Skip to main content

Interest in Taxes

Any country is able to control its economic destiny through a multitude of policy and regulation. Most of all if it has a productive workforce that is generally enlightened and happy this should not be a big deal.

However we live in an imperfect world. Thence there is never a 'Ram Rajya' (utopian existence) in practice. What every country ideally also strives to achieve is a balance between what it spends and what it earns in order to service its own debts, maintain public services and run the government.

Not as easy as it sounds. Partly a mystery that many an economist has put their minds to and proposed theses that sometimes echo in the halls of B schools - Adam Smith's Invisible Hand idea to Samuelson's Marcro Economic models et al. It should be noted that ironically Samuelson (a brilliant mind that had lasting impact on the science of Economics himself was born in Gary, Indiana which for many years ranked as the WORST place to live in the entire Unites 50 States. That he later graced Harvard and MIT to compile his works and educate us generations is a miracle.

Back on topic of my 'dis'Interest in how our government tends to run things and does more to TAX the brain than not.

Governments use two key tools to regulate the P&L statement for the country -

Monetary policy or Regulation of Interest Rates charged to lend monies to regional and private banks in the country; as well as

Fiscal Policy - regulation of Taxes applied to everybody else's earnings.

What we have now is a situation where the effective interest rate the FEDERAL RESERVE (debatable name) charges to lend money to other banks is ZERO. They are giving the DOLLARES away.

As it relates to TAXATION it is worse than a wild zoo with its occupants on pysechedelics. The Tax code actually encourages people to consult tax attorneys (who may or may not be equipped to provide any meaningful advice) to software companies that simplify the process to get people to part with their earnings.

What it also does is to allow individuals with the time or money to define ways to evade (legal) and in some cases avoid paying taxes owed to the government of the USA.

Instead what really should be happening is that the government which already has access to all my documented source of income should process the TAX due and send me the bill. They tend to deduct at source as well so the year end note should be more like a Christmas card - wishing us all well for the future with the taxes I paid YTD serving as my gift to SAM.

So much for the 50 page tax return exercise. It will be another nail in the mail service coffin who has to today ship all the junk papers I file with all its forms and schedules and sub schedules to some black hole in the IRS coffers where some nitwit then pores over it to confirm if it is correct. I mean this resembles the India of 60 years ago where people were building dams and roads with a broken shovel because we could not afford machines and had too many people.

A capitalist government should really focus on capitalizing and not socializing the ecosystem; through efficiency and not charity (in the form of meaningless jobs).

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Of chocolates

I like chocolates. Godiva Dark with Almonds - not sure of the naked woman on the horse to be the icon of some choice cocoa based products but tastes good. Started in Belgium but now owned by some Turks. Cadburys - Fruit and Nut Milk Bars - awesome combination of dried fruit pieces along with a medley of nuts makes your toungue dance - started by a Brit now owen by Kraft USA. Lindt Hazelnut spheres - made by a Swiss confectioner are divine balls that melt in your mouth with a lingering nutty taste Ghirardelli Milk Crisp Squares - crunchy and light these milk squares are easy on the palate but pack some serious calories - all good I say! Originally founded by an Italian who moved around till he landed in SF Bay today also owned by the Swiss Lindt empire.

Columbia SC

 The Palmetto state.  One of the confederate kinds. History dating couple centuries back.  We visited the capital yet again this time to take in the SC State Museum. Occupying the former digs (literally remodeled) of an erstwhile cotton mill this structure is an amazing piece of reimagination.  Four floors of excitement for kids and young at heart alike. Located on the shores of the Congaree River formed when the Broad meets up with the Saluda River, this edifice is approx. 60 years old.  The front of the building has a more modern planetarium that was added about a decade ago.  The museum itself has different areas of interest segregated on each of its four floors. The first floor has gift shop and a diorama of some of the local geography including the swamps and the state beaches with audio guides to help understand what fauna thrives locally. The second floor is all about natural history and showcases animal kingdom that may have survived on this latitud...

But What If We're Wrong?

I attempted to read this book by author Chuck Klosterman backward to forward but it started hurting my brain so I decided to stop and do it like any other publication in the English language.  Start from page 1 and move to the right. Witty, caustic and thought provoking this is a book you want to read if you believe that the status quo might, just might be wrong. At times bordering on being contrarian about most things around us it tries to zero in on the notion of what makes anything believable and certain in our minds.  The fact that there is a fact itself is ironic.  Something analogous to the idea that you can never predict the future because there is no future. Many books and movies have tried to play on this concept - best that I recollect (I think I am) was 'The Truman Show'.  This book by Klosterman attempts to provoke the reader to at least contemplate that what they think they know may be wrong. He uses examples like concept of gravity, and how it ...