Capitalism, Economic Freedom, Taxes, State, and Federal

Spending

Capitalism – Old or Young?

• Capitalism has been around as long as the barter system– When farmers, merchants, craftsmen bartered weren’t they

trying to get the best possible deal?

• System used by the ancient Mesopotamians, Persians, Greeks, Phoenicians, etc– Did these cultures flourish or flounder?

Capitalism – good or bad?

• Pros– Allow hard-working

entrepeneurial individuals to prosper

– Hard work is often rewarded

– Provides motivation for ppl to work harder

– Can allow for choice and economic mobility

– Allows a society’s class structure to be more fluid as opposed to rigid

• Cons– Does not provide for all ppl– Big owners/businesses can

“squeeze” the little guy out– Hard work is not always

rewarded– If not regulated

unscrupulous ppl can take advantage

– Many “fall through the cracks”

How much economic freedom should businesses and individuals

be accorded?

• How much power to regulate should the govt have?• Does the American govt have too little or too much?

– Give an example(s)

• Are taxes a necessary evil or an evil monstrosity– What would we not have if govt didn’t tax its ppl

• Are taxes fair (amt paid by various individuals)– Would a flat tax be more fair– Do the tax codes need to be changed? If so what changes would

you make

Who pays the majority of taxes?

• Wealthiest 10% pay 70 % of taxes.

• Top 50 % pay 100 % of taxes

• Bottom 50 % of Americans pay no income taxes

Have social programs such as the Great Society helped to decrease

poverty?• Poverty rate today is essentially the same as

it was in 1965!http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/poverty/data/incpovhlth/2010/figure4.pdf

• Today approx 1/6 Americans is on food stamps(When President Obama took office 32,000,000 Americans

were reliant on food stamps)

• More Americans rely on food stamps, welfare, unemployment, etc than at any other time in our nation’s history

Is the answer higher taxes?

Is the answer something else – if so what?

Is everything fine and there is no reason to worry?

Govt spending

• Currently our govt is spending more money per year than at any other time in America’s history

• If left unchecked the National Debt will become unmanageable by 2020

Who is at fault?

• From 2000-2008 Pres Bush approx doubled the nation’s debt

-from 5.7 trillion to 10.6 trillion

• With Bush in office spending was approx 500 Million dollars a day

• From 2009 – 2011 under Pres Obama the debt increased from 10.6 trillion to 15.25 trillion

• With Obama in office spending has averaged approx 1.4 Billion dollars a day!

http://www.usdebtclock.org/

President Obama’s Stimulus• Was more money than any other

administration has ever spent (for the entire term in office!)

• If $1,000,000 a day had been spent since the birth of Jesus Christ it would still not have equalled the amt of the Stimulus!

• Has it worked, has the economy improved?

Stimulus success?• When Pres Obama took office the unemployment rate

was about 7%, now it is just under 9% (at its worst earlier this year it was 9.9 %)

• 47,000,000 Americans are on food stamps – more than at any other time in our nation’s history (by % or raw numbers)

• Our nation’s credit rating was downgraded for the first time in our country’s history

• The value of the dollar has fallen in comparison to every other currency

• Billions of dollars have been wasted on “pet projects” that have added little to no jobs!