Debts, Taxation, their Cost, and Social Welfare

Authors

  • Ioannis N. Kallianiotis University of Scranton

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14738/abr.24.377

Abstract

The current paper discusses the enormous debts, the current tax system, and the ultimate objective of a nation, which is the social welfare of its citizens. The high taxes reduce the disposable income and make savings negative (dissaving or borrowing). This increases further the debt of individuals and the low taxes on businesses have magnified the budget deficits and the national debt. People are borrowing the present value of their uncertain future wealth and their high debt and low income raise the risk and this high risk premium heighten the interest rate on loans, especially on the usurious credit cards. Government has to increase corporate taxes and reduce the national debt by lowering government expenditures (military expenditures and national defense). The current tax system needs to be changed and an interest rate floor on deposits (savings) and an interest rate ceiling on individuals' loans (borrowings) is necessary to impove social welfare, fairness, and justice in our society. The middle class cannot work only to pay taxes and interest on its debt (redistribution of their wealth to government and banks), due to low disposable income. The disappearing of the middle class will wffect negatively the entire socio-economic structure of the nation and after losing its power, it will start declining, as history has shown to us with so many empires that do not exist anymore. We hope the leaders to regain their power and lead the abandoned people to their ultimate objective, which is their perfection and the nation to its highest social welfare.

Author Biography

Ioannis N. Kallianiotis, University of Scranton

Professor of Finance, Economics/Finance Department, The Arthur J. Kania School of Management, University of Scranton.

References

Allen, Franklin and Douglas Gale (2009), Understanding Financial Crises, Clarendon Lecture in Finance, New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press.

Aschauer, David (1989), “Is Public Spending Productive”, Journal of Monetary Economics, 23, pp. 177-200.

Azzimonti, Marina (2013), “The Political Economy of Balance Budget Amendments”, Business Review, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, First Quarter, pp. 11-20.

Caron, Paul (2014), “Krugman and Mankiw Optimal Tax Theory, Economic Models, and Civility”, TaxProfBlog, March 29, 2014. http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2014/03/krugman-mankiw.html

Cheremukhin, Anton (2014), “Middle-Skill Jobs Lost in U.S. Labor Market Polarization”, Economic Letter, Dallas Fed, Vol. 9, No. 5, May, pp. 1-4.

Feldstein, Martin (2008), “Effects of Taxes on Economic Behavior”, NBER (13745).

Gentry, William M. “Optimal taxation”, http://www.urban.org/uploadedPDF/1000539.pdf

Given, Casey (2013), “AFP’s Four Principles of Optimal Taxation”, March 5, 2013.

http://americansforprosperity.org/legislativealerts/afps-four-principles-of-optimal-taxation

Healhcote, Jonathan, Kjetil Storesletten, Giovanni L. Violante (1014), “Optimal Tax Progressivity: An Analytical Framework”, Research Department Staff Report 496, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, January, pp. 1-75.

Holcombe, Randall (2006), Public Sector Economics: The Role of Government in the American Economy, New Jersey: Pearson.

Kallianiotis, I.N. (2014a), “The Optimal Taxation and the Current Tax System”, Unpublished manuscript, University of Scranton, July, pages 24.

Kallianiotis, I.N. (2014b), “Fed and ECB with Dollar and Euro as International Currency Reserves: Some Socio-Politico-Economic Considerations”, Journal of Business and Economics, Vol. 5, No. 5, May 2014, pp. 605-625.

Kallianiotis, I.N. (2014c), “The Future of the Undervalued U.S. Dollar as an International Currency Reserve”, International Research Journal of Applied Finance, Vol. V, Issue 3, March 2014, pp. 224-252.

https://irjaf.com/uploads/IRJAF_Vol_V_Issue_3__March_2014_Final.pdf

Kallianiotis, I.N. (2011), “Is the Imposed Global ‘Laissez-faire’ Socio-economic System Responsible for the Latest Financial Crisis”, Journal of Business and Economics, Vol. 2, No. 5, May, pp. 325-353.

Kallianiotis, I.N. (1999), “Global Business and Economic Interdependence between the United States and the European Union”, in Interlocking Global Business Systems: The Restructuring of Industries, Economies and Capital Markets, edited by Edward B. Flowers, Thomas P. Chen, and Jonchi Shyu, Westport, Connecticut and London: Quorum Books, pp. 37-59.

Keynes, John Maynard (1964), The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money, New York and London: A Harvest/HBJ Book.

Kliesen, Kevin L. (2014), “How Negative Is Negative Real GDP Growth?”, Economic Synopses, No. 17, Economic Research, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, July, p. 1.

http://research.stlouisfed.org/publications/es/article/10157

Krugman, Paul (2013), “The Simple Analysis of Soaking the Rich (Wonkish)”, The New York Times, April 3, 2013. http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/04/03/the-simple-analytics-of-soaking-the-rich-wonkish/

Krugman, Paul (2014), “Wealth Over Work”, The New York Times, March 23, 2014.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/24/opinion/krugman-wealth-over-work.html?_r=1

Mankiw, N. Gregory (2007), Principles of Economics, Fourth Edition, Mason, OH: Thomson/South-Western.

Mankiw, Gregory, Matthew Weinzierl, and Danny Yagan (2009), “Optimal Taxation in Theory”, NBER (15071). Also, Journal of Economic Perspectives, 23(4), pp. 147-74. http://scholar.harvard.edu/files/mankiw/files/optimal_taxation_in_theory.pdf

McGranahan, Leslie Tom Nohel (2014), “The Fiscal Cliff and the Dynamics of Income”, Chicago Fed Letter, The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, No. 321, April, pp. 1-4.

Mirrlees, James and Peter Diamond (1971), “Optimal Taxation and Public Production I: Production fficiency”, American Economic Review, 61, pp. 8–27.

Mirrlees, James; Peter Diamond (1971), “Optimal Taxation and Public Production II: Tax Rules”, American Economic Review, 61, pp. 261–278.

Musgrave, R.A and P.B. Musgrave (1989), Public Finance in Theory and Practice, Fifth Edition, New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company.

Ramsey, Frank (1927), “A Contribution to the Theory of Taxation”, Economic Journal, 37, March, pp. 47-61.

Saving, Jason (2014), “U.S. Budget Deficits Shrink, but Long-Run Issues Remain”, Economic Letter, Dallas Fed, Vol. 9, No. 3, March, pp. 1-4.

Slemrod, J. (1990), “Optimal taxation and optimal tax systems”, Journal of Economic Perspectives, 4(1), p. 158.

Stiglitz, J.E. (2000), Economics of the Public Sector, Third Edition, New York/London: W.W. Norton & Company.

Downloads

Published

2014-08-30

How to Cite

Kallianiotis, I. N. (2014). Debts, Taxation, their Cost, and Social Welfare. Archives of Business Research, 2(4), 137. https://doi.org/10.14738/abr.24.377