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South Korea Raised Taxes in Bid for Growth. So Far, It’s Not Working.
The New York Times ^ | 09 Jan 2019 | Michael Schuman

Posted on 01/10/2019 4:27:17 PM PST by Theoria

In contrast to President Trump, President Moon Jae-in of South Korea has embraced a pro-labor program of higher wages and taxes. The early results have been discouraging.

As President Trump leads a drive to slash taxes and pare back regulation, one major economy is taking a different approach.

Under President Moon Jae-in, South Korea has raised taxes and the minimum wage in the name of economic growth. So far, it hasn’t worked out as planned.

Growth has slowed, unemployment has risen and small-business owners like Moon Seung are complaining. Mr. Moon, founder of an auto parts maker called Dasung in Incheon, an industrial town near Seoul, says his labor costs were up an extra 3 percent last year after the minimum wage rose to 7,530 Korean won, or about $6.70, an hour. That may not sound like much, but it ate into his razor-thin profit margin and prompted him to stop hiring.

“We can’t take it,” Mr. Moon said. “This is a problem not just for the employers, but for the employees.”

(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Foreign Affairs; Japan; US: New York
KEYWORDS: china; dnctalkingpoint; dnctalkingpoints; economy; gimme; incometaxes; japan; korea; maga; michaelschuman; moon; newyork; newyorkcity; newyorktimes; pyongyang; republicofkorea; russia; southkorea; taxcutsandjobsact; taxes; taxreform; tcja
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1 posted on 01/10/2019 4:27:17 PM PST by Theoria
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To: Theoria

Any tax is a throttle on the economy.


2 posted on 01/10/2019 4:37:10 PM PST by SkyDancer ( ~ Just Consider Me A Random Fact Generator ~ Eat Sleep Fly Repeat ~)
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To: Theoria
...President Moon Jae-in of South Korea has embraced a pro-labor program of higher wages and taxes. The early results have been discouraging.

Well duh.

3 posted on 01/10/2019 4:39:29 PM PST by facedown (Armed in the Heartland)
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To: Theoria

Attention O.-C. and Bernie Sanders.


4 posted on 01/10/2019 4:39:54 PM PST by Socon-Econ (adical Islam,)
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To: Theoria

What a surprise! The Communist NY Times is amazed!


5 posted on 01/10/2019 4:40:21 PM PST by Cicero (Marcus Tullius)
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To: Theoria

No nation ever taxed themselves into prosperity.


6 posted on 01/10/2019 4:40:45 PM PST by sparklite2 (Don't mind me. I'm just a contrarian.)
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To: Theoria

Socialists always think they can tax everyone into prosperity.


7 posted on 01/10/2019 4:42:30 PM PST by Blood of Tyrants (Twitter is Trump's laser pointer and the media are all cats.)
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To: Theoria

The minimum wage arises in part from the idea that Ford paid his people more money in order that they could afford to buy his cars. The theory here is that higher incomes beget a strong economy. In reality, Ford was issuing a line of BS to cast himself as a great benefactor. He paid what the market demanded in order to avoid employee turnover at his plants. If he had paid more than the workers were worth, Ford would have shut down. A free market in labor is a great mechanism for divining what a man’s output is worth. Anyone who short-circuits that market by introducing a minimum wage is doing a disservice to society. Idle hands, and so on ...


8 posted on 01/10/2019 4:46:13 PM PST by Zhang Fei (They can have my pitbull when they pry his cold dead jaws off my ass.)
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To: facedown

The same idiot libtard president who wanted the DMZ to come down thinking the commies are gonna play nice to their neighbors...


9 posted on 01/10/2019 4:46:41 PM PST by max americana (Happily Fired every stupid liberal at every election since 08' at work. I hope all liberals die.)
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To: Zhang Fei

I like your tagline.


10 posted on 01/10/2019 4:48:38 PM PST by Mr Ramsbotham ("God is a spirit, and man His means of walking on the earth.")
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To: Theoria

Why should America care? Americans suffered a huge sacrifice of blood and treasure on behalf of Korea. Now South Korea is a prosperous county. American troops should not be a tripwire to ensure the status quo nearly seventy years after the Korean war ended. Its up to the Koreans to work out their own consensus. American interests in the Pacific should extend no further West than Guam and American Samoa. Its up to Korea, Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Burma and India to deal with China. the Asians have to work out their own consensus.


