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Get Rich: Policies to Put Green in the Palm of Your Empty Hand

Guest post by: Matt Harrison

Article Overview: People want policies to benefit them personally. Who cares, after all, if everyone else is well off when you're not? So politicians promise all sorts of schemes and ideas to keep jobs, make jobs, and make jobs pay more, in order to get more votes. Most of these schemes and ideas, however, don't work because most politicians don't know anything about economics.

Get Rich: Policies to Put Green in the Palm of Your Empty Hand

The political interest of the average person (I'd use "voter", but that is far too small a group) could be summed up in one word: Money. It is widely known that the economic condition of the nation is one of the most reliable indicators of which party will be elected. When times are good, the incumbent party is generally reelected; and when times are bad, they're usually dumped.

But there's more to it than macroeconomic conditions. People want policies to benefit them personally. Who cares, after all, if everyone else is well off when you're not? So politicians promise all sorts of schemes and ideas to keep jobs, make jobs, and make jobs pay more, in order to get more votes. Most of these schemes and ideas, however, don't work because most politicians don't know anything about economics.

PI is keenly aware of this personal profit-seeking reality, but we actually propose policies that are directly successful at creating growth. Listed below are seven policies that you should support, if for no other reason, because they'll help make you money. After all, it 'aint no one's business if you do.

1. Earn more: Cut personal income tax rates across the board

This one is easy. Your income tax, whether withheld from each paycheck or paid in full in April, is the single largest deduction the government makes from your earned income. Tax cuts put the money you already earned directly back in your pocket. It's the same effect as a raise, except it's Uncle Sam that gives it to you.

2. Pay less: Support free trade

Free trade lowers prices for consumers. Anti-globalization activists think this is a bad thing, and so they loudly resent the fact that consumers generally want to buy things that cost less. The rest of us rational folk don't, and relish the opportunity to get more for less.

Free trade has cut the relative price of food by two-thirds since 1957. The price of clothing and raw materials has seen a similar decline, because free trade generally lowers the costs of basic, necessary goods the most. (This is because basic, necessary goods are produced by every country, thus increasing supply, and thus lowering prices more.) But nearly every product you buy is affected somehow by the global market, and thus is cheaper as the market globalizes. Free trade isn't just for your Nikes anymore.

3. Get more: Cut, and eventually scrap, the corporate income tax

Corporate taxes create two separate problems both conspiring to keep you from more money. The first is that all costs that a business incurs are eventually passed on to the consumer in the form of higher prices. The corporate income tax is no exception. So in the end, you - and every other consumer - ends up paying the corporate tax for the corporation you're buying from, on everything you buy.

Second, whether you are an entrepreneur or a corporate drone, your paycheck is paid by a business, usually a corporation. Thus business investment - namely employment and employment benefits - is reliant on profits. While there is certainly no guarantee that corporations will use their increased profits for increased pay and/or hiring, there is a guarantee that the money they pay in taxes will never go to that purpose.

4. Earn more for retirement: Social Security private accounts

6.2% of every dollar you make is taken by the government for Social Security, the national retirement payment system. (Your employer contributes another 6.2% on every dollar he pays you.) This money is placed into a Social Security Trust Fund, basically a national collection of Social Security tax payments, which ends up yielding a whopping 2% return per year.

The stock market, by contrast, has an average yearly return on investment of 8%. Invest well (diversify, do research, etc.), and your annual returns can exceed 10-20%. With private accountsfor Social Security, your Golden Years can be a lot more golden.

5. Be worth more: Support education reform

Level of education is one of the most reliable indicators of future earning potential. With schoolvouchers, where the government pays for private school tuition, more students can receive quality K-12 education. A quality K-12 education is an important step in facilitating entrance to college and graduate school, further enhancing the earning potential of many Americans. Other pro-market policies toward facilitating competition in higher education have allowed the American university system to churn out future leaders and money makers with world-leading efficiency.

6. More to fall back on: Support Welfare reform

For those who are not as ambitious, or are prone to poverty-inducing circumstances, it's nice to know that there is a safety net to back you up. Effective Welfare Reform can maintain this safety net for those who need it, as well as encouraging those who don't to find gainful employment.

7. More opportunity: Open and deregulate the global market

For the entrepreneurial, the current globalized age of commerce provides unprecedented potential for future success. Globalization helps bring together billions of consumers with producers around the world. Both global consumer demand as well as global resources (material and human) are nearly limitless. Economists are already noting that successful entrepreneursin the global market are making more than ever before, and that globalization is now the most significant factor in their success. Why not join in?

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Article Tags: economics, jobs, matt harrison, politicians
Referred by: http://www.westwindcos.com



Related Forum Posts
Re: How To Be Rich - [quote="TheRainmaker":tst8wsa8]Sounds great. What exactly have you found to be eye opening??[/quote:tst8wsa8] The first eye opener was measuring wealth by your total assets 1 Million - 2 Million Pounds The Comfortable Poor 2 Million - 5 Million Pounds The Comfortably Off 5 Million - 15 Million Pounds The Comfortably wealthy 15 Million - 40 Million Pounds The Lesser Rich 40 Million - 75 Million Pounds The Comfortably Rich 75 Million - 100 Million Pounds The Rich 100 Million - 200 Million Pounds The Seriously Rich 200 Million - 400 Million Pounds The Truly Rich 400 Million - 999 Million Pounds The Filthy Rich Over 999 Million Pounds The Super Rich
Re: 10 ideas to make you money in 2010 - I think Education would be hard to break into. Baby Boomers, Life Support and Trading Down, however, seem like good markets. As for Green technology goes, I don't think the business has to be entirely based on Green ideologies, but rather a business that embrace Green philosophies and use that as a marketing tool.
Re: THE SECRET TO SUCCESS IS ALL IN YOUR HEAD...RIGHT NOW!!! - Success = Thinking (Head) + Heart (Feeling / Interest) + Hand (doing/ action). Success - H3 Robert
Motivational Books for Entrepreneurs - Searched but did not find a comprehensive list of books for us entrepreneurs: Here are some of my favorites: Napoleon Hill - Think and Grow Rich The greatest secret in the world- Earl Nightingale...listen to it, then listen to it again. Jeffrey Gitomers books- Red book of selling, sales bible, Green book of getting your way. Your Erroneous Zones - Wayne Dyer Thinkertoys - Michael Michalko How To Win Friends and Influence People - Dale Carnegie The Magic of Believing - Claude M. Bristol How to Talk to Anyone - Leil Lowndes Get Smarter- Seymour Schulich What are yours?
Re: Are you a Blue, Red, or Green? - Hum... a lot of reds responding... Business owners must be a very aggressive community. Now, I was surprised when I took the course personally to find out I was a Green, secondary Blue. Of course, not believing this, the first thing I did was turn to those around me to get their opinions on my colours (typical Green!). The only thing I can really say about STRUCTOGRAM is that it was fun to explore the depths of my social and physiological make-up... I did this a over a year ago now and still use it in my daily interactions (always be on your toes with Reds).


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