With rising oil prices, rising unemployment, and inflation eating away at the U.S. economy, a powerful politician pushed for a populist tax hike in Washington 30 years ago. The year was 1978, the push for a tax hike came from President Jimmy Carter, and the tax in question was on
The trade deficit (when more goods and services are imported than exported), the budget deficit (when government spends more than its tax revenues), and the balance between domestic saving and investment are related to each other. In fact, their sum must equal zero. A change in any of them affects
In the Western world, Sweden is often considered a Social Democratic paradise, the irrefutable proof that the welfare state can transform society for the better. But outsiders, and still too many Swedes, tend to overestimate the gains and underestimate the costs of social engineering, says Nima Sanandaji, president of the
Under the current US Social Security system, those who exit the workforce with the intention of re-entering it after some time risk losing their disability benefits. Private accounts for disability benefits would allow workers to provide their own benefits. This would also ensure that workers do not contribute to a
Britain’s “sick note culture” costs Great Britain more than £100 billion (about R1,616 billion) a year. Furthermore, the drain on the economy from benefits claimants and those who miss work through ill health is “unsustainable” and threatens the very fabric of society, warns Dame Carol Black, the national director for
