Mental Masturbation: The Economy- Time to Think 'Out of the Box'
- By David Wagner
- Published 10/25/2008
David Wagner
David Wagner is an IT Consultant and former journalist. Socially stunted, he is always the proverbial bull in the china shop. Look for sometimes poignant, oft times mindless drivel to stimulate you in places you didn't know existed.
Unless you live under a rock, you have heard about the economic crisis the United States, and therefor the rest of the world, is under. That it is happening is no real surprise to me. This was not caused by any one person or entity. I can go into great detail why I think the house of cards finally collapsed, but explanations aren't going to change anything. No, what we need now is an immediate kick-start to the economy. Changes that will benefit individuals and businesses alike. I have a few ideas I've been kicking around with some friends.
Tax incentives to businesses that encourage their employees to work from home. Simple things like 100% write-offs on laptops for employees, broadband connectivity from home, transition to Voice Over IP phone systems that allow employees to have a work phone in their home that is on the company directory. This will also have an immediate impact on the demand for gasoline and therefor oil. Since we aren't driving as much, we will also be cutting down on greenhouse gas production as well.Another benefit is that some families will no longer have to put their children into daycare. The time lost to the individual in a commute to work, sometimes as mush at 4 hours per day, is priceless. Obviously not every business can do this, but it would still be a substantial impact on the economy, traffic and smog.
Suspension of taxes for a period of 30 days. All taxes. Even if you don't think that you pay taxes, you will benefit from this one. Take a look at your receipts the next time you buy anything. Take a look at your paycheck and see how much is taken out each time you get paid. Like to have that back for a month? Of course this might lead to a complete restructure of our taxation programs...damn!
Rescind the bail-out bill. For whatever reason, required by law, greed, stupidity, banks made loans that they knew were risky, at best. They loaned money to people with no-income, made interest only loans on million-dollar homes to people that only make 100 thousand per year, gave out Adjustable Rate Mortgages knowing that at the end of the 5 years there was no way that the buyer could afford the property. People that agreed to these terms were just as greedy, but it took the approval of the lender for them to get the money. The answer is not to reward abject greed by giving the banks money to continue their bad habits. Instead what I think needs to happen is that the government should require that the banks extend the original terms (IE interest only or low introductory rate) of the mortgage to the buyer for 3 additional years. I also believe that the government does need to guarantee deposits into all FDIC insured banks up to one million dollars each depositor instead of just one hundred thousand dollars.
I'm sure there are arguments against these ideas and I know that they fly in the face of ongoing political practice, but isn't the ongoing political policy responsible for our current predicament?
Tax incentives to businesses that encourage their employees to work from home. Simple things like 100% write-offs on laptops for employees, broadband connectivity from home, transition to Voice Over IP phone systems that allow employees to have a work phone in their home that is on the company directory. This will also have an immediate impact on the demand for gasoline and therefor oil. Since we aren't driving as much, we will also be cutting down on greenhouse gas production as well.Another benefit is that some families will no longer have to put their children into daycare. The time lost to the individual in a commute to work, sometimes as mush at 4 hours per day, is priceless. Obviously not every business can do this, but it would still be a substantial impact on the economy, traffic and smog.
Suspension of taxes for a period of 30 days. All taxes. Even if you don't think that you pay taxes, you will benefit from this one. Take a look at your receipts the next time you buy anything. Take a look at your paycheck and see how much is taken out each time you get paid. Like to have that back for a month? Of course this might lead to a complete restructure of our taxation programs...damn!
Rescind the bail-out bill. For whatever reason, required by law, greed, stupidity, banks made loans that they knew were risky, at best. They loaned money to people with no-income, made interest only loans on million-dollar homes to people that only make 100 thousand per year, gave out Adjustable Rate Mortgages knowing that at the end of the 5 years there was no way that the buyer could afford the property. People that agreed to these terms were just as greedy, but it took the approval of the lender for them to get the money. The answer is not to reward abject greed by giving the banks money to continue their bad habits. Instead what I think needs to happen is that the government should require that the banks extend the original terms (IE interest only or low introductory rate) of the mortgage to the buyer for 3 additional years. I also believe that the government does need to guarantee deposits into all FDIC insured banks up to one million dollars each depositor instead of just one hundred thousand dollars.
I'm sure there are arguments against these ideas and I know that they fly in the face of ongoing political practice, but isn't the ongoing political policy responsible for our current predicament?
Spread The Word
Comments
Comment #1 (Posted by mom2ris&chris)
As I practically worship the ground David Wagner walks on, what I have to say may not necessarily be viewed as objective, but i'll make a comment anyway. I'm a teacher, so working from home is clearly not an option. If it were however, I'd jump at the opportunity. In doing so I'd save $150 in child care and $60 in gas per week. I'd have to rely less financially on my tool of an ex-husband not to mention the fact that I could use that money to boost the economy by spending more money by shopping at quality stores rather than buying cheap kids clothes and shoes at Wal-Mart. Now I guess the drawback with this plan is that the real estate market might suffer from empty office buildings. Your suggestion for a tax holiday - this is where your plan might get ripped apart. It would help people like myself - living paychedk to pay check, but how would government programs funded by tax dollars continue to run? But here's what really bugs me about your suggestions. As excited as your ideas make me (as does the rest of you) they do indeed "fly in the face of ongoing political practice" So what difference will it make? You have intriguing ideas, but I'd like to see them brought out or talked about in mainstream America. I don't know how you do that unless you run for public office or at the very least start some kind of grass roots political movement. But anyway, the long and the short of it is your ideas are good , it'd be nice to see them become more than ideas
Comment #2 (Posted by Tom H Wagner)
Emergency Energy Proposal
Create a separate, non-political, Energy Division manned by the best persons we can recruit. Possibly establish a fully accountable cabinet post.
Estimated time required to become energy independent 15 years.
a. Offshore drilling of known oil deposits
b. Continental oil and gas recovery
c. Nuclear plants
d. Wind utilization
e. Renewable energy sources
f. Fuel cells and battery power
g. Flex fueled vehicles
h. Drill in ANWR
Consider selling energy bonds to finance “all of the above” and to improve the needed infrastucture.
History tells us the “War Bonds of WWII” played a major part in financing our victory then. We were able to help rebuild Germany and Japan.
President John F. Kennedy reacted when SPUTNIK caught us by surprise and now we lead in space exploration.
This idea has merit, but only if PARTY PARTISIANSHIP is discarded.
Comment #3 (Posted by 88 Inches)
Our current political policies are a reflection of dangerous paradigms that Americans subscribe to. What happened to ideas like "if you don't work, you don't eat" or "If you can't afford it, don't buy it?" The American Dream now unfortunately equals American Irresponsibility when it comes to spending next week's and next year's paychecks as well as our children's college funds and retirement funds. We're spending next year's raise. The fact that banks have lent so much money to dreamers without dollars is evidence that we live in a society that refuses to put people in check or to put people in positions of power and finance that WILL put people in check. I think we all need to grow up and learn to be thankful for the basics like food, family, and shelter. Our reality check is officially here. Unfortunately, people aren't learning. They're whining.
