Hypothecated taxes are designed to undermine the NHS

[Le Baron]

I do not believe that you are an idiot.

I won’t be engaging with you any further, because I expect at least some level of civility in any debate, and your replies to me on this thread have fallen short of that level. If you want to consider this as a vindication of whatever your argument actually is, I give you my blessing to think that.

I am sometimes abrasive, but it's mostly because I've had 15 years of people not reading what they critique and then rolling up to confidently dismiss something. I'm thin on patience. Which is perhaps not the best situation, but...

Sorry if it didn't feel like an engagement on civil terms. It's not personal.

 

[Le Baron]

This (excerpt from article at Deutsche Welle) is a reminder that the neolibs will persist in spreading their misconceptions even after they admit certain truths. The ECB launching its 'green bonds', and positing it as 'sustainable debt for funding'... blah blah. This after it already showed, during the GFC and later in the pandemic, that it neither borrows money nor is constrained. Instead of clearing fiscal space and allocating the money to targeted spending (which is what they claim this is for anyway) they are persisting with the sideshow that it is 'raising' money' from sales to people in the private sector who are by-and-large exchanging loaned bank money for bonds. The old left-pocket to right-pocket thing.
There is an argument for sales of some bonds, as a way of postponing consumption and freeing unspent income in order to free space, which is more desirable than taxation which eliminates it entirely. Who are they selling to though? The same people who buy ordinary government bonds.

EU 'green bonds' get off to a record start

There was a great deal of interest among investors as the EU's first "green bonds" went on sale. The investments will go towards funding sustainable projects.
There was a scramble among investors for the European Commission's inaugural issuance of so-called "green bonds" on Tuesday.

The first sale managed to raise €12 billion ($14 billion) from the sale of sustainable debt. Johannes Hahn, who is the EU budget commissioner, said the sale was unprecedented. "This marks the largest green bond order book ever in global capital markets, and the largest green bond ever issued, not just in Europe but in the world," Hahn told reporters.

What are 'green bonds'?

"Green bonds" are sustainable investments. They are fixed-income financial instruments used in the funding of climate or environmental-related initiatives. The money that has been raised by the sale of the bonds will be distributed among member states which will then be used on cleaner energy, and other projects that are aimed at helping the bloc reach carbon neutrality by 2050.

The inaugural sale of the 15-year bonds are part of the EU's goal to raise €250 billion in sustainable debt by 2026, which accounts for 30% of the €800 billion the EU seeks to "repair the immediate economic and social damage brought about by the coronavirus pandemic."

EU's high hopes for green investment

The EU aims to become the market leader for sustainable investment, and Brussels believes the issuance of "green bonds" is the key to unlocking that goal.
"It will allow investors to diversify their portfolio of green investments with a highly rated liquid asset, thereby potentially accelerating a virtuous circle of sustainable investments," Hahn said.

EU member states are expected to commit to a budget of at least 37% on climate investments in order to receive aid recovery. There must also be a minimum of 20% expenditure allocated towards digital transition.

https://p.dw.com/p/41b93

 

[wulbert]

So, what happens when we have tax evasion on an industrial scale as revealed in the Pandora Papers (and Paradise Papers and Panama Papers)?

Are the super-wealthy who hide their income and don't pay tax driving inflation or any other nastiness in society? Their due tax money doesn't get "deleted" because they don't pay any.

 

[ks.234]

So, what happens when we have tax evasion on an industrial scale as revealed in the Pandora Papers (and Paradise Papers and Panama Papers)?

Are the super-wealthy who hide their income and don't pay tax driving inflation or any other nastiness in society? Their due tax money doesn't get "deleted" because they don't pay any.

Yes, it does cause inflation, but as the super rich already have as much ordinary stuff like food as they want, the inflation occurs in things like yachts, footballers, and of course other places that the super rich spend their money like property in London. But the big inflation is in their donations to political parties that are part of their secret and the massively inflated influence they have on government

But the big problem with hiding tax is therefore a moral question about how the super wealthy use their money to control government. It is also they who control the media which perpetuates the lie that government has to have your tax in order to fund your NHS.

It doesn’t. People dying because of lack of care is a political choice.