Britain's Brown pushes global tax cuts

[winnar111]

http://www.marketwatch.com/new...l-tax/story.aspx?guid={7D0FFEDF-D3A6-4942-B2DD-5C37CDB6253E}

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Tuesday urged a worldwide round of tax cuts in order to stave off a deep global recession.
"This is a chance for the world to work together so that a fiscal stimulus in one country can benefit from fiscal stimuluses that are taking place in other countries as well," Brown said during a news conference.

The suggestion comes as leaders from the Group of 20, made up of the world's leading industrialized and developing nations, prepare for a Saturday summit in Washington. Brown and other Europeans have likened the summit to the 1944 Bretton Woods conference that laid the groundwork for much of the post-World War II financial system.

In the United States, congressional Democrats are weighing whether to press ahead with what would be a second stimulus program in a lame-duck session next week.

"Both tax cuts and increased government spending on capital works would boost the U.K. economy, but the impact of tax cuts will be more immediate," said Zach Witton, an economist at Moody's Economy.com.


I wish I could have voted for this man for President. Gordon Brown also wanted to establish a 10% capital gains rate which is even superior to George Bush's 15%.

 

[StageLeft]

I wish I could have voted for this man for President. Gordon Brown also wanted to establish a 10% capital gains rate which is even superior to George Bush's 15%.

Why not go better? Why not a 0% capital gains tax? Hell, it's not like there's any relationship between spending and taxes anyway. IMO, taxes should be put down to 0% and spending jacked up in all cases, who cares about deficits!

 

[fskimospy]

NEGATIVE 100% CAPITAL GAINS TAX!

You wish you could have voted for Gordon Brown? The damn socialist who believes that universal health care is a 'moral right' and is an ardent supporter of the national health service?

I'm so glad you're coming around.

 

[frostedflakes]

Wouldn't lower cap gains just encourage people to pull their money out of the market? Is that wise during an economic downturn?

 

[Genx87]

Originally posted by: frostedflakes
Wouldn't lower cap gains just encourage people to pull their money out of the market? Is that wise during an economic downturn?

I dont see why it would unless people already were planning to take money out. I think it would stimulate people to invest given the tax advantages.

 

[TallBill]

Originally posted by: frostedflakes
Wouldn't lower cap gains just encourage people to pull their money out of the market? Is that wise during an economic downturn?

I don't know anyone that is making big time capital gains right now

 

[Dissipate]

Let the sheep roam around a bit so you can keep fleecing them.

 

[Dissipate]

Originally posted by: TallBill
I don't know anyone that is making big time capital gains right now

A lot of investors that went short made big capital gains actually.

 

[miketheidiot]

Originally posted by: Genx87

Originally posted by: frostedflakes
Wouldn't lower cap gains just encourage people to pull their money out of the market? Is that wise during an economic downturn?

I dont see why it would unless people already were planning to take money out. I think it would stimulate people to invest given the tax advantages.

you mean cause financial bubbles?


People really need to get past this idiotic notion that low capital gains rates are a good motivation for long term capital investment. Good investment is based on strong profits, which are based on strong demand for products. Low capital gains reates only fuel short term speculation.

 

[Mark R]

Originally posted by: miketheidiot
People really need to get past this idiotic notion that low capital gains rates are a good motivation for long term capital investment. Good investment is based on strong profits, which are based on strong demand for products. Low capital gains reates only fuel short term speculation.

Quite. Which is one of the reasons why Gordon Brown's economic policies were so disastrous.

In the UK capital gains used to be taxed at the same rate as income tax (40% for an above average earner). However, if the capital gains were accrued over more than 5 years, you got a discount - after 10 years, you got the maximum discount of 50%. This discouraged speculation and promoted long term investment.

Brown changed all of this as the housing bubble was developing. He reduced the rate of CGT, so it was way below even the lower rate of income tax, in order to pander to the large number of votes from the property 'flipping' industry.

Don't foget that Gordon Brown is the miracle economist - the economist who constantly bleated for 10 years that he had "abolished boom and bust for good", and that his miracle economy meant that "house prices would never again go out of control".

