Comments by "" (@A86) on "Trickle Down Economics Is Working! (If You're Doing The Trickling)" video.

  1. Inspector Javert - Well, as a Socialist I can admit there is some truth to the Laffer Curve. There is a point you can reach where taxes can be too high to the point that it hurts labor and consumers or can negatively impact businesses to the point that it's more attractive to not higher people. Keynes recognized this as well. That's why JFK implemented some tax cuts during an economic boom in the 1960s. It was actually a "Demand Side" cut based on the logic of Keynesianism (Republicans today take this out of context and try to make JFK look like a Supply Sider by assuming all tax cuts = supply side). However, that point is not set in stone and it's not as simple as the very over-simplistic Laffer Curve makes it look. Right now the US tax structure is too far to the left for the rich and still slightly to the left for 99% (meaning taxes are too low right now). But for the 99% it's relatively much farther to the right than it is for the 1%.
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  2. dahalofreeek - That's a pretty good analysis. In the 1920s tax cuts were feasible and actually DID cause many/most Americans to have to pay less taxes. But that's because govt spending was significantly lower at the time and the rich made enough money that most of the rest of the people didn't have to pick up the slack. However, the "Roaring Twenties" also had the side effect of increasing wealth inequality and the middle class stagnating. Non-farm middle class wages actually shrank by around 4% in the 20s (not counting the 1929 Crash).  Supply-Side Economics only works pretty much when taxes get SO high that now they're doing more harm than good (killing demand or reducing productivity) or when barriers to entry and exit are excessively high in times when the market should otherwise be doing well. One of the biggest problems with Reaganomics is that it tried to implement 1920s-style changes in an economic situation that was much different than the 1920s (the Depression of 1921 was caused by sharp deflation rather than inflation like in the 1970s which was caused largely by the oil embargo). That's why Supply Side worked slightly better in Britain under Margaret Thatcher (which has a situation that called for some of the reforms it proposed) than it did in the US (which largely did not have a situation that called for such reforms). In our current situation Social Democratic and Keynesian reforms would work better. Supply-Side would be more appropriate for a situation like where there is a growing economy but a 90% marginal tax rate. Or 20% unemployment and unions requiring that every new employee start at a salary of $75,000/year and be given 2 months paid vacation while the companies have a profit margin barely in the black.
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