealth, it is only a means of making transactions easier. Wealth is what we are able to buy with money. If our money buys a lot of products and services, i.e. the currency is strong, then we have more wealth. Higher prices are loss of wealth, lower prices are increased wealth.
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