Re: Re: RE: Re: Re: Implications of Surplus Tax Cut?

2001-01-10 Thread Margaret Coleman
There is the definition of class and then there is class consiousness -- frequently the twain don't meet. You can find many specific actions of class solidarity during situations of stress, such as strikes, without finding lasting class consiousness. F'rinstance, during the 1989 strike in the ph

Re: RE: Re: Re: Implications of Surplus Tax Cut?

2001-01-10 Thread Doug Henwood
Max Sawicky wrote: >The $20K proprietor, >nurse, factory operative, and even security >guard have more in common with each other than any >of them do with a $150K artisan, from any practical >political standpoint, including a socialist or >marxist one. Not sure about that. The $20K proprietor wa

Re: RE: RE: Re: RE: Re: Implications of Surplus Tax Cut?

2001-01-09 Thread Justin Schwartz
> >Does this mean that the purpose of politics is to enact policies that you >know are bad so that you can be reelected in order to enact policies that >you know are bad? > > >David Shemano > As fara s I can tell, this is the "progressive" argument for voting for Democrats,w ith the addendum t

Re: RE: Re: Re: Implications of Surplus Tax Cut?

2001-01-09 Thread Carrol Cox
Max Sawicky wrote: > The problem w/the marxist definitions is that, > while they may have some bearing on how economies > develop, they don't have much political, cultural, > or sociological meaning. The $20K proprietor, > nurse, factory operative, and even security > guard have more in common

Re: RE: Re: Re: Implications of Surplus Tax Cut?

2001-01-09 Thread Stephen E Philion
Max, I always thought the argument Marxists made was that Capital is constantly trying to find ways to ensure that more and more workers are in the 20K/yr. category, including those making 10 K a year. On a strike line for American Airlines striking flight attendants in 1993 I can remember the ve

RE: Re: Re: Implications of Surplus Tax Cut?

2001-01-09 Thread Max Sawicky
The problem w/the marxist definitions is that, while they may have some bearing on how economies develop, they don't have much political, cultural, or sociological meaning. The $20K proprietor, nurse, factory operative, and even security guard have more in common with each other than any of them

Re: Re: Re: Re: Implications of Surplus Tax Cut?

2001-01-09 Thread Margaret Coleman
It was all those 60s sociologists who added a factor of income and subverted the idea of class to attach to the amount of goods a salary could buy. Also, the idea of middle class was invented so those aristocrats of labor could separate themselves from the great unwashed, i.e., women and minoriti

RE: RE: Re: RE: Re: Implications of Surplus Tax Cut?

2001-01-09 Thread David Shemano
<> - Does this mean that the purpose of politics is to enact policies that you know are bad so that you can be reelected in order to enact policies that you know are bad? David Shemano

RE: Re: RE: Re: Implications of Surplus Tax Cut?

2001-01-09 Thread Forstater, Mathew
At the New School's conference on "Functional Finance and Full Employment" in 1998, Bob Eisner told a group of us about a dinner conversation he had at the White House with Bill, Hill, and Rubin. He said to them "You know the approach you are taking to budgetary policy is bad economics." According

Re: Re: Re: Implications of Surplus Tax Cut?

2001-01-09 Thread Justin Schwartz
The standard "objective" Marxist definition is that a worker is somone who owns no means of production (or not enough to makea living from), and must sell his labor power for wages to live. It's not a matter of income. The definition of "middle classes" is very trickly; Erik Olin Wright has gi

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: RE: Re: Implications of Surplus Tax Cut?

2001-01-09 Thread Jim Devine
At 09:44 PM 01/08/2001 -0600, you wrote: >One thing, NOT the only thing, but one thing was the massive flow of >capital into the U.S., which helped pump up the stock market, generate big >capital gains, etc. (not just DFI, all capital inflow). I suspect that >this was largely a matter of luc

Re: Re: Re: Implications of Surplus Tax Cut?

