The state of the economy.....

[jippos]

Just for clarity: the "fiscal cliff" was not that we owe too much, but that without action by washington (esp. Rep. house), we would have reduced the debt too fast.

[kunk75]

with a flat tax there would be less avoidance and less skirting tax laws

didn't fact check and probably not the whole story but seems noteworthy:

tax avoidance is triple the national deficit annually

[Patroklus]

But it's true that a flat tax moves too much burden onto poor people. That's why my flat electronic transaction tax is a great idea that you should fully endorse.

[kunk75]

poor people don't pay taxes. 18% of dick is dick.

[Patroklus]

If it isn't dick, then why are you intent on collecting it?

[kunk75]

i'm not. A flat tax would have no detrimental effect on people below a certain threshold

[Patroklus]

Right, mine doesn't, because poor people can effectively handle their transactions with cash. But if it's a flat tax on all transactions, then it affects them, and detrimentally bcuz dey broke azz

[kunk75]

uniqlo is on sale

[Patroklus]

I've already bought their entire collection. Should I buy it again?

[kunk75]

only if they have a flat sales tax

[Patroklus]

AIG is threatening to sue the Federal Government because their bailout wasn't good enough, and I suddenly find myself an advocate for capital punishment.

[kofi3159]

I can be intellectually be entertained as well..
Man I love SZ..
Although the talk of town is Fiscal policy.. Any computer economist on SZ who knows how to program optimal monetary policy in a DSGE model with Matlab/dynare (discretion/commitment that accounts for the zero floor on nominal interest rates)?

[Patroklus]

Oh, I don't do math. I'm a man of action, not numbers. I don't make models, I make practical solutions to real world problems.

[kofi3159]

^ha ha..
fair enough
no more math then..
The way I see the current state of affairs on policy:
We are doing exactly the same as Japan did when faced with a zero bound on policy rates. The funny thing is that Bernanke was among the first to suggest that japan respond aggresively by targeting a higher rate of inflation.. But when its the western economies. the policy recommendation are to anchor inflation. Inconsistency is the name of the game when it comes to monetary policy.. Current statement from the fed suggest a change of attitude and leaves room for a higher inflation target if unemployment still remains stubbornly high.. Enough bubbling on Monetary policy.. Lets stick to the script

Any thoughts on Obama echoing the possibility of a second round of recession??

[Patroklus]

I expected it to happen already. If nothing else, there's an education bubble that's set to pop pretty explosively. We already have tons of underqualified graduates with degrees in fields that were viewed as moneymaking, like law and medicine, and not enough jobs for them. So we're going to have a massive default on student loans coupled with lots of colleges shuttering.