Fareed Zakaria’s Global Public Square (GPS) got into two interesting (to me) areas today. Note that Zakaria now broadcasts at both 10 AM and 1 PM EST (10 AM replaces 5 PM).
One was Zakaria’s suggestion, at the beginning, that the United States consider a VAT, or value added tax. It would probably come in at about 10%, but at 25% if could eliminate almost all income taxes, eliminate the deficit, start paying back the debt, strengthen the dollar, and even pay for most of universal health care. So he says.
One problem would be retirees. Those with substantial social security “annuities” and pensions and certain mixes of investments (such as tax free municipal bonds, a favorite of financial advisors for the elderly these days) often pay little income tax. A VAT would disproportionately hit them hard. That’s a good topic for retirement blogs.
Zakaria also suggested, at the end, that NATO is getting weak, since most countries have a defensive force based on the Cold War. Although Europe has more people in uniform than the US, European forces (except for Britain) are much less deployable. That observation could hurt arguments to lift “don’t ask don’t tell” for gays in the military in the US. Of course, Britain (and Israel) have lifted the ban and still do more than their fair share of the counter-terrorism fighting.
Zakaria interviewed George Soros (again), who again decried market fundamentalism and boasted that he “buys bubbles.”
Here is Zakaria’s “briefing book” for today with George Soros, Simon Schama and Lionel Barber, link.
By the way, I think Ben Stein (the “Expelled” movie) looks funny on CNN doing commercials for “freescore.com”. It’s not really free.
Picture: It never hurts to window shop as long as you don't buy anything. (Personal picture, downtown Washington; the colors in the display really catch the eye at night.)