quote:
Originally posted by NashBama:
The economy was booming after WWII not because of tax on the rich, but because of the need for industry to supply the war effort. WWII gave the economy the jump start it needed to get out of the depression. People previously unemployed now had jobs, returning soldiers began having kids and the baby boom began. This meant more demand for industry and jobs as the demand for housing increased. This is also the time subdivisions first started to appear.
Taxing the rich does not give money to the poor, it simply takes money from the rich. Taking money from the people who have earned it and giving it to those who haven't is a socialist idea and does not work. Education is not further than ever, more and more people are getting college educations than ever. My alma mater has been reporting record attendance for the past 4 or 5 years, they're over 20k students.
NashBama, You are WRONG. The economy boomed after WW II because of repressed demand. From 1941 to 1946 no new cars were produced for civilians. No refrigerators, No washing machines, no motorcycles, no bathtubs, mining of non essential materials was halted. Tires and gasoline had been rationed. Meat and Dairy products were Rationed. Shoes, Clothing, bedsheets, paint all in short supply and very pricy.
The economy boomed because Labor was in EXTREME DEMAND during the war, and while wages were "fixed" there was not much to buy with the wages you got, and prices were "fixed" too. Result a lot of unspent money in the hands of the population, and renewal of production for civilian use. LOOK AT A 1940 CHEVROLET, AND AN 1940 FORD, AND COMPARE THEM TO 1946 MODELS.
My family had a 1938 Packard until 1950. When we went shopping for a replacement car, SURPLUS ARMY JEEPS WERE TOP OF THE LIST. During the war we used the school bus my dad drove as a part time job for transportation. We walked, me, my and my brother, while mom pushed a carriage with my baby sister, a mile to the grocery store, and a mile back. No Gasoline. When the horses broke the fence at got into the neighbor's cornfield, we chased them down ON FOOT. We kept Chickens and Rabbits for Meat, and eggs. And, after the war, the governmnent taxed the devil out of everyone to pay off the War Bonds. And the economy was as strong as it has ever been. Stronger than it is now.
Five years before WW I, in 1913 (actually the year WW I started to heat up in Europe) The USA amended the constitution to institute an income tax. It was set at 1% of all individual income over 100 thousand dollars. By the time WW I ended practically every working citizen was paying income taxes. The economy boomed after WW I too. Inflation follows war, like rainbows follow thunderstorms. Inflation LOOKS like prosperity. Inflation makes old debt easier to pay off. Genuine Economic Growth DOES NOT INCLUDE GROWTH OF DEBT.
Right Now we, as a nation, are borrowing ourselves into a false prosperity.
Sure feels good to have someone borrowing money to pay wages with, but it is short term, those loans are going to have to be paid back.