It's often said that the only things in life we can be certain of are death and taxes. When it comes to Tim Geithner and the federal government, the only thing of which we can be certain is that Geithner's tax plan will certainly be the death of this great nation.
In his latest arguments favoring the creation of more federal stimulus in an attempt to boost the economy, Tim Geithner’s general ineptitude and vast ignorance of basic economic principles has once again shown its true colors. According to today’s article from the Wall Street Journal, Mr. Geithner is quoted as saying, “the U.S. can no longer rely on consumer spending, which has long powered the economy.” However, competitive free market economies succeed precisely because of supply and demand, and yes, consumer spending is one such measure of demand.
What exactly does Mr. Geithner think our economy will rely on to stay as prosperous as we are, if it’s not consumer spending? What will fuel our economy if it’s not the purchase of tangible, necessary products procured by the general population? Happy thoughts? Fairy dust? Carbon credits?
Maybe we should backtrack and DEFINE consumer spending, to see what sort of consumer items Mr. Geithner thinks the U.S. can’t rely on anymore. Consumer spending, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research, is essentially is any type of public goods consumption that falls into one of approx. 60 categories, including:
· Clothing
· Hospitals
· Physicians, Dentist, Other Medical Professionals
· Higher Education
· Nursery, Elementary and Secondary Education
· Telephone and Telegraph
· Books and Maps
· Taxicab, Railway, Bus, and Other Travel Expenses
· Electricity
· Water and Other Sanitary Services
· Furniture and Durable Household Equipment
· Drug Preparations
· Scholarships / Foster Children
If we can’t rely on our country to provide an adequate supply of the above-mentioned items to support the free market demand for these necessities, what alternatives do we have as a nation? I wonder, which of these “luxury” consumer items must the U.S. sacrifice moving forward, according to Mr. Geithner’s vision of a prosperous U.S. nation.
~Gee
Don’t go too hard on Tiny Tim. He is still learning about all this complicated stuff. Funny how not all of sudden it is time to be frugal with our kids future. Where was that argument when they drove through all the other spending?
ReplyDeleteBloomberg seems to agree with you:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-09-14/retail-sales-in-u-s-increase-more-than-estimated-in-second-monthly-rise.html
Consumer spending goes up = better economy
Consumer spending goes down = worse economy
In fact, the chief economist at JPMorgan Chase & Co. in New York (who correctly forecast the ex-auto sales figure) calls the increase "reassuring," saying that the spending "takes out some of the fears we had about a month ago about the economy may be slipping into recession."
LOL!