If asked about the economic politics of the US, you’ll probably think of them as relatively conservative, right-wing, and capitalist. You hear of the richer becoming richer, and a growing underclass of the very poor who do not have access to any sort of financial safety net. To accompany this lack of social benefit, you hear of how wealthy, successful people are attracted to the US because of their favourable tax systems. Continue reading “Is the US a secretly socialist nation?”
A progressive approach to tax
The US Congressional Budget Office has recently published some information on who pays income tax in the US (or, at least, who did so in 2010). There’s an interesting graph included showing how effective tax rates vary by income group over time. Continue reading “A progressive approach to tax”
Reducing the disincentive
During the most recent Budget, the Chancellor of the Exchequer scrapped the 50% tax rate. Analysis carried out by HMRC indicates that, as theorised previously, the income from this tax rate is below that expected by the government. Continue reading “Reducing the disincentive”
Disincentivising high incomes
A 50% tax rate was introduced to the UK in April 2010, to apply to all earnings over £150,000. This high tax rate was devised to raise additional income for the treasury by increasing the payments made by the highest earners, therefore increasing the Robin Hood effect of income tax.
However, it is likely that this higher tax rate is unlikely to increase tax receipts to the degree that the government would like. Continue reading “Disincentivising high incomes”
Prices of electronic books
A quick browse of Amazon shows that many books available through the Kindle are priced around the same level as the physical product. The cost of provision of these electronic books is much lower, however: printing costs, distribution costs, and even the margins to retails are either non-existent or significantly reduced. Why, then, is there this equivalence in pricing? Continue reading “Prices of electronic books”
Are we paying for their pensions?
The media like to state that the private sector are the ones who pay for the public sector’s pensions. This isn’t entirely true.
The issue is that, unlike the private sector, public sector pensions are funded from general taxation. The public sector pension pot doesn’t really exist – it just all goes into and comes out of the overall budget. Continue reading “Are we paying for their pensions?”