What is a bit surprising is how many IRS agents are going to be hired to enforce the new codes: 16,500! Now this is based on a release by Republican congressmen Kevin Brady, so that does make me skeptical. But the release bases the 16,500 number on an analysis by the Joint Economic Committee and the House Ways & Means Committee minority staff. So we’ll have to wait and see. But if Brady is anywhere close to accurate, it would seem to cast doubt on the idea that Obamacare will reduce the tax burden and amount of red tape.
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Swift Wits: Healthcare Fallout, IRS to Hire 16,500 more Agents
under: Complete Whimsy, Deficits, Dollar, Federal Reserve, Individual v. Collective, Obama Says, Taxes
Tags: Barack Obama, Ben Bernanke, censorship, China, CNN, communism, corporate welfare, Federal Reserve, fractional reserve banking, Google, healthcare reform, hugging, insurance companies, internet, IRS, Joint Economic Committee, Kevin Brady, Massachusetts health plan, minimum reserve requirement, Obamacare, Oregon, pharmaceutical companies
Bernanke’s Plan For Tighter Money
We haven’t seen inflation on the whole during the financial rescue efforts, despite the Federal Reserve’s easy money policies. If you wanted to cherry pick certain assets, the argument could be made that $140/barrel oil, during a recession, coinciding with a dump of liquidity on the economy, could be related. Global oil transactions are denominated in US dollars. It is hard to imagine any other factor being solely responsible for such a historic, and counterintuitive, rise in petroleum during a recession.
under: Deficits, Dollar, Energy, Federal Reserve, Game Theory, Individual v. Collective, Live and Learn, Taxes, Treasury, Trust
Tags: Ben Bernanke, easy money, Fannie Mae, financial crisis, fractional reserve banking, Freddie Mac, housing, inflation, real estate, stagflation, tight money, Treasurys, velocity of circulation
Hyperinflation: Myth or Possibility?
Will the massive increase in money cause hyperinflation? I certainly think that high inflation will come when velocity picks up, however, YouTube user ramzpaul makes a good case that given the way our economy is set up, one thing we won’t have to worry about is hyperinflation. For the Austrians out there, it’s worth taking a listen to:
Fractional Reserve Payments
If one group of economic actors can do something, why can’t another? If banks can create money out of thin air to lend, why can’t borrowers create money out of thin air with which to pay back said debts?
Fed’s Treasury Purchases
Basically, monetizing debt is a process of lending money to one’s self. The government spends, proceeds to write an IOU (debt contract in the form of a T-bill) and hands it to the Federal Reserve.
Got 100% Reserve Banking on the Mind
There are major advantages to 100% reserve banking. Right off the bat, banking panics are simply impossible. Since every bank has all its money on hand (or its customers aren’t contractually entitled to it at that time), there is no way that a run on the bank will cause a bank to go under. And therefore, large banking crises, such as the one we are seeing today, or saw in the Great Depression, or in the panics of 1819, 1837, 1857, 1871, 1893, 1907, etc. would never happen.
under: Dollar, Federal Reserve, Game Theory, Individual v. Collective, Live and Learn, Trust
Tags: 100% reserve banking, austrian economics, Bank of Amsterdam, banking, banking panic, boom/bust cycle, Carr v Carr, deflation, F.A. Hayek, Federal Reserve, fiat currency, fiat money, financial crisis, fractional reserve banking, gold standard, Great Depression, inflation, Milton Friedman, Murray Rothbard, Paul Krugman
Ron Paul Explains Mistakes in U.S. Economic Policy
While lawmakers rush to “fix” current economic problems, Ron Paul asks us to consider why we’re here in the first place.
The Financial Crisis – Part 2: The Rest of the Story
Inflation was thus misinterpreted as wealth, leading American consumers to borrow more and more, especially against their overvalued homes. Total mortgage debt in the United States is now around 12.5 trillion, up from $1.5 trillion in 1980! Total household debt was around 50% of GDP in 1980 and is over 100% today. And the personal saving rate was around negative 1%, for most of the last decade.
under: Deficits, Dollar, Federal Reserve, Individual v. Collective, Live and Learn, Taxes, Treasury, Trust
Tags: 9-11, ACORN, adjustable rate mortgages, AIG, Alan Greenspan, Alphonso Jackson, Alt-A mortgages, American Dream, Andrew Cuomo, Barney Franks, Bill Clinton, Chris Dodd, Community Reinvestment Act, deregulation, dot-com bust, Fannie Mae, Federal Reserve, financial crisis, fractional reserve banking, Frank Raines, Franklin Roosevelt, Freddie Mac, George Bush, Ginnie Mae, Great Depression, GSE, home ownership, inflation, M1, M3, Maxine Waters, mortgage backed securities, New Deal, Niall Ferguson, Peter Schiff, sub-prime mortgages, Tom Woods, Wall Street
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