11 posted on 01/10/2019 4:48:49 PM PST by allendale (.)
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To: Theoria

Like standing in a bucket, pulling up by the handle, and thinking you’re going to levitate.


12 posted on 01/10/2019 4:48:58 PM PST by RinaseaofDs
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To: Theoria

NYT: [Wage growth in the United States, though stronger in recent months, has generally remained stubbornly low despite the tightest labor market in a generation]


Someone needs to point out to these bozos that immigration to the US has increased the number of workers to the point that labor rate increases have been suppressed for decades. US wages used to be higher by Europe’s by about 50%. Now the difference is practically zero thanks to open borders.


13 posted on 01/10/2019 4:50:04 PM PST by Zhang Fei (They can have my pitbull when they pry his cold dead jaws off my ass.)
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To: Theoria
[ South Korea Raised Taxes in Bid for Growth. So Far, It’s Not Working. ]


14 posted on 01/10/2019 4:50:53 PM PST by SaveFerris (Luke 17:28 ... as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold ......)
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To: Theoria; AdmSmith; AnonymousConservative; Arthur Wildfire! March; Berosus; Bockscar; cardinal4; ...
In contrast to President Trump, President Moon Jae-in of South Korea has embraced a pro-labor [sic] program of higher wages and taxes. The early results have been discouraging... President Trump leads a drive to slash taxes and pare back regulation... South Korea has raised taxes and the minimum wage... Growth has slowed, unemployment has risen and small-business owners like Moon Seung are complaining. Mr. Moon, founder of an auto parts maker called Dasung in Incheon, an industrial town near Seoul, says his labor costs were up an extra 3 percent last year after the minimum wage rose to 7,530 Korean won, or about $6.70, an hour. That may not sound like much, but it ate into his razor-thin profit margin and prompted him to stop hiring.
Reminds me of the incredulity of a NYC restaurant proprietor back in the 1980s who tried shrinking his lunch menu to fewer and lower-priced selections -- he was surprised when business jumped. Thanks Theoria.

15 posted on 01/10/2019 4:52:27 PM PST by SunkenCiv (and btw -- https://www.gofundme.com/for-rotator-cuff-repair-surgery)
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To: Theoria

People always misunderstand socialism. It works pretty well. The only problem is that, it’s never been done right, anywhere or anytime. Just ask tigers and lions: they share what they catch, and everybody shares equally in the wealth. They are never envious of others’ wealth and income inequality (food in their case) is not an issue.


16 posted on 01/10/2019 4:57:49 PM PST by adorno
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To: Theoria

The only reason this isn’t working in South Korea is that the right people aren’t in charge of the country.

“We are the ones we’ve been waiting for”.
Then candidate Barack Obama.


17 posted on 01/10/2019 5:01:44 PM PST by Balding_Eagle ( The Great Wall of Trump ---- 100% sealing of the border. Coming soon.)
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To: Theoria

If you have any understanding of economics, you know that raising taxes takes money from the consumption side of the GDP equation and thus lowers GDP. Keynesian economists employ a sleight of hand called tne economic multiplier so that a dollar of government spending has greater than a dollar impact in the economy, but in reality tbis doesn’t happen. J M Keynes himself admitted the multiplier could be zero. Cutting taxes which puts money back in the hands of consumers has never failed to.produce a rising GDP


18 posted on 01/10/2019 5:24:09 PM PST by The Great RJ ("Socialists are happy until they run out of other people's money." Margaret Thatcher)
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To: Zhang Fei
Ford could get away with overpaying employees because auto manufacturing is one of the most complex production processes for any product purchased regularly by consumers. The UAW worker on the assembly line was engaged in just the very last step of a long process that involved many different types of raw materials and assembled components.

Ford could pay the assembly line worker enough to buy a new Ford every few years ... but only because hardly anyone else in the production process was getting paid anything close to what the UAW worker was getting paid.

19 posted on 01/10/2019 5:42:45 PM PST by Alberta's Child (In the time of chimpanzees I was a monkey.)
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To: Theoria

let them eat tortured dogs.


20 posted on 01/10/2019 5:51:38 PM PST by MarMema (don't forget to stock up on dogfood)
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