The China Deal: If You Can't Sell It, Buy It

[Max Sawicky]

. . .    So why are you surprised that, for practical political purposes,
support for free trade = suppport for shredding the social safety net?
Sincerely,   Barry DeCicco

I don't deny a link between free trade ideology
and anti-safety net policy, but an underlying
implication of this is wrong.  Namely, the idea
that free trade makes taxation infeasible or saps
public revenue systems.

The U.S. revenue system is doing just fine -- never
been better, in terms of proceeds.  That includes
Federal, state, and local.  What it's being spent
on, or who is bearing the tax burden, is a different
matter.

The argument that globalization, or in the words of
one economist, "quicksilver capital" defeats tax
policy is not borne out empirically.  Capital can
of course move to avoid taxation, but those who
receive income from capital are much less prone
to do so.

The U.S. State wants revenue for debt reduction,
and it's getting it.

mbs