January 2, 2009, 11:32AM
There's a lot of truth in what this guy says, but I'm afraid he will be designated a self hater by those he is trying to enlighten.
December 31, 2008, 3:02PM
I
would like to see some comments from economists on how the inequality
of wealth and income between the capital and consumption sectors
affects economic stability.
It seems to me that over the last several decades wealth and income has
become concentrated in the capital sector while the consuming sector
has required debt to sustain its consumption. When the world is awash
in investment capital and investors can't find productive places to
invest, they drift toward riskier investments and look for ways to
sustain their diminishing returns through the use of leverage and
derivatives that expand the money supply and hide risk. This leads to
bubbles of fictitious wealth of one kind or another as the price of
assets are bid up artificially. These bubbles ultimately burst and the
economy freezes up as investors and consumers lose trust in the system.
I see no way to avoid such instability unless government is willing to
step in and rebalance the wealth and income in the capital investment
and consuming sectors through adjustments in the way these sectors are
taxed. It doesn't seem to make any sense to reduce taxes on capital
gains when money is piling up in the capital sector, while the
consuming sector is using debt to sustain its consumption. At such
times it would seem more reasonable to increase capital gains taxes and
reduce taxes on the middle class, which make up the largest portion of
the consuming sector.
Do current economic models account for this wealth distribution effect?
The federal reserve is an institution of the capital sector and it has
control of monetary policy. Does this lead to wealth and income
accumulation in the capital sector at the expense of the consuming
sector? GDP growth seems to be the main goal of this institution, while
it is a poor measure of the well being of the greater society. It seems
to me that government should have more control to prevent bubbles from
developing.