Thursday, September 12, 2019

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Lily Patchelder and David Kamin study the policy options available to increase public revenue by focusing on the wealthy, and find that there are multiple viable options:
The U.S. will need to raise more revenues in order to reduce these disparities, finance much-needed new services and investments, and address the nation’s long-term fiscal needs. This paper outlines policy options for raising a large amount of revenues primarily from the most affluent, first discussing potential incremental reforms and then focusing on four main options for more structural reform: (1) dramatically increasing the top tax rates on labor and other ordinary income, (2) taxing the wealthy on accrued gains as they arise and at ordinary rates, (3) a wealth tax on high-net-worth individuals, and (4) a financial transactions tax. Although we summarize the relative advantages and disadvantages of these approaches, we generally conclude that they all merit serious consideration. Several options are also complementary to one another.
- And dozens of UK economists sign on in agreement that their economy too needs to see wealth and power more fairly distributed.

- Max Fawcett points out that the oil industry's desperate wishes for another boom are unlikely to bear fruit. And Maddy Ewing discusses the opportunities to convert transit and freight transportation fleets to electrical vehicles.

- Christopher Cheung offers a reminder that the Libs' supposed national housing strategy is both grossly insufficient is terms of resources, and directed toward housing starts rather than needed rental housing. And PressProgress notes that Doug Ford is actively exacerbating Ontario's plague of homelessness. 

- Finally, Derrick O'Keefe comments on Jagmeet Singh's strong stance against the sale of weapons to Saudi Arabia.

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