Republican Primaries
psychohist wrote:
While a strong currency encourages imports, a weak currency does not necessarily invite capital and create jobs. A currency that is weak because of high inflation relative to nominal growth rates discourages capital. What attracts capital is after tax real returns - nominal growth minus taxes minus inflation. A weak currency only plays into it if the currency is also expected to get stronger, contributing to nominal growth of the asset; if the currency is stable, weakness or strength makes no difference.
We have the most stable currency in the world. So, you're saying that Mr. Paul's assertion that the Federal Reserve's efforts to weaken the currency (if true) are irrelevant.
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You don't understand what he's getting at here. He's not talking about taxes on transactions. He's talking about taxes on corporate income - which is to say, on return on capital.
Corporate income that is earned overseas - for example in much of Europe - is typically taxed at a lower rate than corporate income earned in the U.S. In addition, taxes on dividends and capital gains are often lower than in the U.S. That means the investor gets to keep more of the return on his investment. That's an incentive to invest overseas rather than in the U.S., and keeps the capital that's needed for development of new manufacturing jobs outside the U.S.
Ron Paul is absolutely correct in what he says here. I don't necessarily agree with the policy he advocates - I don't place the same importance on manufacturing as he does, and I worry more about the lost revenue if you get rid of corporate income taxes - but his logic is correct.
Granted if he was unable to explain it in a way you could understand, probably not a lot of the audience understood it either. To me, Gingrich was the guy who truly had economics knowledge at his fingertips. Pity he doesn't know how to run a campaign.
Corporate income that is earned overseas - for example in much of Europe - is typically taxed at a lower rate than corporate income earned in the U.S. In addition, taxes on dividends and capital gains are often lower than in the U.S. That means the investor gets to keep more of the return on his investment. That's an incentive to invest overseas rather than in the U.S., and keeps the capital that's needed for development of new manufacturing jobs outside the U.S.
Ron Paul is absolutely correct in what he says here. I don't necessarily agree with the policy he advocates - I don't place the same importance on manufacturing as he does, and I worry more about the lost revenue if you get rid of corporate income taxes - but his logic is correct.
Granted if he was unable to explain it in a way you could understand, probably not a lot of the audience understood it either. To me, Gingrich was the guy who truly had economics knowledge at his fingertips. Pity he doesn't know how to run a campaign.
But, we've been doing nothing but cut taxes for decades. Some big corporations make plenty of profit, but pay no taxes. Others (especially in agriculture) receive huge fortunes in subsidies. How can Europe still have lower taxes than we do? Republicans typically view Europe as an evil place, with high taxes and a lot of "liberality."
pandabear wrote:
We have the most stable currency in the world. So, you're saying that Mr. Paul's assertion that the Federal Reserve's efforts to weaken the currency (if true) are irrelevant.
To the extent that the dollar weakens, it's not stable - it's declining in value. If the dollar starts out strong, it has to be kept strong to be stable. It's peripherally relevant to Ron Paul's point.
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But, we've been doing nothing but cut taxes for decades. Some big corporations make plenty of profit, but pay no taxes. Others (especially in agriculture) receive huge fortunes in subsidies. How can Europe still have lower taxes than we do? Republicans typically view Europe as an evil place, with high taxes and a lot of "liberality."
Believe it or not, there are different kinds of taxes, with different kinds of effects. This seems to be part of what you're missing here.
I also don't see how subsidies enter the equation. Ron Paul doesn't advocate subsidies; quite the opposite. He's not even advocating cutting all taxes. He's only advocating cutting one specific kind of tax.
And of course, Ron Paul is far from a typical Republican, let alone your caricature of a typical Republican.
psychohist wrote:
pandabear wrote:
psychohist wrote:
He's only advocating cutting one specific kind of tax.
What specific kind of tax does he advocate cutting?
In the context of repatriation of capital, he's talking about corporate income tax rates.
Well, we do have European firms assembling cars in the USA (Mercedes Benz and BMW). So, maybe cutting corporate income taxes wouldn't be as helpful as he thinks.
A lot of manufacturing businesses left the USA in search of cheaper labour costs. Reducing corporate income taxes isn't going to bring those jobs back.
pandabear wrote:
Well, we do have European firms assembling cars in the USA (Mercedes Benz and BMW). So, maybe cutting corporate income taxes wouldn't be as helpful as he thinks.
A lot of manufacturing businesses left the USA in search of cheaper labour costs. Reducing corporate income taxes isn't going to bring those jobs back.
