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December 01, 2005
Is This a Parody?
Real Clear Politics reprints a column that almost appears to be a parody of fuzzy-headed thinking from the Left.
The basic reasons why the American empire is bust are familiar from other imperial histories. The empire can no longer raise enough taxes or soldiers, it is increasingly indebted and key vassal states are no longer reliable. In an equally classical fashion, central to what is happening is the greed and decadence of the imperial elites. Like so many of their predecessors, the U.S. wealthy classes have gained a grip over the state that allows them to escape taxation. Mass acquiescence in this has to be bought with much smaller - but fiscally equally damaging - cuts to taxes on the middle classes.
That's hilarious. For the record, the tax cuts on the wealthy the last go-round were about three percentage points, from 38% to 35%. They have not managed to escape taxation. And the "much smaller but equally damaging" part is a bit of a dodge. Yes, taxes per person were cut much less for the middle class than for the rich. But the middle class is much, much larger than the rich, so that overall, they got the lion's share of the tax cuts.
Furthermore, the relative decline in U.S. economic independence means that, unlike 1917 or 1941, really serious war risks U.S. economic disaster. Even a limited U.S.-Chinese clash over Taiwan would be likely to produce catastrophic economic consequences for both sides.
Those of you who were not paying attention in the late 1980s when it was the Japanese who were threatening our economic independence may find this argument compelling. But notice what is not asked, which is why should the USA and Chinese have a clash over Taiwan? The answer is because the Chinese are being irrational. Taiwan was a part of China for four years, from 1945-1949. Prior to that it was owned by the Japanese (and referred to as Formosa).
Suppose the Chinese did the terrible, horrible thing that the writer imagines, and we decided to boycott Chinese products in response. The Chinese decide to dump all the money they are keeping in US Treasuries in retaliation. What would happen?
Not much. The yields on US Treasuries might bump up a quarter of a percent or so, with fewer buyers. And China would pretty quickly find itself in a huge economic recession.
The writer is a senior fellow at the New America Foundation, which bills itself as representing "The Brightest American Thinkers Under 40", which makes me wonder what happens when one passes one's fourth decade--are they kicked out into the street?
They also include a blurb from the New York Time which says it "breaks out of the traditional liberal and conservative categories". Which of course means it's goofball leftism, as a glance at some of their publications quickly reveals. Also amusing is to check out the magazines where their writers have had cover stories; it runs the gamut from A to B: The American Prospect, The Nation, The New York Times Magazine, Mother Jones, the New Republic, The Atlantic Monthly, and yes, Pat Buchanan's idiotic rag, The American Conservative, which says a whole lot more about Buchanan's bizarre flavor of conservatism than it does about the New America Foundation. There is one article in the Weekly Standard, but it's on a reasonably bipartisan issue: cloning.
Posted by pat at December 1, 2005 04:53 PM
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what happens when one passes one's fourth decade--are they kicked out into the street?
Think "Logan's Run". It's probably in their contract.
Posted by: Pappy at December 1, 2005 07:55 PM