Striking that there was only 1 crime for which sentences went up a lot: Murder. A bad thing? vox.com/2015/5/7/85653… http://t.co/yTOXPJFT3O—
Kay Hymowitz (@KayHymowitz) May 07, 2015
There was only 1 crime for which sentences went up a lot in the USA
12 Jun 2015 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, politics - USA Tags: crime and punishment, criminal deterrence
The essence of the Left over Left
12 Jun 2015 Leave a comment
in liberalism, politics - Australia, politics - New Zealand, politics - USA Tags: expressive voting, Green Left, Leftover Left, political correctness, rational irrationality, Twitter left
@KayHymowitz i find it passing strange that counter-culturals left like Winner now are the most reactionary.. http://t.co/hj2MEc4Buu—
Old Whig (@aClassicLiberal) April 06, 2015
Supplements to wages and salaries have grown dramatically, but labour compensation inequality has not
12 Jun 2015 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, applied welfare economics, politics - Australia, politics - New Zealand, politics - USA Tags: Leftover Left, Piketty, top 1%
Gross Domestic Income (GDI) is a complete measure of all income earned in the United States. About half is wages, salaries, and benefits. A quarter goes to business-level taxes and the replacement of worn out machinery. Another quarter of gross domestic income is returned to owners of capital, including business owners and private homeowners.
The shares of income returned to workers and owners of capital remain constant over time once benefits, taxes, and depreciation are accounted for – two-thirds of net income goes to labour and one-third goes to capital.
Rather than focus on shares of GDP, a recent preoccupation of the Left over Left, we should focus on shares of labour compensation, that is, wages, salaries and fringe benefits. Both Piketty and his critics agree on that.
via A Walkthrough of Gross Domestic Income | Tax Foundation.
The Nordics use optimal tax theory to fund their welfare states
12 Jun 2015 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economic history, politics - USA, Public Choice, public economics Tags: Denmark, growth of government, Norway, optimal tax theory, Scandinavia, size of government, Sweden, welfare state
Efficient taxes gather more revenue and therefore are capable of funding a larger public sector with less political resistance from groups who are net taxpayers. The so-called neoliberal reforms of the 1980s and 1990s actually saved the welfare state by putting it on a revenue raising structure that provoked less political resistance.
A switch to more efficient taxes through tax reforms allows governments to raise the same amount or larger amount of revenue for the same level of political resistance from taxpayers. This is because less revenue and output is wasted by discouraging labour supply, investment, savings and investment in capital with high marginal rates of tax on narrower tax basis. Everyone gains from converging on more efficient modes redistribution.
The Nordic countries have been on to this application of optimal tax theory to expanding the size of government and the welfare state for a long time. The Nordics have high but flat taxes on labour income, low taxes on business income and a high, broad-based consumption tax be it called a VAT or GST as illustrated by a just published Tax Foundation report.
To begin with, the USA has a smaller government because it relies more income taxes than on consumption taxes.
Governments in Europe switched towards consumption taxes such as the VAT or GST because this allowed them to raise a large amount of revenue with broad-based taxes at low rates. A VAT or GST exempts exports and business to business transactions from taxes so that reduced taxpayer resistance.
Scandinavian income taxes raise much more revenue than in the USA because they are rather flat. That is, they tax most people at these high rates, not just high-income taxpayers. The top tax rate in the Scandinavian countries cuts in at about one and a half times average income or less rather than eight times average income as in the USA.
Flat high tax "How do Scandinavian countries pay for their govt spending?" bit.ly/1KZ7jOs @JimPethokoukis http://t.co/33oRg8Ozqh—
Old Whig (@aClassicLiberal) June 11, 2015
The marginal income tax rates including this top income tax rate cuts in a low level of income is also rather high in the Nordic countries relative to the USA’s top income tax rate with the exception of Norway.
Nonetheless the Nordic countries are alert to not killing the goose that laid the golden egg. Company taxes are relatively low in Scandinavian countries as compared to the USA so that businesses do not flee to other jurisdictions.
Top marginal tax rates on dividends and capital gains are not above-average in the Nordic states but their taxes on less mobile tax bases such as from labour and consumption are much higher.
A large welfare state such as those in the Nordic countries require a significant amount of revenue, so the tax base in these countries must be broad. This also means higher taxes on consumption through the VAT or GST and higher taxes on middle-income taxpayers.
Business taxes are a less reliable source of revenue because of capital flight and disincentives to invest. Thus, the Nordics do not place above-average tax burdens on capital income and focus taxation on labour and consumption.
via Sources of Government Revenue across the OECD, 2015 | Tax Foundation and How Scandinavian Countries Pay for Their Government Spending | Tax Foundation.
Irrational nonsense mapped
12 Jun 2015 Leave a comment
in health economics, liberalism, politics - Australia, politics - New Zealand, politics - USA Tags: anti-vaccination movement, antifluoridation movement, antiscience left, BlackBerry, conjecture and refutation, conspiracy theories, conspiracy theorists, expressive voting, infotopia, rational ignorance, rational irrationality
What are the Anglo-Saxon gender wage gaps?