A lot of manufacturing businesses left the USA in search of cheaper labour costs. Reducing corporate income taxes isn't going to bring those jobs back.
Jobs that left for inexpensive, unskilled, $1/hr labor in Indonesia, yes, we're not going to get those back. Jobs in precision manufacturing, like the engines in those automobiles, and the robots on the assembly lines? We'd have a chance at getting that stuff.
That said, again, while Ron Paul's logic is sound here, I don't necessarily agree with his proposed policy. There's a limit to global demand for manufacturing. I'd personally rather look at ways to improve the employment picture in the service economy.
For the record, here's a poll from just before the New Hampshire debate. It will be interesting to see how the debate changed things.
WSJ/NBC poll wrote:
Among all poll respondents, 45% said they would probably vote to re-elect Mr. Obama, while 40% said they would choose a Republican. Against specific GOP contenders, the president's lead widened. Mr. Obama leads Mr. Romney 49% to 43%; he topped Mr. Pawlenty 50% to 37%.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142 ... _Video_Top
psychohist wrote:
For the record, here's a poll from just before the New Hampshire debate. It will be interesting to see how the debate changed things.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142 ... _Video_Top
WSJ/NBC poll wrote:
Among all poll respondents, 45% said they would probably vote to re-elect Mr. Obama, while 40% said they would choose a Republican. Against specific GOP contenders, the president's lead widened. Mr. Obama leads Mr. Romney 49% to 43%; he topped Mr. Pawlenty 50% to 37%.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142 ... _Video_Top
so for now Mitt is the best bet but not a good bet.
_________________
?We must not look at goblin men,
We must not buy their fruits:
Who knows upon what soil they fed
Their hungry thirsty roots??
http://jakobvirgil.blogspot.com/
JakobVirgil wrote:
psychohist wrote:
For the record, here's a poll from just before the New Hampshire debate. It will be interesting to see how the debate changed things.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142 ... _Video_Top
WSJ/NBC poll wrote:
Among all poll respondents, 45% said they would probably vote to re-elect Mr. Obama, while 40% said they would choose a Republican. Against specific GOP contenders, the president's lead widened. Mr. Obama leads Mr. Romney 49% to 43%; he topped Mr. Pawlenty 50% to 37%.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142 ... _Video_Top
so for now Mitt is the best bet but not a good bet.
But what does it mean for the Republicans that Michele Bachmann won the debate, by virtue of not drooling on herself, giggling uncontrollably and pooping her pants on stage? Does this help or hurt Romney?
_________________
"All valuation rests on an irrational bias."
-George Santayana
ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL
BUT SOME ANIMALS ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS
dionysian wrote:
But what does it mean for the Republicans that Michele Bachmann won the debate, by virtue of not drooling on herself, giggling uncontrollably and pooping her pants on stage? Does this help or hurt Romney?
It's only liberal sources who think Bachmann won the debate - presumably because her performance is what liberals think make for a good president.
psychohist wrote:
dionysian wrote:
But what does it mean for the Republicans that Michele Bachmann won the debate, by virtue of not drooling on herself, giggling uncontrollably and pooping her pants on stage? Does this help or hurt Romney?
It's only liberal sources who think Bachmann won the debate - presumably because her performance is what liberals think make for a good president.
if we are accusing people of having ulterior motives its prolly cuz she can't win.
_________________
?We must not look at goblin men,
We must not buy their fruits:
Who knows upon what soil they fed
Their hungry thirsty roots??
http://jakobvirgil.blogspot.com/
JakobVirgil wrote:
if we are accusing people of having ulterior motives its prolly cuz she can't win.
I'm just telling it like it is. It's mostly liberal sources that think Bachmann won the debate. Conservatives, who didn't expect Bachmann to fall flat on her face, weren't surprised at her performance and didn't see it as anything special compared to the others.
psychohist wrote:
JakobVirgil wrote:
if we are accusing people of having ulterior motives its prolly cuz she can't win.
I'm just telling it like it is. It's mostly liberal sources that think Bachmann won the debate. Conservatives, who didn't expect Bachmann to fall flat on her face, weren't surprised at her performance and didn't see it as anything special compared to the others.
she was really bad on her state of the nation rebuttal.
strange and bad. Do you think she is a real contender?
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lxsi4CLH_sw[/youtube]
_________________
?We must not look at goblin men,
We must not buy their fruits:
Who knows upon what soil they fed
Their hungry thirsty roots??
http://jakobvirgil.blogspot.com/
_________________
"All valuation rests on an irrational bias."
-George Santayana
ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL
BUT SOME ANIMALS ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS