A well-informed colleague related to me that he had spoken with Swiss banking authorities trying to stem the flow of French capital into Switzerland. Wealthy French families have been spooked by the election of a socialist president threatening them with 75 percent tax rates. They cannot park their money inside the Euro zone; so they are flooding Switzerland and England with capital flight. The Swiss will likely impose a "parking fee" on incoming capital high enough to keep it within manageable proportions. If not, Swiss tourism and exports will be priced out of the market and the Swiss economy will take a nose dive. New York City realtors are also reporting French purchases of high end real estate.
Capital flight is the last thing France needs given its pressing borrowing constraints.
Dr. Gregory's latest book can be found at Amazon.com.
Showing posts with label socialist. Show all posts
Showing posts with label socialist. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Monday, January 23, 2012
Is President Obama Truly a Socialist?
Pew Research finds that sixty percent of Americans respond negatively to “socialism.” It is clear why President Obama must avoid that label. Words are important. Political candidates who control the language of political discourse win elections.
Most of our elites would certainly not entertain the question: “Is Obama a Socialist?” Only irresponsible fanatics carelessly throw around such epithets, they say. Polite circles ignore such goofiness.
As someone who has professionally studied and written about comparative economics, capitalism, and socialism for almost fifty years, the reticence to probe the core beliefs of a political leader seems odd. The question is perfectly legitimate in both an academic and political context as long as we define terms and place the discussion in proper context.
By “socialist,” I do not mean a Lenin, Castro, or Mao, but whether Obama falls within the mainstream of contemporary socialism as represented, for example, by Germany’s Social Democrats, French Socialists, or Spain’s socialist-workers party?
By this criterion, yes, Obama is a socialist.
to read the rest
Most of our elites would certainly not entertain the question: “Is Obama a Socialist?” Only irresponsible fanatics carelessly throw around such epithets, they say. Polite circles ignore such goofiness.
As someone who has professionally studied and written about comparative economics, capitalism, and socialism for almost fifty years, the reticence to probe the core beliefs of a political leader seems odd. The question is perfectly legitimate in both an academic and political context as long as we define terms and place the discussion in proper context.
By “socialist,” I do not mean a Lenin, Castro, or Mao, but whether Obama falls within the mainstream of contemporary socialism as represented, for example, by Germany’s Social Democrats, French Socialists, or Spain’s socialist-workers party?
By this criterion, yes, Obama is a socialist.
to read the rest
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