Gordon Brown is the man, who now stuck in the middle of crisis, forced to cut taxes - hasn't actually got a plan to cut taxes. His stimulus plan consists of boosting unemployment beneft and other benefits for the low paid, although he's calling them a tax cut.

This is the man whose idea it was to go on a massive building program to 'spend our way out of recession'. Rather than spending money on productive industries or useful infrastructure - his plan: build inner city housing, schools and hospitals. Fair enough, but we've already got a glut of unwanted housing, and school and hospital provision is adequate. What we really need is infrasructure that will assist industry - an efficient road network that isn't gridlocked 12 hours of the day, an electricity grid where prices don't increase by 50% per year (as they have for the last 4 years).

The man is dangerously incompetent when it comes to finances. Despite his promises he failed to spot an unprecedented housing bubble, and not only failed to divert us around it, led us straight to it. This is the man who when he came to power created his 'golden rules of economic policy - rules that are to be used through thick and thin, and never to be broken". At the first sign of economic trouble, they've gone staight out the window. He constantly harped on about 'fiscal prudence' and how he had a 'cast iron borrowing limit of 40% of GDP'. He hit that limit last year, before the downturn, and since his bailouts, it's now close to 50%. Oh, and don't forget his off-balance sheet public borrowing SIVs, which account for another 40% of GDP.

 

[winnar111]

Originally posted by: eskimospy
NEGATIVE 100% CAPITAL GAINS TAX!

You wish you could have voted for Gordon Brown? The damn socialist who believes that universal health care is a 'moral right' and is an ardent supporter of the national health service?

I'm so glad you're coming around.

Compared to the Obama caucus? Absolutely.

I'm just waiting for Queen Pelosi and Conyers to pass their slavery reparations bill.

 

[StageLeft]

Originally posted by: Mark R

Originally posted by: miketheidiot
People really need to get past this idiotic notion that low capital gains rates are a good motivation for long term capital investment. Good investment is based on strong profits, which are based on strong demand for products. Low capital gains reates only fuel short term speculation.

Quite. Which is one of the reasons why Gordon Brown's economic policies were so disastrous.

In the UK capital gains used to be taxed at the same rate as income tax (40% for an above average earner). However, if the capital gains were accrued over more than 5 years, you got a discount - after 10 years, you got the maximum discount of 50%. This discouraged speculation and promoted long term investment.

Brown changed all of this as the housing bubble was developing. He reduced the rate of CGT, so it was way below even the lower rate of income tax, in order to pander to the large number of votes from the property 'flipping' industry.

Don't foget that Gordon Brown is the miracle economist - the economist who constantly bleated for 10 years that he had "abolished boom and bust for good", and that his miracle economy meant that "house prices would never again go out of control".

Gordon Brown is the man, who now stuck in the middle of crisis, forced to cut taxes - hasn't actually got a plan to cut taxes. His stimulus plan consists of boosting unemployment beneft and other benefits for the low paid, although he's calling them a tax cut.

This is the man whose idea it was to go on a massive building program to 'spend our way out of recession'. Rather than spending money on productive industries or useful infrastructure - his plan: build inner city housing, schools and hospitals. Fair enough, but we've already got a glut of unwanted housing, and school and hospital provision is adequate. What we really need is infrasructure that will assist industry - an efficient road network that isn't gridlocked 12 hours of the day, an electricity grid where prices don't increase by 50% per year (as they have for the last 4 years).

The man is dangerously incompetent when it comes to finances. Despite his promises he failed to spot an unprecedented housing bubble, and not only failed to divert us around it, led us straight to it. This is the man who when he came to power created his 'golden rules of economic policy - rules that are to be used through thick and thin, and never to be broken". At the first sign of economic trouble, they've gone staight out the window. He constantly harped on about 'fiscal prudence' and how he had a 'cast iron borrowing limit of 40% of GDP'. He hit that limit last year, before the downturn, and since his bailouts, it's now close to 50%. Oh, and don't forget his off-balance sheet public borrowing SIVs, which account for another 40% of GDP.

Could be worse. The US could have shipped Bush over there for a few years.