If you want to know how not to handle a debt crisis, look at 18th-century France. Every time Louis XIV, Louis XV, or Louis XVI fought a war, spending went way up, forcing the government to borrow. After the war, interest payments consumed most of the government budget, and the debt only continued to grow. But the kings couldn't raise money effectively because the tax code had more holes than... [more]
If you want to know how not to handle a debt crisis, look at 18th-century France.
Every time Louis XIV, Louis XV, or Louis XVI fought a war, spending went way up, forcing the government to borrow. After the war, interest payments consumed most of the government budget, and the debt only continued to grow.
But the kings couldn't raise money effectively because the tax code had more holes than cheese.* There were loopholes for social groups and tax breaks for provinces, and the rich could literally buy government positions just to get tax benefits. France's finances were in such bad shape that in 1789 Louis XVI called the Estates General to meet for the first time in 150 years. After that meeting failed, public outrage at the special privileges helped launch the French Revolution.
That's right. The French Revolution was, to an extent, about tax loopholes.
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2011/08/tax-expenditures-are-a-form-of-big-government-and-we-should-cut-them/243015/[less]
Response by lucillebluth
over 14 years ago
Posts: 2631
Member since: May 2010
everyone knows it was marie's shopping. helloooooo
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Response by MidtownerEast
over 14 years ago
Posts: 733
Member since: Oct 2010
Let them eat cream cheese.
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Response by Riversider
over 14 years ago
Posts: 13573
Member since: Apr 2009
Crème fraiche ?
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Response by Riversider
over 14 years ago
Posts: 13573
Member since: Apr 2009
LONDON (MarketWatch) — The U.S. is broke? Been there. Italy is bankrupt. Done that. Spain is teetering on the edge? Got the T-shirt. There is, however, one major industrial country that has so far managed to sail through the market turmoil without anyone seriously questioning its credit-worthiness: France.
And yet, if you‘re looking for the next downgrade, and the source of the next shock to the global markets, it’s France you should be looking toward. The country’s debt is exploding. It is steadily losing competitiveness against Germany, and running up huge trade deficits. Its political system is every bit as dysfunctional as America’s. And, of course, it is about to be presented with a massive bill for bailing out Italy and Spain.
A French downgrade may only be a matter of time. If it happens, it’s going to be a huge blow to already-fragile markets. The country has the fourth largest debt in the world, and its paper is heavily traded by global investors. There would be some nasty losses on a French downgrade.
everyone knows it was marie's shopping. helloooooo
Let them eat cream cheese.
Crème fraiche ?
LONDON (MarketWatch) — The U.S. is broke? Been there. Italy is bankrupt. Done that. Spain is teetering on the edge? Got the T-shirt. There is, however, one major industrial country that has so far managed to sail through the market turmoil without anyone seriously questioning its credit-worthiness: France.
And yet, if you‘re looking for the next downgrade, and the source of the next shock to the global markets, it’s France you should be looking toward. The country’s debt is exploding. It is steadily losing competitiveness against Germany, and running up huge trade deficits. Its political system is every bit as dysfunctional as America’s. And, of course, it is about to be presented with a massive bill for bailing out Italy and Spain.
A French downgrade may only be a matter of time. If it happens, it’s going to be a huge blow to already-fragile markets. The country has the fourth largest debt in the world, and its paper is heavily traded by global investors. There would be some nasty losses on a French downgrade.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/for-next-rating-downgrade-sp-may-look-at-france-2011-08-10
More specifically, the WEALTHY did not pay taxes even as the rich-poor divide grew wider. Is that the story you are trying to sell?
http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/02/income-inequality-in-america-chart-graph
Skeet shooting peasants didn't help:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dk47saogI8o
Sorry these last few days remind of this....
perhaps the conductor is Bernanke and we're the musicians.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zP8Kah6vXsQ