No. of Recommendations: 17
That would be easier if there was a single policy which was “nane”. I can’t think of one.
First, kudos on the neonym. (my neologism for neologism)
Second, surely there are some good bits in US policy these days? Banning daylight savings time. The goal of reducing the US budget deficit is not without merit, though let us not speak about the proposed policy in that area.
Third, OK, yes, the fellow in charge seems to make a tempting target for the ad hominem, I admit it. I just think a discussion board is its best when attacking the person, rather than the idea, is mostly absent. Even though things aren't as funny sometimes.
And lastly, my post may have been ill advised, aiming at the moon. Perhaps I should have started with the suggestion that we avoid ad hominem attacks against, say, Tom Hanks, and worked my way up...
Jim
PS, make me emperor of the US, and this is my proposal for balancing the budget:
Introduce a national value added tax (a type of sales tax). This will be hated, so the rate will be zero, initially, for three years. Who could argue?
Each subsequent year, the rate will set equal to the rate that would have resulted in no federal government deficit on average in the prior 3 years.
If lawmakers balance the budget, no sales tax. If they don't, then the year's deficit is made up by tax collections spread over the next few years. The legislators always get to decide, and they get to respond to emergencies without unwisely worrying about balancing the budget when one happens.
Truth be told, there is no need to balance the budget, as long as the average deficit is lower than the average nominal economic growth rate. So the VAT tax could be set to the rate that would have held the deficit to 2% of GDP in the prior 3 years. This has the advantage of producing a good supply of "risk free" assets which are very useful for greasing the economic wheels, while ensuring that the debt slowly slides as a fraction of GDP over time and remains supportable.
