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The instruments that the government can use to deliver economic policy

There are remarkably few instruments available to the government to influence economic policy within a democracy. Beyond political persuasion, they are:

Tax system design;
Targeted tax yield;
Specific spending objectives;
Total government spending;
International capital controls;
The base level of interest;
Banking regulation, including on lending.
Each of these could be explained in greater detail but in essence they are all the weapons there are in the armoury.

Of microeconomics there is not a hint of a scintilla of an iota of understanding.

8 thoughts on “Stunning”

  1. er for a “professor of practice in International Political Economy” he seems to be lacking –

    REGULATION
    and
    Government borrowing

    FFS, in the OECD total tax take as a percentage of GDP is 42%ish. The government is a behemoth and its actions clearly impact the economy.

  2. I’m confused.

    How does “printing money” and “the purpose of tax being simply to curtail the inflation that might arise from said printing” fit in to this. Or is that only on a Monday, I do lose track of “which day of the Murf week” it is.

  3. When I was on an Army General Staff, the generals were of the view that the more limited the objectives the better. Too many objectives, especially with complex tactical situations would inevitably lead to defeat, retreat and at worst collapse.

  4. @Demetrius
    “When I was on an Army General Staff, the generals were of the view that the more limited the objectives the better. Too many objectives, especially with complex tactical situations would inevitably lead to defeat, retreat and at worst collapse.”
    Not true if you are a genius. A problem of course if you think you are but are not.

  5. See, the thing about geniuses is that they simplify things. They can see through the complexity to the core.

    We might not be able to hold Einstein’s equations in our heads, but they are simple. Only a couple of variables act in a predictable way.

    When people who make a lot of money talk about how they do it, they tend to stress rigid acceptance of simple rules. Simple folk think they know better and break the simple rules.

  6. There are remarkably few ways in which a driver of a steam train can alter the speed at which it is travelling….so what?

  7. I am setting up a shoot for a JOI video of Richard in which Polly T reads out tx law and Richard has to masturbate but not climax until Polly allows him….It is roving difficult – he keeps cumming way too soon

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