Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
A legitimate 1% real cut across the board from every program .Do that every year until the budget is balanced.
I was thinking the question was about the economy and not government spending... but there actually is a proposal called The Penny Plan that does exactly what you suggest.
one penny out of every dollar in the budget and you get to a balanced budget in something like 10 years or a little less.
That makes as much sense as requiring that everything the government currently pays for reduces it pricing 1% a year. Blindly cutting 1% of a budget each year, which in some cases may barely cover the costs of what needs to be done (or not-even) as it is, is reckless and irresponsible. What's needed is thinking not lack of thinking. Innovating new ways to accomplish the objectives with less money, not scurrilously trying to undercut the objectives that you personally don't care about.
A legitimate 1% real cut across the board from every program .Do that every year until the budget is balanced.
i say start with a 5% across the board cut in every program, and then 1% each year after. we need to show the people that we are serious about cutting the deficit and debt.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ferd
if you lower the price of things, you will necessarily lower the tax collection and thus there is less money for the government.
The better option is to make the economy grow in size and scope while holding down inflation below the growth rate.
sort of right. lets start with the lowering of prices, in the beginning it would lower tax revenues, until the economy rebounded, and sales increased due to the lower prices. when the sales increase, you need more employees, which increases the tax base, which means more revenues in the long run. so in essence, lowering prices creates exactly the conditions you espouse to improve the economy. how is that you ask? when prices go down, the economy tends to rebound as i mentioned above, and also when prices go down, inflation is kept in check even though the economy grows.
This thread is to discuss ways to lower our expenses and/or prices collectively as a country.
Get rid of the reams of paperwork businesses currently have to fill out, to demonstrate to the Fed govt or state govts that they are doing what the govt says they have to do.
And get rid of the govt agencies that require, and read, all that paperwork.
That alone would reduce expenses by 25% across the board.
i say start with a 5% across the board cut in every program, and then 1% each year after. we need to show the people that we are serious about cutting the deficit and debt.
sort of right. lets start with the lowering of prices, in the beginning it would lower tax revenues, until the economy rebounded, and sales increased due to the lower prices. when the sales increase, you need more employees, which increases the tax base, which means more revenues in the long run. so in essence, lowering prices creates exactly the conditions you espouse to improve the economy. how is that you ask? when prices go down, the economy tends to rebound as i mentioned above, and also when prices go down, inflation is kept in check even though the economy grows.
Exactly how do you "lower prices"
and have you ever considered the effect of deflation? because that is what you are talking about.
and have you ever considered the effect of deflation? because that is what you are talking about.
there are many ways to lower prices with out causing a deflationary spiral. for instance lets say a business figures a way to produce their own energy with materials they have on hand as a result of their business. like a dairy farm for instance. more and more dairy farms are making their own electricity from cow manure, about 40-60% in fact. that alone will cut expenses for the dairy, which means they can cut their milk prices, which means the wholesaler can cut its prices, which means the retailer can cut its prices. that means MORE milk sales. but understand that it doesnt mean a deflationary spiral is going to happen. in fact inflation is good as long as it is well controlled.
and by the way, a side benefit is that prices dont have to actually come down either, most businesses that see higher profit margins due to more sales, tend to hire new employees to handle those higher sales, or they pay the current employees a bit more, which then brings down the profit margin a bit, but the business is then expanding.
there are many ways to lower prices with out causing a deflationary spiral. for instance lets say a business figures a way to produce their own energy with materials they have on hand as a result of their business. like a dairy farm for instance. more and more dairy farms are making their own electricity from cow manure, about 40-60% in fact. that alone will cut expenses for the dairy, which means they can cut their milk prices, which means the wholesaler can cut its prices, which means the retailer can cut its prices. that means MORE milk sales. but understand that it doesnt mean a deflationary spiral is going to happen. in fact inflation is good as long as it is well controlled.
and by the way, a side benefit is that prices dont have to actually come down either, most businesses that see higher profit margins due to more sales, tend to hire new employees to handle those higher sales, or they pay the current employees a bit more, which then brings down the profit margin a bit, but the business is then expanding.
You are talking about reducing expenses. I think that is a fantastic idea.
But that is a very different from reducing the cost of goods and services.
This thread is to discuss ways to lower our expenses and/or prices collectively as a country.
I believe one of the easiest way to do so would be to reduce our energy costs. There are many natural alternatives to our current means of producing energy. They won't produce a huge profit, but they will lower everyone's expenses. I believe our taxes should stay the same so in that scenario it would be a net gain for American citizens.
Please no partisan banter. This is a non-partisan issue. All ideas welcome though Any topic is fair game on where we can lower our expenses and/or prices.
I would just point out that we don't really want to lower our prices; we want to raise median incomes. Deflation is a bad thing as it would yield a recession. The more it happens, the more it perpetuates the cycle economic loss, and the harder it is to stop.
Devaluation process has already begun with the massive printing of greenbacks undergone since 2009 and the increase in government spending of money it does not have.
There's a reason why countries around the globe are pulling their gold reserves back to home territory.
There's a reason why they are shying from your bond issue like the ancients from lepers.
There's a reason why gold has had a 12 year run of rising value and will continue after this slight correction.
There's a reason why countries like Russia, China, India, Japan have had secret meetings (secret from the U.S.) to discuss moving away from using the greenback in exchange of goods and services. there's a reason why they've agreed to use the Remimbi instead of the greenback.
There's a reason why your fed is printing like mad while assuring you at every opportunity that a devaluation of the greenback cannot occurr when anyone with any sense knows the two conditions cannot exist together in a vacuum.
They are manipulating interest rates artificially, printing money like mad to service the debt, continuing to spend like a drunken sailor on leave in Bangkok while at the same time accusing the Chinese of being currency manipulators, haaar!
2008 was just a pre-cursor of what's to come and all of the gov'ts attempts to buy it's way out of a crisis with borrowed money is just digging the hole deeper and deeper.
There is no meaningful way the government can reverse this tsunami now even if it had a sea change in thinking, which it hasn't and won't. The die is cast and this will now play out in a way that will result in massive price hikes for all commodities, devaluation of the dollar taking perhaps a full 20% out of your monetary worth overnight wiping out many savings plans and retiriment portfolios while jacking up your cost of living and reducing your lifestyle by a gigantic chop.
Look to history; you are now where other countries have been before. Great Britain held the worlds currency status for over 150 years before adopting many of the same policies you've been using to gobble like pigs at the trough for only 50; you've made them look like pikers by comparison. As great Britain went down the tubes for at least two decades of strife and poverty; so too will the U.S. and for the very same reasons.
Too late now. Enjoy your lifestyle while you've still got it. It's all about to go away in a very tangible manner.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Any topic is fair game on where we can lower our expenses and/or prices.