11 Jun 2015 Leave a comment
in discrimination, gender, human capital, labour economics, labour supply, occupational choice, politics - Australia, politics - New Zealand, politics - USA Tags: Australia, British economy, Canada, gender wage gap, Ireland
Figure 1: % gender gap in median earnings of full-time employees, 2012
Source: OECD family database
Marco Rubio’s and Hillary Clinton’s houses
11 Jun 2015 Leave a comment
in politics - USA Tags: 2016 presidential election
1,800 mass transit systems in the US — 2% report fare revenues exceeding operating expenses
11 Jun 2015 Leave a comment
in politics - USA, transport economics Tags: buses, green rent seeking, public transport, public transport deficits, trains
Of the 1,800+ US mass transit systems ~2% reported that fare revenue exceeded operating costs bit.ly/1EoQyqD http://t.co/Q6t9pB7q8a—
The Hamilton Project (@hamiltonproj) May 14, 2015
Have the mass kidnappings extended to Oxfam and other principled ODA activists?
11 Jun 2015 Leave a comment
in applied welfare economics, development economics, economic history, growth disasters, growth miracles, politics - Australia, politics - New Zealand, politics - USA Tags: extreme poverty, global poverty, Left-wing hypocrisy, The Great Enrichment, The Great Escape, The Great Fact
Oxfam and other ODA activists should be dancing in the streets to celebrate the doubling of global median income in the last 10 years.
This is awesome news!!
Global median income has doubled(!) over the last 10 yearsNew paper: bit.ly/1JRwv90 http://t.co/4cq6x5pXpu—
Max Roser (@MaxCRoser) May 17, 2015
The only reason for them not doing this as they must have been kidnapped en mass.
Staggering #inequality: Top 1% will own 50% of world's wealth by 2016. Help us to #EvenItUp! http://t.co/NcNOqVcTgS—
Oxfam International (@Oxfam) March 20, 2015
We can only hope for their safe release.
Securing a just world means challenging the power of the 1% say civil society groups #WSF2015 oxf.am/ZfkL http://t.co/r2S0lkBoC2—
Oxfam New Zealand (@oxfamnz) March 23, 2015
Lower prices for oil/other commodities have intensified the slowdown in dev'ing countries wrld.bg/O9hq8 #GEP http://t.co/2IsmedNmgW—
World Bank Pubs (@WBPubs) June 11, 2015
Composition of the bottom 40% of the population in #LAC countries: wrld.bg/NkKZP #sharedprosperity http://t.co/MdublHSp59—
World Bank Pubs (@WBPubs) June 09, 2015
The extreme poor live in conflict & rural areas: wrld.bg/Nynge #endpoverty http://t.co/43HDDI11JR—
World Bank (@WorldBank) May 31, 2015
Richard Branson has announced a great paid leave policy for .2 percent of his workers
11 Jun 2015 Leave a comment
in discrimination, entrepreneurship, gender, labour economics, labour supply, occupational choice, politics - Australia, politics - New Zealand, politics - USA Tags: entrepreneurial alertness, maternity leave, paternity leave, Richard Branson
Trends in what drives single motherhood
11 Jun 2015 Leave a comment
Divorce used to be biggest engine of single parenthood in America. No more. It's nonmarital childbearing cc@davidfrum http://t.co/J5yZtUukNW—
W Bradford Wilcox (@WilcoxNMP) June 10, 2015
What it would take for the US to run on 100% renewable energy
10 Jun 2015 Leave a comment
in energy economics, environmental economics, global warming, politics - USA Tags: expressive voting, geothermal power, hydroelectric power, rational ignorance, rational irrationality, renewable energy, solar power, tidal power, wind power
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How do presidential candidates spend $1 billion?
10 Jun 2015 Leave a comment
in politics - USA, Public Choice Tags: campaign finance regulation, expressive voting, rational ignorance, rational irrationality
New Zealand primary school teachers have experienced rapid wages growth by international standards
10 Jun 2015 Leave a comment
in economics of education, human capital, labour economics, labour supply, occupational choice, politics - Australia, politics - New Zealand, politics - USA Tags: teachers pay
What It’s Like to Be Declared Dead by the US Government
09 Jun 2015 Leave a comment
in economics of bureaucracy, economics of regulation, politics - USA Tags: government failure, Social Security numbers
In 2011, the Office of the Inspector General conducted an audit of the Death Master File, and found that, from May 2007 to April 2010, 36,657 living people (12,219 per year) had been prematurely added, nulling them legally dead. After probing deeper, officials estimated that between 700 and 2,800 people were erroneously declared dead every month since the list’s inception. Over the file’s 35-year history, the Inspector General suspects that more than 500,000 Americans have been affected.
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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