2001-01-09 Thread Jim Devine
At 03:38 AM 01/09/2001 -0800, you wrote: >I'm curious - define "working class". For Marxists and sympathizers, the working class is not defined by income, as Carrol indicates. (The income definition is inherently fuzzy, since one never knows where to draw the line.) The "working class" represen

Re: Re: Re: Implications of Surplus Tax Cut?

2001-01-09 Thread Carrol Cox
Mike Zellefrow wrote: > Hello- > I'm curious - define "working class". Give me an > income range. Class is not a thing but a relation. Income is irrelevant except when it is a disguised from of participation in surplus value. > For example, a self-employed carpenter Petty Producer, whether

Re: Re: Re: Re: RE: Re: Implications of Surplus Tax Cut?

2001-01-08 Thread Barnet Wagman
Ellen Frank wrote: > Doug writes: > > >Ok, so what gave us the longest expansion in U.S. history, and a 42% > >rise in real GDP? > > > >Doug > > > I really don't know. But the conventional wisdom really > falls apart on close inspection. For example, real > interest rates were high compared wit

Re: RE: Re: Implications of Surplus Tax Cut?

2001-01-08 Thread Barnet Wagman
David Shemano wrote: > If crowding out is fallacious, and there is absolutely no link between > budget deficits and interest rates, what is one to think of the efficacy of > President Clinton's policies as a contributor to economic growth? That there was none. Much as I miss Clinton (even thoug

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Implications of Surplus Tax Cut?

2001-01-08 Thread Barnet Wagman
Ellen Frank wrote: > > > Let's say I get a $50,000 tax refund thanks to Dubya, with > which I buy shares in a bio-tech IPO. Remember that most of the money 'invested' in the stock market goes to buy existing stock, not new issues. > Once current income starts whirling around in the speculative

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Implications of Surplus Tax Cut?

2001-01-08 Thread Ellen Frank
I > wrote: > >>Point taken. The key word though, is "may." The grandma >>may buy Paxil, or she may buy real estate. The bank >>may lend it to a ball-bearing manufacturer, or they may >>lend it to a hedge fund, or a margin trader, or a real >>estate dealer, or a takeover artist. Doug wrote:

RE: Re: Re: Re: RE: Re: Implications of Surplus Tax Cut?

2001-01-08 Thread David Shemano
Behalf Of Ellen Frank Sent: Monday, January 08, 2001 4:10 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [PEN-L:6738] Re: Re: Re: RE: Re: Implications of Surplus Tax Cut? Doug writes: >Ok, so what gave us the longest expansion in U.S. history, and a 42% >rise in real GDP? > >Doug > I really don&#

Re: Re: Re: RE: Re: Implications of Surplus Tax Cut?

2001-01-08 Thread Ellen Frank
Doug writes: >Ok, so what gave us the longest expansion in U.S. history, and a 42% >rise in real GDP? > >Doug > I really don't know. But the conventional wisdom really falls apart on close inspection. For example, real interest rates were high compared with earlier years (despite assertions t

RE: Re: Re: RE: Re: Implications of Surplus Tax Cut?

2001-01-08 Thread Lisa & Ian Murray
> -Original Message- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Doug Henwood > Sent: Monday, January 08, 2001 3:57 PM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: [PEN-L:6736] Re: Re: RE: Re: Implications of Surplus Tax Cut? > > > Ellen Fran

Re: Re: RE: Re: Implications of Surplus Tax Cut?

2001-01-08 Thread Doug Henwood
Ellen Frank wrote: >Personally, I don't see that Clinton's policies contributed to >economic growth. Ok, so what gave us the longest expansion in U.S. history, and a 42% rise in real GDP? Doug

Re: RE: Re: Implications of Surplus Tax Cut?

2001-01-08 Thread Ellen Frank
>Was not the entire basis of the Clinton economic program, the entire basis >of his taking credit for the growth during his term, the fact that he >increased taxes in 1993, thereby reducing the budget deficit, thereby >causing a decline in interest rates, thereby causing economic and >employment >

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Implications of Surplus Tax Cut?

