Tag Archives: taxes

Inequality, Taxes and more – April 17 Podcasts

podcastsIn this week’s roundup there are podcasts from Yaron Brook and Don Watkins (who is filling in for Yaron on has Radical Capitalist podcast). Amy Peikoff had to cancel her weekly podcast due to a work conflict, but did a “make up” show on Saturday evening.

AM560 Rewind: It’s Not Inequality, Stupid

In this week’s broadcast from Chicago, Yaron discusses inequality, referencing a recent article from The Atlantic, “Total read more

Role of Government is to Protect Rights, Not Manage Behavior

role of governmentThe usual suspects, Vermont statists, are at it again. They are seeking to manage the behavior of citizens in a direction that they deem to be “better” and to penalize those who do not fall in line.

This latest assault is the renewal of a proposal to impose a 2 cent per ounce tax on beverages that contain added sugar such as soda and sports drinks. Based on prices at a local minimart, this would result in about a 27% increase in the cost of a bottle of soda. Supporters of the law read more

Solar Panel “Affection” – Humbug!

Solar Panel HumbugSmaller Power Projects Up 58 Percent

This was the headline for the second item that caught my eye in the December 17, 2014 edition of the Caledonian Record. (The other I commented on here.) According to the article, the majority of these new small power projects, defined as those being able to generate up to 150 kilowatts, have come from solar installations where individuals “take advantage of federal tax credits and the state’s growing affection for cleaner read more

Economic Ignorance on Display – Electric Vehicle Edition

A year ago I wrote a short post on an example of economic ignorance on the part of town officials here in St. Johnsbury. Such examples are hardly rare, and today’s Caledonian Record has another one.

In June the town secured funding to install an electric vehicle charging station. A state grant will cover 75% of the $15,000 price tag with Green Mountain Power covering the rest.  The chairman of the St. Johnsbury select board is quoted as saying:

I’m not sure we need one but if it can read more

Ok, But What About the Federal Government?

The Wall Street Journal has an interesting article yesterday regarding changes being proposed for the way that state and local governments account for the cost of retired workers.

The proposals, unveiled Monday by an accounting-standards group, would require state and local governments to add retiree-benefit promises to their balance sheets, making governments’ overall financial position appear worse.

The move by the read more

If You Care About the Children, Privatize Education

Record numbers of towns, in all parts of the state of Vermont, have rejected school budgets this year in protest over ever rising property tax rates and education costs spiraling out of control. In St. Johnsbury, the town where I work, residents recently voted down their school budget for the third time.

Those who support the increased school budget often attempt to characterize their opponents as people who hate children or do not care about the future of the town. Comments such as ” It’s read more

Podcast Roundup – May 12th

Each week I try to listen to a couple of podcasts which apply rational principles to issues of everyday life.

Philosophy in Action – Dr. Diana Hsieh and Greg Perkins discussed questions on weak vs strong atheism, weak being the view that evidence of God fails while strong is view that God cannot exist by its very nature, and the rationality of dating someone with psychological problems. One interesting read more

Effect of “A Bit Less Profit” – Quote of the Day

While I do not agree 100% with what Andrew Mellon talks about in his 1924 book, Taxation: The People’s Business, I do wish more of today’s politicians would read it before they advocate for some of the economic measures they champion, such as higher corporate taxes, higher taxes on the “rich”, sales tax on medical devices, and higher minimum wages to name a few.

This quote of just one sentence comes in the context of a discussion on the effect of the high tax rates at the read more

Enjoy the Fruits of Your Labor – Quote of the Day

In reading Andrew Mellon’s 1924 book, Taxation: The People’s Business, I am pretty impressed with his general trend of thought.  There are some areas where I don’t agree with him, such as on whether taxes are actually the proper way to fund government, but on the whole I like what read more