Recession here we come...but taxes keep going up!

[contractor79]

excellent post

There are four ways in which you can spend money.

You can spend your own money on yourself. When you do that, why then you really watch out what you’re doing, and you try to get the most for your money.

Then you can spend your own money on somebody else. For example, I buy a birthday present for someone. Well, then I’m not so careful about the content of the present, but I’m very careful about the cost.

Then, I can spend somebody else’s money on myself. And if I spend somebody else’s money on myself, then I’m sure going to have a good lunch!

Finally, I can spend somebody else’s money on somebody else. And if I spend somebody else’s money on somebody else, I’m not concerned about how much it is, and I’m not concerned about what I get.

And that’s government. And that’s close to 40% of our national income.

Milton Friedman

great post

[RichardCranium]

pigs are more likely to fly than for our government to efficiently use public money

They do.

In helicopters.

On happy jolies chasing UFOs which they forget to take pictures of.

Yeah. Right.

Where's your tax money?

Paying for pigs to fly.

[Mailman]

Oh goody Chuck Norris is back from 'Nam again to tell us how much better things are done in the land of the septics. USA! USA!

I was hoping for more of a Claud Van Dam type of comparison!

Mailman

[Peoplesoft bloke]

I was hoping for more of a Claud Van Dam type of comparison!

Mailman

Makes sense - like our dear PM, you aspire to be someone not many people would recognise as worthwhile.

In this case a Belgian actor who's cocaine addiction led to bipolar disorder (or was it the other way around?) and who signed divorce papers alleging spousal abuse - cool eh?

[Epiphone]

general election cometh...

Yeah 'cause the first thing all the other parties will do is lower taxes eh.

[ASB]

Milton Friedman: advised General Pinochet. Pinochet, who famously massacred stadiums-full of his fellow citizens, demurred at the pain that some of Friedman's prescriptions would cause. Friedman didn't: people didn't really appear in his world-view.

Friedman was never an official advisor. He was far from the only one.

Anyway the reforms were quite miraculous for a few years what with:-

liberalized public sector - largely moved to the private sector
liberalized credit - to allow individuals access to cheap money (what with the escudo being pegged to the dollar it was very cheap money)
liberalized imports - allowing the people to buy lots of shiny new cars, tv's etc. with the cheap money they had borrowed.

It was very successful until the unanticipated event happened. In Chiles case falling metal prices. It did collapse rather spectacularly.

Anyway, we have all learnt from these mistakes and nothing like this will ever happen again will it. After all it's not like we've had easy credit. worsening trade deficit and now rapidly increasing energy and raw material prices.

[ChimpMaster]

Scorced Earth

Well we're really in the tulipe now.

The theory is, in all likelihood, that Gordon Brown and Labour will lose the election. Hence he really doesn't care any more what the public think, and he will proceed to do whatever he likes and raise whichever taxes he sees fit. He is also somewhat unconcerned by the burgeoning national debt, which now stands at an all time record of some 40% of GDP. He's forcing the country into ever greater debt and raping the plebs for as much as he can squeeze. He'll keep on doing this because he knows the public might cry but they won't retaliate. He will leave this country and its people destitute.

This will be his legacy to the winners of the next election, to the Conservatives. This is a Scorched Earth policy. Much the same used by losers of territorial war.

[DimPrawn]

Well we're really in the tulipe now.

The theory is, in all likelihood, that Gordon Brown and Labour will lose the election. Hence he really doesn't care any more what the public think, and he will proceed to do whatever he likes and raise whichever taxes he sees fit. He is also somewhat unconcerned by the burgeoning national debt, which now stands at an all time record of some 40% of GDP. He's forcing the country into ever greater debt and raping the plebs for as much as he can squeeze. He'll keep on doing this because he knows the public might cry but they won't retaliate. He will leave this country and its people destitute.

This will be his legacy to the winners of the next election, to the Conservatives. This is a Scorched Earth policy. Much the same used by losers of territorial war.

I think you're just trying to put a bit of gloss on it.