* Dan Minette ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) wrote: > From: "JDG" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> > has reduced the government's take of GDP to 17%. > > No. It merely has changed the source of the take. In 2000, total > government spending was 18.4% of GDP. In 2003, it was 19.9%. Using > T-bills to finance the government doesn't reduce the take. > > >Thus, it is not just progressivity, it is the size of the > >government's share in the economy that is also debated. > > Should the size be measured in terms of spending and future > oblications? Would government have zero size if there was a total tax > holiday next year and the government was totally financed by debt? You are absolutely right that the important figure is government spending. I just wanted to add that, except for those who believe in voodoo economics and the tooth fairy, a tax cut without a spending cut is not really a tax cut at all, but rather a tax shift -- to the future. -- Erik Reuter http://www.erikreuter.net/ _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
