Alan Greenspan isn’t wishy washy about the proposal to soak the wealthy with a 70 percent income tax — the idea endorsed by Dem. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York. From CNBC comes Greenspan’s response to the congresswoman who identifies herself as a democratic socialist:
Without getting into the details, Greenspan said the move would have dire consequences.
“If you’re willing to take a significant drop in economic activity, I would suggest that,” Greenspan, who was central bank chief from 1987 to 2006, told CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street. ”
“Maybe I better make myself clear,” he then added. “I think it would be a terrible mistake.”
Ocasio-Cortez is pushing the so-called “Green New Deal.” The idea is to reject fossil fuels and save the planet.
In her written proposal, Ocasio-Cortez previously said “progressive wealth taxes” could be set to fund investments under the Green New Deal. She also suggested imposing taxes on greenhouse gas emissions, tapping the Federal Reserve for credit and having the government take an equity stake in projects.
Fact is, greenhouse gas emissions have been declining in the U.S. without federal regulations, as JLF Senior Fellow Don van der Vaart points out.
What is important is that the (somewhat) free market has created these reductions without the aid of an undoubtedly illegal government intervention into our electricity industry. Thanks to the historic development of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, natural gas prices have made baseload electricity generation using natural gas economical in many cases.
I await more details from the New York congresswoman on her Green New Deal. It will make for a fascinating and important discussion.
