Congressman Torn Between Meaningless Pledge To Anti-Tax Zealot, Well-Being Of Nation

http://www.theonion.com/articles/congressman-torn-between-meaningless-pledge-to-ant,30539/?ref=auto

Congressman Torn Between Meaningless Pledge To Anti-Tax Zealot, Well-Being Of Nation

Solyndra Loan Drama Overblown

"Many have cautioned that the drama around Solyndra is overblown. The Solyndra loan represents just 1.3 percent of the $39 billion in loans that the loan-guarantee program has generated thus far, and only around 3 percent of the total loan guarantees targeting the solar industry. The fact that Solyndra received up to $1 billion in private sector banking alone would suggest that leaders at the DOE weren't the only ones who saw promise in the technology."

And meanwhile China is giving it's companies HUNDREDS of billions.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/03/obama-solyndra-loan_n_993085.html

#OccupyWallStreet

I have never witnessed a protest geared directly toward my individual concerns about economics. Usually protests by Progressives are directed toward social issues, and as allies, for sake of solidarity, I might participate.

But what is going on in New York City right now seems to be targeted directly toward issues I personally care a lot about. I have visions of it being the '68 Democratic Convention for our time, after 10 years of pent up disappointment (instead of 2-4 years back then).

Define Rich

Define Rich


Part I

Part II

Part III

The Effect of Individual Income Tax Rates on the Economy

The Effect of Individual Income Tax Rates on the Economy
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7

What They Don't Teach Economists: Hamilton

Google Hamilton's famous phrase and "macroeconomics" and you will get less than a page of links:
"the powerful cement of our Union" + macroeconomics


Hamilton felt that the Federal government would not be able to borrow money from anyone in the future if these debts were not paid. By selling bonds to pay the debt, bondholders would have a direct financial interest to help the new United States government survive and thrive. Creditors who purchased the bonds could use them as collateral for loans, stimulating the economy even more.
...
He also reckoned that failure to establish the creditworthiness of the Federal government would weaken the United States, and called a permanent, reasonably-sized public debt "the powerful cement of our Union."

Like it or not, the idea worked.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Report_on_the_Public_Credit

Wall Street Journal 100% Tax Hoax

A reader writes:

The Wall Street Journal notes, if you taxed everyone who makes over $100,000 at a rate of 100 percent, you still wouldn’t raise enough to balance president Obama’s budget, never mind pay off any debt.

I feel like there is something wrong with this statement... am I wrong?

WSJ link: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703730104576260911986870054.html

Well without even going further, he's saying the current TAXABLE income...
13,215,000 Americans earn more than $100k a year...

Seems they are ASSUMING THAT ALL OF THEM ONLY MAKE $100k, and no more.

6% of the US pop makes more than $100k. The top 1% of income earners alone accounts for almost 50% of all income. All income in the US is on the order of $14 trillion. So without going any further, 100% of the income (NOT WEALTH which is WAY WAY higher) of the top 1% (who earn MUCH MORE THAN $100k) would amount to roughly $7 TRILLION DOLLARS.
(and WSJ is alleging that the top 6% don't make even $1.4 Trillion)

If you want to be on the safe side and eliminate capital gains from the discussion (which pretty damn conservative given that a HUGE proportion of the top income earners income comes from capital gains), then you can work with the top 10% of income earners, who earn 45% of all income...
(see fig 1 tab in Excel spreadsheet linked to below)
which gives you about $6 Trillion.

Since $100k income earners are top 5%, you can very safely say that (ignoring capital gains, which account for more than half of actual income earned by top dudes) they earn $3 Trillion a year.

Sources:
Saez, E. & Piketty, T. (2003). Income inequality in the United States: 1913-1998. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 118(1), 1-39.
data at: http://elsa.berkeley.edu/~saez/TabFig2005prel.xls


Census data:
http://pubdb3.census.gov/macro/032006/hhinc/new06_000.htm