Monday, February 25, 2013

If the GOP Economic Philosophy Was a Diet

If you are trying to lose weight, or get in better shape, do you think it wise to do some research before changing your eating habits and lifestyle? Perhaps consult with a doctor who specializes in weight-loss plans? Maybe you'd even talk to some friends who have recently improved their health and at least gotten some anecdotal evidence of which plans work and which might best be avoided.

The same basic reasoning that motivates us to listen to the traffic report in order to learn from the experience of others, it seems to me, should motivate us to use caution when advocating for fiscal and economic policies which truly will affect the lives and livelihoods of millions of people.

One thing I like to ask my conservative friends both IRL and online is the following basic question:

Can you point to a single country which is operating on your economic principles and which is NOT economically stagnant, if not in a recession? Think of this as analogous to consulting with a physician before making dramatic changes to your diet.

Doesn't it make logical sense to look for examples of other countries achieving economic success after instituting your own proposals? Why not be able to cite data to support your claims that your economic ideas are sound?

If there ISN'T another country using your plan, then ask yourself why not? Hey, there's nothing wrong with bold proposals, but even the boldest economic ideas can be broken down into component parts. Each of those parts can be analyzed separately, and when the analysis almost always refutes their individual promise, the larger plan of which they are a part is undermined by association. Hence, any thinking person must become increasingly skeptical about the larger plan being proposed.

For example, take minimum wage and taxation. The GOP would have us believe that raising the minimum wage hurts small businesses and job creation, and that taxes should basically always be decreasing for similar reasons.

In this country, we have plenty of data showing that neither claim is true; while there may be a short-term slowing of hiring after an increase in the minimum wage, the long-term effects are highly beneficial. Overseas evidence, such as the long-term data from Australia, shows that it is quite possible to have a minimum wage twice as high as our current rate without destroying the economy.

Taxation is even easier to analyze. If the GOP was actually right in saying that lower rates = faster growth, coupled with the notion that our current rates are "crippling" and "stifling" economic growth by keeping job creators from doing their thing, then why did our economy grow steadily for decades with top marginal rates of 50-90%? Sure, the postwar era was a boom in many ways, so perhaps the economy was just in overdrive and didn't care much about tax rates per se, like being able to tread water for ten minutes while holding a cinderblock.

The problem is that we have more recent data, isolated in time from the 50's and 60's: the Clinton-era tax increases. The economic boom immediately following them was astounding, and the best the GOP can say about the 90's is that the boom would have been bigger had it not been for those tax increases and other policies.

That may or may not be, but the point here is that their dire warnings did not, and have never come to pass. They warned us about the stimulus and were proven wrong. They warned us about tax rates and were proven wrong. They warned us about TARP and were proven wrong. They've previously warned us about minimum wage and have been proven wrong in each case. They've warned us about regulation and have been proven wrong.

Furthermore, every country that HAS instituted economic austerity measures is demonstrably worse off, and getting worse. Their unemployment is up, their GDP is down, their debt:GDP ratio is heading in the wrong direction, and many of them are dealing with double and/or triple-dip recessions.

They want to do that here, too? And they call themselves patriots while pushing for lower taxes on corporations which blatantly hide money overseas, avoid domestic taxation, and don't even provide healthcare to their (as-yet not outsourced) employees?

Here's the bottom line: if the GOP economic philosophy were a diet, you'd be required to smoke two packs a day, eat a pound of bacon daily, never exercise, and avoid all fresh fruits and vegetables. Note that each of these is bad for you individually; when taken together, they constitute a plan which argues against everything we know about anything at all regarding longevity and good health.

Think about that.

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