by BuzzFlash on Wed, 05/09/2012
STEPHEN PIZZO
You know that something is seriously out of whack when those who made a bundle, and then some, with financial black magic, nearly bringing down the entire industrial world, insist they be allowed to not only keep their booty but that the 99% who ate it in the shorts thanks to their skullduggery, should be forced to go on a fiscal diet.
That, in a nutshell, describes the so-called "austerity" programs sweeping western economies.
Even liberal politicians are caving into this mind-bending logic. Give less to those who already have less, while making sure those with the most are allowed to keep more of whatever they can milk out of the system in the future.
I gotta tell ya folks, this stuff ranks right up there with other conservative nostrums such as:
The second part involves the opposite for the rich. It goes like this:
Really? Is that it? That's the reason why everyone else needs to tighten their belts now? Because few dozen future entrepreneurs will need a multi-billion dollar carrot at the end of the career-path stick because they just won't settle for a few hundred mil?
Now don't get me wrong. I've run a few of my own small businesses, and I know it's not that simple. Companies require operating income, capital investment money for future growth, etc. And I am not suggesting businesses per se be taxed so much they can't grow or even survive. But money spent on such things is already tax deductible as a business expense. What I am talking about here is personal wealth - and how it's taxed.
The austerity movement is not only unwise and grossly unfair, but nations adopting it are playing with fire. It's the ever so thinly disguised 21st-century version of "Let-em eat cake."
It's a slap in the face to populations which have already had the fiscal crap beat out of them. It's an affront, an insult implying that somehow the rest of us are at fault for all this and deserving of being taught a lesson.
Speaking of the French revolution, the French just threw one of these austerity-fascists out of office and elected a socialist President.
Austerity is a dirty word in Europe but what next? The Greeks are itching to do the same.
Still the momentum continues to favor austerity, punishing the already punished while rewarding the actual fiscal muggers.
Economists use a term to describe this kind of perverse incentive: moral hazard. In layperson's language it means creating a dynamic where, for a few, the rules are, "Heads we win. Tails someone else loses."
The austerity movement is the Mother of All Moral Hazards. And, this time around, the losers see it, feel it, and are in an ugly mood about it. Those in power who continue pushing austerity for their monied interests are playing with fire.
And, unless a genuinely fair and balance program of shared sacrifice doesn't appear, and soon, there will be fire.
STEPHEN PIZZO
You know that something is seriously out of whack when those who made a bundle, and then some, with financial black magic, nearly bringing down the entire industrial world, insist they be allowed to not only keep their booty but that the 99% who ate it in the shorts thanks to their skullduggery, should be forced to go on a fiscal diet.
That, in a nutshell, describes the so-called "austerity" programs sweeping western economies.
Even liberal politicians are caving into this mind-bending logic. Give less to those who already have less, while making sure those with the most are allowed to keep more of whatever they can milk out of the system in the future.
I gotta tell ya folks, this stuff ranks right up there with other conservative nostrums such as:
The austerity theory of recovery has two pieces to it. First, of course, everyone except the rich need to tighten their belts another few notches.
- To reduce the deficit, slash taxes.
- War is the path to peace
- For a bright energy future, "Drill baby, drill."
- The right way to deal with climate change is to ignore it.
The second part involves the opposite for the rich. It goes like this:
"The more money you allow the rich to keep for themselves by not taxing it, the more jobs they create."Really? So we are supposed to believe, for example that Apple Computer would not have become what it is today if it's founder, Steve Jobs, had only been allowed to amass a multi-million dollar personal fortune, rather than a multi-billion dollar fortune? Or that Facebook would not have become a company worth billions if its founder, young Mark Zuckerberg, had only been incentivized by being allowed to amass hundreds of millions dollars in his personal checking account, rather than billions.
Really? Is that it? That's the reason why everyone else needs to tighten their belts now? Because few dozen future entrepreneurs will need a multi-billion dollar carrot at the end of the career-path stick because they just won't settle for a few hundred mil?
Now don't get me wrong. I've run a few of my own small businesses, and I know it's not that simple. Companies require operating income, capital investment money for future growth, etc. And I am not suggesting businesses per se be taxed so much they can't grow or even survive. But money spent on such things is already tax deductible as a business expense. What I am talking about here is personal wealth - and how it's taxed.
The austerity movement is not only unwise and grossly unfair, but nations adopting it are playing with fire. It's the ever so thinly disguised 21st-century version of "Let-em eat cake."
It's a slap in the face to populations which have already had the fiscal crap beat out of them. It's an affront, an insult implying that somehow the rest of us are at fault for all this and deserving of being taught a lesson.
Speaking of the French revolution, the French just threw one of these austerity-fascists out of office and elected a socialist President.
Austerity is a dirty word in Europe but what next? The Greeks are itching to do the same.
Still the momentum continues to favor austerity, punishing the already punished while rewarding the actual fiscal muggers.
Economists use a term to describe this kind of perverse incentive: moral hazard. In layperson's language it means creating a dynamic where, for a few, the rules are, "Heads we win. Tails someone else loses."
The austerity movement is the Mother of All Moral Hazards. And, this time around, the losers see it, feel it, and are in an ugly mood about it. Those in power who continue pushing austerity for their monied interests are playing with fire.
And, unless a genuinely fair and balance program of shared sacrifice doesn't appear, and soon, there will be fire.
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