In this clip Dan Mitchell of The Centre for Freedom and Prosperity talks about the Rahn Curve, and it is the spending equivalent of the Laffer curve (which is about taxation). If government gets too big it can have the effect of reducing prosperity, figuring out the ideal level is difficult as many affecting factors come into play, however, the ideal tends to be between 15% & 25%, in the USA current spending is c. 40% – so will it be any surprise to see crowding out or reduced productive sector activity?
What is the optimum size of Government?
Art Laffer is perhaps best remembered for his famous curve, some people believe it doesn’t exist (in application), others swear by it. This video looks at some of the statistics which support the argument that Government spending inhibits an economy once it goes beyond a certain point. This will be a difficult video to accept from an Irish perspective as we are constantly calling upon the state for our solutions and that requires greater state spending. Enjoy.
The Meltdown should have surprised no one
The 2009 Henry Hazlitt Memorial Lecture, presented by Peter Schiff. Recorded at the annual Austrian Scholars Conference, Ludwig von Mises Institute, 13 March 2009. Austrian economists tend to have some very conservative views, and while many of them are unpalatable there are many that are equally pragmatic, Keynesian economics are definitely the popular choice as of late, but the free marketers still have valid points and Peter Schiff has a way of describing the economy and the situation in a very simple manner. He shot to fame for being one of the first practitioners in the USA to say that they were in a bubble and how the fallout would begin and what to expect when it did, his vision was almost 20/20.
Less tax and simple bankruptcy could be the best solution
As we await what is being described as a ‘savage’ budget, it is important to remember some of the ideas being thrown about may appeal prima facie. One disappointing suggestion I heard today was a call for tax bands of 50% (this came from an economics professor too!). In this blog we have said for some time that there are only two solutions to the deficit, firstly taxes must go up, secondly we have to stop spending. However, there is a point at which higher taxation actually reduces the tax take (more on this later in the article)
One thing that we need, in light of what will likely be testing times is to consider the impact of tax changes and also the need for a simplified bankruptcy system. There are currently (so we hear) thousands of well to do ‘non-dom’s’ in the UK who are planning to leave because of changes to the tax system. Ireland is a small …