The Tragedy of the Commons (Part 1 of 4)
STFUTeabaggers, take note.
I reference the Tragedy of the Commons so often, it a fundamental political/economic/psychological/sociological concept that everyone should understand.
Government “help” to business is just as disastrous as government persecution… the only way a government can be of service to national prosperity is by keeping its hands off.
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| — | Ayn Rand |
The Obama fiscal commission’s draft report suggested that federal spending be reduced from 25.1% of GDP today to 22% by 2020, and lower after that. That’s a reasonable goal for a centrist kind of commission, but let’s remember that spending was just 18.2% in President Clinton’s last two fiscal years, 2000 and 2001. For the final report, the commission’s staff might look to Clinton’s budgets for guidance. The chart shows federal spending as a share of GDP in fiscal 2001 and fiscal 2012. Fiscal 2001 was Clinton’s last year, and it was before all of President Bush and Obama’s spending increases. I choose 2012 as the end year because most of the “stimulus” spending will be finished by then, defense is supposed be down a bit as foreign troops are partly withdrawn, and the economy will have hopefully recovered. Based on President Obama’s Mid-Session Review, spending in fiscal 2012 will be 23.0% of GDP. Total federal spending is expected to increase 4.8 percentage points of GDP between 2001 and 2012. The chart shows that increases have occurred in every part of the budget–entitlements, defense, and domestic spending. Thus, the Obama fiscal commission is on the right track to propose cuts across all areas of the budget. However, it needs to be about 4 percentage points of GDP more aggressive in downsizing the government to get us down to Clinton-level spending.
Fun tool where you get to choose your own solutions to the federal budget deficit issue.
66% of my savings came from spending cuts.
Generally speaking, I’m a fan of smaller government and lower taxes, but with a budget deficit this ridiculous some taxes will have to be involved.
Illegal immigration is much more complicated issue than the usual dichotomy of “Illegal immigrants are destroying our country” versus “Illegal immigrants play a vital role in our economy.” Before we even embark on the discussion, we need to know who we’re talking about.How many illegal immigrants are there, where are they from, and how do they fit in to the economy?
Did you take a vacation this summer? If you did, it was because your company generously allowed you a few paid vacation days. Unlike businesses in these other countries (all members of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development), U.S. companies are not required to give employees time off. Despite working some of the longest hours in the world, we take very little vacation. No wonder you’re feeling burnt out. A collaboration between GOOD and Amanda Buck.
Everybody might be working for the weekend, but we’re also working toward expanding our countries’ economies. Each hour we work contributes to the gross domestic product. But by how much? This is a look at the GDP per capita of the countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, compared with the average numbers of hours worked in each country. While we may be working hard in America, in Luxembourg, an hour of work really means something.
SOURCE: OECD
A collaboration between GOOD and Amanda Buck.
We’ve got a neat interactive infographic here just in time for the midterm elections. It takes a peek at what issues Americans are wringing their hands over, and how their concerns have changed since the start of the decade.
(via ilovecharts)
America needs to revive its historical spirit of innovation and quickly adapting to the changing world in order to keep up with the rapid progression the world is experiencing in the internet age. Entrepreneurs are a good sign of that.
