540-Is US Government Bankruptcy a Sure Thing? A Friendly Debate with David Stein, Host of Money for the Rest of Us

On Episode 466 of Radical Personal Finance, I discussed the idea of the US Government's certain default on its stated obligations and commitments by referencing Professor Lawrence Kotlikoff's Congressional testimony on this subject.

After that show, my friend David Stein (host of Money for the Rest of Us) emailed me to tell me that I was wrong. :)

So, I invited him on the show to debate it with me.



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523-Last Week's Fiscal Catastrophe and Your Response

If you want happy-go-lucky, unicorns-and-balloons-in-the-sky Joshua, skip today's show.

If you want angry Joshua to opine on his disgust with the US American politicians' lack of fiscal restraint and the long-term catastrophe that is the US American budget, then you'll enjoy today's show.



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486-Ignore the Republicans...What Do You Think Is the Right Approach To Income Taxation and Why?

I feel like I owe it to you to keep you semi-current on the state of tax policy in the USA. But, it's too early to have any serious details about the current Republican proposals.

I thought instead we could have a useful philosophical discussion about taxation. My challenge to you today is to answer these questions, for yourself.

  • Do you believe that a civil government has the moral right to tax an individual's income? Why or why not?
    • Do you believe that the US civil government has the constitutional right to tax an individual's income?
  • If you believe that a civil government does have this right, how much of a person's income can they claim? What's the right number and how would you know?
  • Do you believe that everyone should be required to pay income taxes?
  • Do you believe that some people should be treated differently than others and so be ordered to pay a different rate of income tax than others? Why or why not?
    • If so, how would we determine who should be treated differently...
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