FIRST THINGS FOR THE GREEN ECONOMY
Our Constitution’s Preamble states the purpose of our federal government: justice, tranquility, defense, general welfare, and the “Blessings of Liberty” that we must provide for Posterity. Each of these goals implies the creation of institutions of considerable magnitude. Justice and tranquility require first responders, hospitals, courts, and prisons. Defense implies forces with unlimited needs that must be provided by the nation’s industry, which implies a system of education and healthcare. General welfare and “Blessings” imply an open-ended list of things. We can put all of the above under the heading of “infrastructure”. Given that we are surrounded by hostile forces seeking to dominate us, our need for infrastructure is unlimited.
To provide for those infinite needs, Congress must plan for the world’s best infrastructure. Then it must create that infrastructure by spending wh**ever is needed, buying required resources at the fastest rate possible without harming with the well-being of the private sector. In practice, this means spending as much as possible without causing inflation. Ideally, our economy should be operating steadily at the onset of harmful inflation. In practice, the economy’s money supply and output fluctuate so that the best spending practice would be to aim at that ideal.
Thus, the need to combat inflation is a primary concern. With maximum spending there must be maximum taxation to remove excess discretionary income and wealth from the economy. With a liberal economy and relatively free trade, the distribution of income and wealth in the population will be top heavy. For efficient taxation of discretionary income, such a distribution requires steeply progressive federal income and estate tax brackets with no taxation of non-discretionary income and wealth. Because of the “tax-bracket creep” that occurs with rising incomes during economic expansions, steeply progressive tax brackets also have the virtue of increasing (decreasing) the ratio of tax revenue to total spending during economic expansions (contractions), thus smoothing the fluctuation of the economy’s money supply and output.
Spending on infrastructure must be matched by spending on people. Until our munitions industry and armed forces are completely robotic, wars will be waged by people in the line of fire and those behind it. And they will be waged more successfully when the people are well-educated and healthy. Accordingly, there is no rational reason to require individuals to pay for their education or for maintaining their health. There is every rational reason to provide expense-paid education for all at all levels of learning. Likewise, there should be free healthcare for all, including free nurseries, day-care, and pre-K for parents with such a need.
To fulfill the aims stated in the Preamble to our Constitution, the physical structures and personnel required for these services have a cost that Congress must bear. In effect, Congress should pay the people to provide the nation’s infrastructure and to provide both the best-educated and healthiest workforce and the world’s best military force. No other course can achieve the goals set for us by our Founders.
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