2001-01-08 Thread Ellen Frank
I was being sort of facetious initially, but I do think there is an issue here. The supply-siders argue that investment will be high as long as government doesn't spook businesses with too much interference in the free-market. Now I understand the limitations of this and the critique of Say's L

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Implications of Surplus Tax Cut?

2001-01-08 Thread Ellen Frank
[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: > B >ut it's not easy to keep money in a pure hoard. Buy a T-bill, and >the government may spend it. Buy a stock, and the grandma who sells >it might use it to buy her Paxil. Put it in the bank and it may >become working capital. > >Doug > Point taken. The key word th

Re: Re: Re: Re: Implications of Surplus Tax Cut?

2001-01-08 Thread Jim Devine
I wrote: > >>It seems to me that no matter what the rationale -- or rationalization > -- of Bush2's proposed tax cut, it is Keynesian in practice (because > Keynesian theory makes much more sense than supply-side theory does), > just as Reagan's tax cut was supply-side in theory but was Keynes

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Implications of Surplus Tax Cut?

2001-01-08 Thread Carrol Cox
Doug Henwood wrote: > Jim Devine wrote: > > that "shrewd bourgeois" he was, JMK > liked a little inflation so it could disguise real wage cuts from the > workers. Where did Keynes say that? I do remember Samuelson saying that in Newsweek back in the late '70s. I remember part of it exactly: "

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Implications of Surplus Tax Cut?

2001-01-08 Thread Doug Henwood
Ellen Frank wrote: >[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: >> >>Yeah, but where's it go? And how does an "investor" hoard money? >>Aside from burying it in the backyard, it means buying a T-bill or >>depositing it in a bank, which means that it either enters the stream >>of consumption or gets lent by the ban

Re: Re: Re: Implications of Surplus Tax Cut?

2001-01-08 Thread Ellen Frank
Jim writes: > >It seems to me that no matter what the rationale -- or rationalization -- >of Bush2's proposed tax cut, it is Keynesian in practice (because >Keynesian >theory makes much more sense than supply-side theory does), just as >Reagan's tax cut was supply-side in theory but was Keynesi

Re: Re: Re: Re: Implications of Surplus Tax Cut?

2001-01-08 Thread Ellen Frank
[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: > >Yeah, but where's it go? And how does an "investor" hoard money? >Aside from burying it in the backyard, it means buying a T-bill or >depositing it in a bank, which means that it either enters the stream >of consumption or gets lent by the bank to a business for wor

Re: Re: Re: Implications of Surplus Tax Cut?

2001-01-08 Thread Doug Henwood
Jim Devine wrote: >he or she can always spend it on consumption or hoard it. (Just a >small bit of hoarding can have a multiplied effect.) Or he or she >can buy a speculative asset at a high price, just to find that it's >not worth very much after the fact. Yeah, but where's it go? And how do

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Implications of Surplus Tax Cut?

2001-01-08 Thread Doug Henwood
Jim Devine wrote: > As Doug notes, it's quite possible that Keynes himself liked sops >to the rich if they worked to help the economy. Speaking of which, Ernest Mandel wrote somewhere - maybe in the Dictionary of Marxist thought? - that "shrewd bourgeois" he was, JMK liked a little inflation

Re: Re: Re: Re: Implications of Surplus Tax Cut?

2001-01-08 Thread Jim Devine
At 03:21 PM 1/8/01 -0500, you wrote: >Jim Devine wrote: > >>The fact that both of these are regressive doesn't automatically make >>them anti- or un-Keynesian, since the US 1964 tax cut was also >>regressive, as were the various investment tax credits that have been >>promoted by self-styled Ke

Re: Re: Re: Implications of Surplus Tax Cut?

2001-01-08 Thread Doug Henwood
Jim Devine wrote: >The fact that both of these are regressive doesn't automatically >make them anti- or un-Keynesian, since the US 1964 tax cut was also >regressive, as were the various investment tax credits that have >been promoted by self-styled Keynesians. Why are ITCs un-Keynesian? JMK h