James K. Galbraith Lecture, Part Two
Oct. 23rd, 2021 12:31 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ndrosenOn Thursday, Dr. Galbraith spoke well of the late Professor Mason Gaffney, whom I also admire; he also spoke well of so-called Modern Monetary Theory, which he described as having achieved influence without being academic economics. My own view is that is good reason for some notions not to be respectable in academic economics.
He said that regulation is needed in society, and gave the example of China, where lettuce is generally not on sale, because people won’t buy it, as they cannot be confident that it was grown under minimally hygienic conditions, except that Chinese do buy imported American lettuce at Sam’s Club, with labels saying that it was inspected by the USDA. The Chinese have figured out how to import regulations of the foreign buyers of Chinese products, making those products also safe and reliable for the domestic market, he said.
Dr. Galbraith is in favor of direct government action to deal with global warming, and against price signals like the carbon tax which some economists favor. When they tried that in France, there was mayhem in the streets (by the Gillets Jaune). Rural French were not willing to tolerate a tax on diesel fuel, which hit them hard, because there was no way they could convert their trucks and tractors to solar or wind power in the short run. (My own thought is that he had a point, but might people not also resent a government which ran their lives directly, taxed them for government Green projects, and demanded that they buy electric tractors to be plugged into solar arrays?).
He is in favor of a more progressive income tax, higher taxes on capital gains, and the estate/gift tax. The gift tax ought to be higher to limit the ability of rich people to pass on their money to their children and grandchildren. They would, in his view, do more good either by paying more in taxes, or giving their fortunes away to charitable foundations. He does not, however, favor the annual wealth tax supported by Senator Elizabeth Warren and others, which he said would be a nightmare to assess.
He does favor taxing land values, including such things as oil leases and broadcast licenses. He regards land value taxation as viable, so he and I have something in common, despite our differences.
To be continued.
He said that regulation is needed in society, and gave the example of China, where lettuce is generally not on sale, because people won’t buy it, as they cannot be confident that it was grown under minimally hygienic conditions, except that Chinese do buy imported American lettuce at Sam’s Club, with labels saying that it was inspected by the USDA. The Chinese have figured out how to import regulations of the foreign buyers of Chinese products, making those products also safe and reliable for the domestic market, he said.
Dr. Galbraith is in favor of direct government action to deal with global warming, and against price signals like the carbon tax which some economists favor. When they tried that in France, there was mayhem in the streets (by the Gillets Jaune). Rural French were not willing to tolerate a tax on diesel fuel, which hit them hard, because there was no way they could convert their trucks and tractors to solar or wind power in the short run. (My own thought is that he had a point, but might people not also resent a government which ran their lives directly, taxed them for government Green projects, and demanded that they buy electric tractors to be plugged into solar arrays?).
He is in favor of a more progressive income tax, higher taxes on capital gains, and the estate/gift tax. The gift tax ought to be higher to limit the ability of rich people to pass on their money to their children and grandchildren. They would, in his view, do more good either by paying more in taxes, or giving their fortunes away to charitable foundations. He does not, however, favor the annual wealth tax supported by Senator Elizabeth Warren and others, which he said would be a nightmare to assess.
He does favor taxing land values, including such things as oil leases and broadcast licenses. He regards land value taxation as viable, so he and I have something in common, despite our differences.
To be continued.
