What would you do to make a difference in your country?
03 Aug 2016, 2:58 pm
If I had any lawmaking power or authority in the US I could and will promote laws for:
* Examine all federal authorities and agencies (CIA, the FCC, NSA, etc.), with an eye to restrict their federal powers.
* Lower corporate taxes, streamline business regulations, and bring jobs back from abroad.
* Other... ?
cecilfienkelstien
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04 Aug 2016, 2:06 am
Well, looking at my home country of Denmark... these are probably some of the policies I would implement if given the reins of power... In a moderately optimistic scenario these may be revenue neutral even in the short run, especially if one goes all in on suggestion no. 3. Suggestions 1, 2 and (part of) 6 specifically focus on increasing economic growth and the international competiveness of the Danish economy.
1. Reallocate a significant portion of public expenditure from social services and transfers to education and science
Neutral wrt. public revenue/expenditure, positive wrt. economic growth
2. Lower the marginal tax rate for the highest income brackets
Either reduces public revenue or revenue neutral, positive wrt. economic growth
3. Increase the efficiency of government procurement - especially through increased use of open tenders and more options for negotiating drug prices
Drastically reduce public expenditure, positive wrt. economic growth
4. Increase the Value Added Tax (VAT) on unhealthy foods and lower it on healthy foods
Decrease public revenue in the short run, decrease public expenditure in the long run - net effect is unknown, unknown wrt. economic growth
5. Legalize cannabis and most psychedelics and treat drug abuse as a public health - not a criminal - problem
Decrease public expenditure through lower enforcement costs, increase public revenue through taxation, positive wrt. economic growth
6. Increase restrictions on polluting emissions (either through Emissions Trading or Pigovian Taxes). Lower the corporate tax rate to offset the competitive disadvantage
Net decrease in public revenue due to substitution, may reduce some public expenditures in the long run due to lower pollution, (ideally) neutral wrt. economic growth
There are multiple caveats to these suggestions, though, as the devil often is in the details wrt. efficiency and effectiveness of these policies.
04 Aug 2016, 6:01 am
Decrease public revenue in the short run, decrease public expenditure in the long run - net effect is unknown, unknown wrt. economic growth
I saw your disclaimer, but this policy seems particularly complicated. How do you determine whether a food is "healthy" or "unhealthy"?
I suppose a simple way of doing it would be to declare all fruits and vegetables "healthy", anything with a fat/sugar/salt content over X amount "unhealthy", and everything else remaining as it is. But there are all sorts of ways that could go wrong.
It's also possible that in order for this to be effective, it would need to be quite dramatic. As most of the cheapest foods to produce are unhealthy, too much taxation may increase food poverty.
Abolishing VAT on "healthy" food certainly seems like a good idea if you can get it to work.
04 Aug 2016, 6:33 am
Decrease public revenue in the short run, decrease public expenditure in the long run - net effect is unknown, unknown wrt. economic growth
I saw your disclaimer, but this policy seems particularly complicated. []How do you determine whether a food is "healthy" or "unhealthy"?[/u]
I suppose a simple way of doing it would be to declare all fruits and vegetables "healthy", anything with a fat/sugar/salt content over X amount "unhealthy", and everything else remaining as it is. But there are all sorts of ways that could go wrong.
It's also possible that in order for this to be effective, it would need to be quite dramatic. As most of the cheapest foods to produce are unhealthy, too much taxation may increase food poverty.
Abolishing VAT on "healthy" food certainly seems like a good idea if you can get it to work.
Well, I doubt it will be possible to use a single criteria to distinguish between healthy and unhealthy foods.
However, several of the Nordic countries use the "Keyhole" model to label foods... here is a description of the Danish Model:
The Keyhole is a food label that identifies healthier food products within a product group. Choosing foods with the keyhole symbol make it easier and less time consuming to find healthier products in food stores. Foods labelled with the Keyhole symbol contain less fat, sugars and salt and more dietary fibre than food products of the same type not carrying the symbol.
The Keyhole is a common Nordic label for healthier food products in Denmark, Iceland, Norway and Sweden based on the Swedish Keyhole which was established in 1989.
The current Keyhole system has a set of criteria for each of the 33 different product groups. In the process of becoming a common Nordic label, the countries revised the different criteria from the original Swedish Keyhole and added new product groups for sandwiches, pizza and wraps and oils. The Swedish National Food Administration has registered the keyhole as a trademark and the Nordic labelling system is enforced through common regulation in the three countries.
Which foods can be labelled with the Keyhole symbol?
Prepacked foods eligible to carry the Keyhole symbol must fulfil certain conditions specified by the authorities in Denmark, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. An exception has been made for fish, seafood, fruits, vegetables and potatoes, bread, cheese and unprocessed meat so they can be labelled with the Keyhole even though they are not prepacked. The criteria regarding fat, sugar, salt and dietary fibre are based on the Nordic Nutrition Recommendations, which are founded on thorough scientific research.
Different conditions apply to different groups of foods.
Choosing a food product with the keyhole symbol means that the product it is a healthier choice than corresponding products that are not qualified to carry the symbol. For example, cheese with the keyhole symbol contains less fat and salt than cheese not qualified for the keyhole. Products with the keyhole symbol have to be accompanied with nutritional facts.
Foods with the Keyhole symbol
The Keyhole is a voluntary label. Food producers are themselves responsible for ensuring that foods with the keyhole symbol conform to The Danish Veterinary and Food Administrations regulations on use of the keyhole.
