Last gasp reagonomics • 27 January 2008 • The SnowBlog
Last gasp reagonomics
Here's a little U.S. politics/economics. Look away if you don't like that stuff. A tax refund is being planned to stimulate the listing American economy. To help, it needs to be spent by the recipients, not saved. One can make sure it's spent by giving it to people who can't afford to save - the ones who are really struggling at the moment. The chart to the left shows what percentage of the rebate will go to each of the five U.S. income bands (click to make the picture bigger). Giving an equal rebate to each band would be bad enough, because America's wealthiest aren't going to spend that money, but giving the richest fifth four times what the poorest fifth get is ridiculous. Yet more free handouts for the rich will do nothing to stave off a U.S. depression. (Paul Krugman's thoughts are here. tricky stats are here)
Rob
