Recent IRS data show that individuals earning $66,000 and more a year have a total adjusted gross income of $5.1 trillion. In 2011, corporate profit came in at $1.6 trillion. That means if Congress simply confiscated the entire earnings of taxpayers earning more than $66,000 and all corporate profits, it wouldn’t be enough to cover the $8 trillion per year growth of U.S. liabilities.[4]
One of Keynes’ major flaws in General Theory is his obsession with full employment. While certainly full employment is a noble cause, to think a central planning entity can “manage” an economy to achieve full employment is ludicrous. While, as stated earlier, Keynes was most focused on the British economy, which was significantly smaller than the American economy, it remains an absurd notion that unemployment can be managed and adjusted by central planning; and venturing such concepts into an economy of scale and dynamics of the United States verges on insanity. Within the United States, economic fluctuations vary on multiple levels – from regionally, specific industries, regional weather, local or state government issues, to name a few. The free-market is the most effective way to reach appropriate employment.
[1] Han-Hermann Hoppe, November 18, 2011, “Entrepreneurship with Fiat Property,” Mises Daily, (Speech delivered September 17, 2011, Edelweiss Holdings Symposium, Zurich, Switzerland, Auburn, AL: Ludwig von Mises Institute), [http://mises.org/daily/5817/Entrepreneurship-with-Fiat-Property].
[2] Chris Cox and Bill Archer, November 26, 2012, “Why $16 Trillion Only Hints at the True U.S. Debt,” The Wall Street Journal online, [http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323353204578127374039087636.html].
[3] Niall Ferguson, a professor of history at Harvard University, calculates U.S unfunded liabilities exceeding $238 trillion, see Niall Ferguson, June 16, 2012, “Viewpoint: Why the young should welcome austerity,” BBC News World, [http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-18456131]. Laurence Kotlikoff, a professor of economics at Boston University, calculates U.S unfunded liabilities exceeding $222 trillion, see Laurence Kotlikoff, July 31, 2012, “U.S. is “Totally Broke”: Federal Govt.’s Fiscal Gap Is $222 Trillion: Economist,” The Daily Ticker, [http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-ticker/u-totally-broke-federal-govt-fiscal-gap-222-135416602.html].
[4] Walter Williams, December 5, 2012, “Future Generations,” Townhall.com, [http://townhall.com/columnists/walterewilliams/2012/12/05/future_generations/page/full/].
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