Comments for Robert Samuelson Badly Understates the Size of the Welfare State at http://www.cepr.net , comment 1 to 10 out of 10 comments http://www.cepr.net Tue, 21 May 2013 17:51:52 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.3 http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/beat-the-press/robert-samuelson-badly-understates-the-size-of-the-welfare-state#comment-19039 The biggest problem with the welfare state is that it is not targeted at the poor. Too much welfare goes to the rich and middle class. Think about it turns out to be a very inefficient unequal transfer from the rich and middle class to rich and middle class. We could do more for less if just targeted better. - Floccina Fri, 21 Sep 2012 06:52:35 +0100 http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/beat-the-press/robert-samuelson-badly-understates-the-size-of-the-welfare-state#comment-19020 $4000 would be the tax deduction one gets paying a marginal rate of, say, 33% on $12,000 in mortgage interest payments over the given tax year. - David Thu, 20 Sep 2012 08:57:03 +0100 http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/beat-the-press/robert-samuelson-badly-understates-the-size-of-the-welfare-state#comment-19017 maybe the biggest waste of all is the subsidizing of the formerly called blackwater, halliburton, heck the oil industry, the farming industry, the lumber industry, the mining industry, the list seems to go on forever. in short we subsidize all of wallstreet, the pentagon & its contractors, all wealthy people period. the tax loopholes these characters avail themselves to by hiring the best tax accountants (mostly ex IRS accountants) to shield their money offshore has to be paid by someone. guess who? john q public taxpayer. the system is so rotten it cannot be fixed, pretending otherwise is delusional. like putting perfume on a rotting fish. - mel in oregon Thu, 20 Sep 2012 08:31:32 +0100 http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/beat-the-press/robert-samuelson-badly-understates-the-size-of-the-welfare-state#comment-19010 We were asked to be comfortable with the NAFTA family of agreements because people in developing countries would do better and go on to buy what we make. We do make a few things but not enough to justify trading Macs and movies for those $8 t-shirts at Old Navy. - Bart Thu, 20 Sep 2012 04:23:44 +0100 http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/beat-the-press/robert-samuelson-badly-understates-the-size-of-the-welfare-state#comment-19007 Is this any different from what the government has always done everywhere? The notion of free enterprise is a complete fraud concocted by sycophants in academia and the media. - Ellis Thu, 20 Sep 2012 04:05:45 +0100 http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/beat-the-press/robert-samuelson-badly-understates-the-size-of-the-welfare-state#comment-19004 I thought a tax deduction of $4000 would be like writing a check for the marginal tax rate times $4000, not the full amount. - tom Thu, 20 Sep 2012 02:33:54 +0100 http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/beat-the-press/robert-samuelson-badly-understates-the-size-of-the-welfare-state#comment-19003 The entire premise of the Samuelson article is that Romney's comments about the 47% who don't currently pay federal income tax is a great opening to slash the welfare state. The underlying premise that the welfare state needs to be slashed has little basis in reality. The social safety net in America is spartan compared with the rest of the industrialized world. America needs to repair and strengthen the social safety net not slash it. - Robert Salzberg Thu, 20 Sep 2012 02:23:50 +0100 http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/beat-the-press/robert-samuelson-badly-understates-the-size-of-the-welfare-state#comment-19000 That "government largess" is an important issue, but it's peanuts compared to the 10-20% of GDP the government forcibly redistributes to landowners. - liberal Thu, 20 Sep 2012 02:07:03 +0100 http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/beat-the-press/robert-samuelson-badly-understates-the-size-of-the-welfare-state#comment-18997 There are many artificial restrictions on training and practice, there are many artificial subsidies in tax laws and contracts, that combine to make medical doctors much wealthier than they would be in more rational markets. One important problem is the lack of transparency in health care. People know far too little of prices or efficacy of health care. (If you needed a coronary artery bypass, would you really prefer, ceteris paribus, th $67k American version when you could get one for $16k in France?) Unfortunately, it seems that too few in the media and politics want people to be better informed. - Rachel Thu, 20 Sep 2012 01:52:32 +0100 http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/beat-the-press/robert-samuelson-badly-understates-the-size-of-the-welfare-state#comment-18996 [quote]He only seems interested in attacking government interventions that primarily benefit lower and middle class people.[/quote] In supply side austerian jargon, he seems only interested in government interventions that create parasite takers. Those other interventions listed by Baker are obviously regarded by Samuelson like tax cuts that create more tax revenue and pay for themselves, so they create supply side makers, not demand side takers. It's good to know that biology is among Samuelson's areas of expertise which explains how he is such a good economist as well. Any biologist knows the difference between a parasite and a host. - Last Mover Thu, 20 Sep 2012 01:30:04 +0100