Foods that comply with the specified criteria can be labelled with the Keyhole. There are 33 categories within the following 11 product groups:
●Dressings and sauces
●Fish and shellfish
●Ready meals
●Porridge, bread and pasta
●Vegetables, fruits, berries and nuts
●Meat and processed meat products
●Dietary fat and oils
●Flour, meal and rice
●Milk and fermented products
●Cheese
●Vegetable products
Source: http://altomkost.dk/english/#c41068
I'm wouldn't be surprised if other countries have developed somewhat similar labelling practices, but I am not aware of these...
It's not a foolproof method, as salt, sugar, fat and dietary fiber are not the only relevant variables when evaluating the health effects of different foods. Nonetheless, it does cover many of the major risk factors for cardiovascular disease, which is the no. 1 cause of death in the developed world...
And it would be fairly straightforward to differentiate the VAT based on keyhole status (or absence hereof), as one would be dealing with an already existing categorization of foods.
04 Aug 2016, 6:55 am
In the UK food is colour-coded instead of a keyhole: http://www.nhs.uk/news/2013/06June/Page ... abels.aspx
04 Aug 2016, 8:32 am
If you've already got a system like that working, then basing tax rates on top of it seems sensible and practical.
Some policies I would like to see enacted in this country:
1) Legalisation and taxation of all drugs. Drugs provided initially by a state monopoly, then by a tightly-regulated private sector, providing information on how to use drugs safely. Drug addiction to be treated as a health issue rather than a criminal one. International studies of how drug policies affect drug use have found no relationship. Legalising drugs will take money away from organised crime and into the government pocket. It will decrease the size of the prison population, making it more effective at rehabilitating criminals and lowering the crime rate. It will reduce the number of deaths as the result of drug abuse or experimentation with "legal highs". It will allow increased experimentation to find out the medical benefits of illegal drugs, and it will allow people to get treatment for drug addiction. There's also a strong liberal case - keep the state out of people's lives.
2) Increase access to public schools (i.e. private schools). All around the world, private schools produce better results than state schools, even when their fees are lower. Liberalising education would provide better results. Allow increased school choice and competition between schools. Tax rates could be cut to help people afford to pay. Government vouchers could be provided so that no child as completely frozen out.
3) Implement a land-value tax. This would be more equitable, more efficient (that is, it wouldn't discourage economic activity - quite the opposite), and harder to avoid. It would also discourage people from sitting on unused land, freeing up land to be used.
4) Reform the House of Lords. Make it completely elected. Half the members will be elected under Single Transferable Voters within each region of the UK (the nine regions of England, plus Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland - although see below) will elect equal numbers of representatives. This will transfer power to deprived areas at the expense of densely-populated ones, which are well represented in the Commons. The other half will be elected within professional societies such as the Royal Society, ensuring the House continues to contain leading experts rather than simply career politicians.
5) Home Rule for Scotland. Scotland to become almost as independent as Ireland, but to remain a part of the UK. Very few powers to remain within Westminster. (This would mean they lost representation in Westminster, of course)
6) Regional governments with similar degrees of autonomy to Wales.
04 Aug 2016, 9:11 am
Sugar- and fat-rich foods aren't unhealthy if you're starving and can get only a small amount of food.
_________________
The red lake has been forgotten. A dust devil stuns you long enough to shroud forever those last shards of wisdom. The breeze rocking this forlorn wasteland whispers in your ears, “Não resta mais que uma sombra”.
04 Aug 2016, 6:09 pm
Germany in the 90ies had an anarchist party to draw disillusioned voters from protest voting the far right skinheads and neo-nazis. I always sympathized with their program:
Balkanize the country into 3 zones, so everyone can live appropriately:
a workaholic zone where the overachievers can overachieve, where they can earn respect among their peers and don't have to live in gatedcommunities for the2 hours a day they're not working.
their gdp will largely finance the normal zone, in which normal people live normal livesandwork when there's work to be done. Sort of an basic income scenario.
and finally: violence entertainment parks, for the insane ones who feel like shooting and bombing is a good idea. But let them shoot and bomb each other, as a sport. You can come here, be violent without punishment, but you should be aware that the chance of surviving a visit are slim.
now obviously the anarchist party didn't get very far, but i do feel like their ideas had a certain charm...
they had a great anthem which I still know by heart
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I can read facial expressions. I did the test.
04 Aug 2016, 6:23 pm
I don't think that would work. The overachievers would resent being mooched off by the other two zones, and the violent ones would want to attack the others, too. They'd consider it unfair that they can't forcibly endanger everyone else's life in exchange for risking their own.
_________________
The red lake has been forgotten. A dust devil stuns you long enough to shroud forever those last shards of wisdom. The breeze rocking this forlorn wasteland whispers in your ears, “Não resta mais que uma sombra”.
05 Aug 2016, 12:18 pm
By the way, where would violent overachievers go?
_________________
The red lake has been forgotten. A dust devil stuns you long enough to shroud forever those last shards of wisdom. The breeze rocking this forlorn wasteland whispers in your ears, “Não resta mais que uma sombra”.
05 Aug 2016, 5:29 pm
1. Reduce Military Budget by eliminating unnecessary contracts (no more bradley tanks or piloted fighter jets)
2. Eliminate tax loopholes
3. Create or repurpose buildings to function as mass housing units, allow homeless to live there for free.
4. Offer free transportation to local community college and free tuition for programs which will satisfy industry demand (mostly STEM)
5. Create new federal service to focus on domestic issues such as food production, low cost housing construction, and waste disposal / reclamation. Service would be worker heavy and employ people who would otherwise be unemployed. It would develop a best known method to eliminate waste items deemed unfit for recycling, then reclaim them for industrial / agricultural purposes. Service would exploit opportunities to grow food items based on nutrition content and not market value.
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I'm a math evangelist, I believe in theorems and ignore the proofs.
AnonymousAnonymous
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