The Ignorant Investor

Back in May 2006 I wrote this in the blog:

It's becoming increasingly clear that Congress has no intention of doing anything about controlling the deficit. With interest rates rising, failing to match revenues with spending and financing the resulting gap will only get more expensive as time passes. The government, just like the consumer, has grown so used to cheap credit that it now takes it for granted. These deficits are coming at a time when the economy is booming. We are in the years of plenty, and years of plenty are inevitably followed by the time of scarcity. The time of scarcity is when the government can be expected to run huge deficits as the need for social services explodes and it seeks to 'prime the pump' with spending on infrastructure and other projects. That's no time for raising taxes, economists say. So what's going to happen when the huge deficits of today need to be serviced with the lower revenues of tomorrow, when the government will have no ability to raise taxes? Somehow I already know the answer: Someone is going to suggest a big tax cut.

What I said in 2006 turned out to be true (if banal), I'm sorry to say that I don't remember any economists pushing such common sense banalities back then. That's because the well-known economists of America all work for the wealthy and investment houses. They never support higher tax rates no matter what is happening in the economy.