Quote:
Originally Posted by SlowOne
Ooops - It's £600bn... :embarassed:
Ahhh... trickle-down economics, born under Thatcher and Reagan in the 1980s, already disowned by Thatcher personally, and proven by many good researchers in the US and the UK to be a crock. Labour did indeed do as you suggest, and we did all benefit from the expanding economy, but parties on both sides of the house agree now that the people who earn a lot have to pay a lot for the country - Labour brought in the 50% tax rate and the Tories are keeping it!
If it costs £600bn to run the country, and then you get less money because people aren't in work, there is no option to reduce taxes. Presently we are increasing borrowing, and the interest rates will have to be paid for for years to come, making it even less likely that taxes can come down. The argument is simplistic - if you want to offer lower taxes you have to cut spending. As that must eventually mean sacking people, then you have even less people paying taxes to run the country. This argument about lowering taxes has lamentably failed for the last 40 years - every country that tries it has to abandon it.
Australia - 30%+ to 50%+ income tax rates, no NHS, dentists and ambulance fees extra, massive immigration issues, strong trades unions, large Government debt and expensive housing in urban areas. Awesome country for a tourist, not my choice to live in. Send me photos of Sydney when you get there - my favourite city of any in the world.  |
I'm not talking all taxes, I mean the ones that affect the average person. I'm all for increasing tax rates for the high earners and totally support a 50% tax bracket. Heck, I'd be prepared to be one of those paying 50%
As for Australia, 2 of my mates both moved to Australia and absolutely love it. Far greater quality of life with more positives outweighing the negatives. If my wife and I weren't so close to our families we'd have moved there years ago