tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28755195.post7358856469126400871..comments2023-09-25T04:26:51.568-06:00Comments on The Barefoot Bum: Mankiw bullshits us on taxesLarry Hamelinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08788697573946266404noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28755195.post-28019743040361024352010-10-11T20:49:51.648-06:002010-10-11T20:49:51.648-06:00Note too that if Mankiw is talking about nominal g...Note too that if Mankiw is talking about nominal growth over 30 years without mentioning inflation, then that would be yet another element of bullshit statistics.Larry Hamelinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08788697573946266404noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28755195.post-89054487848167219762010-10-11T20:46:00.535-06:002010-10-11T20:46:00.535-06:00Chris, those numbers look like nominal growth, not...Chris, those numbers look like <i>nominal</i> growth, not real growth. It looks like the real long term growth for stock indexes is GDP <i>plus</i> dividend yield. I'm not sure what that means, but my intuition suggests the "dividend yield" might be a transfer of real aggregate demand from the working class to the investor class. Mankiw would then be arguing that losing an opportunity to screw the working class is part of the "taxation" he faces on his work, which is not a position I can work up a great deal of sympathy for.Larry Hamelinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08788697573946266404noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28755195.post-56053386160499338912010-10-11T20:38:32.148-06:002010-10-11T20:38:32.148-06:00Thanks, g. Links are fixed, I think. (I'm not ...Thanks, g. Links are fixed, I think. (I'm not on my own computer so I can't check the NY Times link.)Larry Hamelinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08788697573946266404noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28755195.post-50527844665555172522010-10-11T16:00:54.285-06:002010-10-11T16:00:54.285-06:00Also... where does this 8% come from? Investment i...<i>Also... where does this 8% come from? Investment is foregoing consumption in order to grow the economy. The economy (real GDP) grows at between 2% and 4% per year. Where does the expectation of 8% come from? What investment (without precognition or insider trading) consistently and predictably returns 8% per year for 30 years?</i><br /><br />I believe he has discovered index funds. According to measuringworth.com the DJIA and S&P500 have averaged about 8.8% over the last thirty years (ten thirty year spans, beginning in 1970 to 1979 and ending in 2000 to 2009) while the NASDAQ pulls 10.65% (only eight runs instead of ten, starting in 1972).Chrisnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28755195.post-64372502711329334762010-10-11T12:57:35.410-06:002010-10-11T12:57:35.410-06:00Link screwage: your first three links are presumab...Link screwage: your first three links are presumably meant to go (in order) to Brad DeLong, Mark Thoma, and Mankiw's whine; they actually go (in order) to Brad DeLong, The Void[1], and Mark Thoma.<br /><br />[1] Actually it's an empty link URL, which ends up behaving like a link to the current page, which might be either your home page or the page for this particular posting.ghttp://www.mccaughan.org.uk/g/noreply@blogger.com