South By North Strategies, Ltd.

Don’t Hide The Benefits

Writing in The New York Times, Suzanne Mettler, a professor of government at Cornell University, explains some of the problems associated with delivering government benefits in a “submerged” manner, such as through the tax code.

The submerged state obscures the role of government and exaggerates that of the market. It leaves citizens unaware of the source of programs and unable to form meaningful opinions about them.
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Until political leaders reveal government benefits for what they are by talking openly about them, we cannot have an honest discussion about spending, taxes or deficits. The stipulation in the new health care reform law that W-2 forms must indicate the value of untaxed employer-provided health care benefits is a step in the right direction. The government should also provide “receipts” that inform people of the size of each benefit they get through the tax code.
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The threat to democracy today is not the size of government but rather the hidden form that so much of its growth has taken. If those who assume government has never helped them could see how it has, it might help defuse our polarized political climate and reinvigorate informed citizenship.

Around The Dial – September 20, 2011

Economic policy reports, blog postings, and media stories of interest:

• Sylvia Nasar describes Keynes as “the sunny economist.”
• The New York Times profiles Adam Posen of the Bank of England.
• Nouriel Roubini explains the risks of a severe economic contraction.
• Brad DeLong reflects on the first 2.75 of the Obama administration.
• Working Economics explains why “macroeconomics is not a religion.”

Falling Tax Rates

Working Economics provides some useful historical context for the debate about the average tax rates paid by the wealthiest Americans.

Straight Economic Talk

Google chairman Eric Schmidt talks bluntly about the economy on the ABC program The Week.

Around The Dial – September 19, 2011

Economic policy reports, blog postings, and media stories of interest:

• The Working Poor Families Project breaks down the latest poverty numbers.
• Off the Charts looks at cuts to federal public housing programs.
• Random Samplings asks if income inequality is widening.
• The Charlotte Observer reports on the Queen City’s employment situation.
• The Los Angeles Times says that banks don’t want deposits.