Doug Casey on the Relentless Rise of Taxes, Regulations, and Inflation
International Man: Almost every government worldwide is moving to increase taxes and regulations on its citizens while at the same time engaging in ever-increasing currency debasement.
What do you think of this trend, and where is it going?
Doug Casey: Higher taxes, more money printing, and more regulations are long-standing trends. The cat first got out of the bag with the French Revolution and the triumph of the Jacobins, who wanted to collectivize French society. They almost succeeded. Not many years later, Karl Marx wrote The Communist Manifesto and Das Capital, letting another feral meme loose into society. The idea that the State was a good thing and should grow is now everywhere.
With the turn of the 20th century, roughly 120 years ago, governments all over the world created central banks and the income tax. They started small but have become behemoths, funding welfare and warfare. Both things are highly destructive. In the 19th century there was no welfare and very few wars, because wars are expensive. Governments were hard-pressed to extract adequate revenue from their populations for fighting.
Like all living creatures, the prime directive of the State is to survive and grow. But the State is unique. The State, as Mao said, comes out of the barrel of a gun. Since it’s based on coercion, it’s only natural that some form of socialism would be its preferred way to organize society. Currency inflation, income taxes, and debt have enabled governments to get completely out of control. The prognosis is not good.
International Man: There seems to be a coordinated effort to increase capital gains taxes.
For example, Canada just announced an increase in the capital gains tax from 50% to 67%. President Biden has proposed increasing the US capital gains tax to 44.6% and adding a tax on unrealized capital gains.
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