Don't Meme me, Bro!.

Things We (or some of us) Think We Know

The internet, especially social media, feeds us a seemingly unending stream of unending (mis) information masquerading, frequently in “memes,” as fact. Here are several recent examples of the more egregious. 

·       The "Everything is better in Scandinavian nations" meme. This is representative 

 Wow! What a country. But reality is that the average Finnish primary school teacher makes about $37,000. In the US, that figure is $ 45,225, which is even more dramatic a difference when one factors in the 39% higher Finnish cost of living!

       Additionally, and perhaps even more surprising, general practitioners in Finland average about $70,000 per year, which is less than 50% of what a doctor in the US earns.

Are there “real” reasons for Finnish success? Yes, preschool is free until age seven, when Finnish kids start elementary school
 and pre-school teachers are required to have an education degree. Of course, that’s part of the higher cost of living too. What “The Opposite” of what America does, is, isn’t actually defined. 

We see variations on this theme from other Scandinavians        

And yet......? 

Confused yet? Wait until you see the next one!    

       In fact, this one has elements of truth and several huge lies. The neo-communism statement is just false, since it is used to explain the rest. High taxes aren’t communist or capitalist no matter where they exist. Private enterprise is private in Denmark. They simply pay a very high price for living there and being “green.”

       As for the suicide rate, wrong again. There was a period in the 1970s when Denmark had a high suicide rate and oddly enough this was before many of these dreaded “socialist’ programs were in place. In fact, in 2012 and beyond, Denmark’s suicide rate has been 1/3 LOWER  than the US and is dropping while the suicide rate in the United States has been rising. In a final slap in the face of reality, the meme mentions anti-depressant use in Denmark and fails to consider that it is actually 11% of Americans who are on anti-depressants, as opposed to the claimed 11% for Denmark, which in 2016 was actually only 8.5%. In truth, the US, Canada, Iceland and Australia all have higher percentages of the population on anti-depressants than Denmark. Norway, another Democratic-Socialist nation with taxes as high as Denmark, has about half as high a percentage of population on anti-depressants as the USA.

Like Hobbitts, those memes is “Tricksy.”  Huh?  

The “China will pay the cost of tariffs” lie.

U.S. farmers are receiving $16 billion "out of the tariffs that we’ve gotten from China."

— Donald Trump on Friday, July 12th, 2019 in an interview

Or, "We are doing great with farmers now in a lot of ways. One way is we’re giving $16 billion out of all the tariffs we’re collecting," Trump to WTMJ-TV’s Charles Benson in a July 12, 2019, interview in Wisconsin.) "Sixteen billion dollars all comes out of the tariffs that we’ve gotten from China."

Where to start?  A great place would be if Donald Trump read Adam Smith’s 1776 best seller, The Wealth of Nations, usually considered the first real book on economics. He apparently got little from his time at Wharton, a school usually producing MBAs (even “W” a C student, got one from Yale [legacy!]). It is worthy of note and never, ever, mentioned by Trump that he failed to even get into Grad school, never mind achieve any advanced degree.  

Let’s lay aside, for this discussion,  the argument that Trump’s punitive and retaliatory tariffs on China were, and are, ill advised. Countless real economists warned before and said “We told you so.” afterwards, but Trump is incapable of admitting error. Considering just the statement above regarding the $16 billion in farm aid, the following are true. The money, three times as much as Trump whined about for an unnecessary fence, does not in any fashion come from China. Period. The USA simply doesn’t "get” any money from tariffs if the entire process is considered. A tariff is a tax on imported goods. Despite what the President says, it is almost always paid directly by the importer (usually a domestic firm), and never by the exporting country. Thus, if the US imposes a tariff on Chinese televisions, the duty is paid to the US Customs and Border Protection Service at the border by a US broker representing a US importer, say, Costco.

 The Chinese government pays nothing, just as the US government pays no tax to Canada for that nation’s tariffs on imported dairy products. Rather, an importer or supplier for a Canadian supermarket pays the duty on Wisconsin cheese that lands in the grocer’s dairy counter. Note the words “US Importer.”  That is the business entity who brings the “tariffed” goods into the country. Are we to believe that he simply “eats” the cost? 

Apparently, Trump does.

The non-partisan Brookings Institution noted in September, 2018, that Trump has a "troubling lack of understanding about how the levies (tariffs) work." It would appear that he still does.

The International Monetary Fund reported in May of this year that this is, indeed, what happened, saying tariffs imposed on China have "been borne almost entirely by U.S. importers."

Those businesses, of course, (like Costco, Walmart, Sam’s Club, etc.), pass these costs on to consumers. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York estimated in May, 2019 that the round of tariffs imposed then on U.S. imports from China would cost the typical household $831 per year. That’s us folks. That’s our money being channeled to farmers in trouble because of Trump’s economic stupidity. It is worthy of mention that Trump is also taking billions from Dept. Of Defense appropriations to fund the fence he so covets. The total monies distributed to farmers impacted by these tariffs is now right at $27 billion! Folks it ain’t China’s money, it’s ours!

·       Numerous Misconceptions (aka Lies) re: Social Security and who did what and who’s to blame?  Here’s a popular one to start”

Of course, it’s fairly simple to figure the political persuasion of this Meme’s originator. Do you think you know the answers to these questions?

From the top

·       There has never been any change in the way the Social Security program is financed or the way that Social Security payroll taxes are used by the federal government. The Social Security Trust Fund was created in 1939 as part of the Amendments enacted in that year. From its inception, the Trust Fund has always worked the same way. The Social Security Trust Fund has never been "put into the general fund of the government."

·       There was never any provision of law making the Social Security taxes paid by employees deductible for income tax purposes. In fact, the 1935 law expressly forbid this idea, in Section 803 of Title VIII.

·       The taxation of Social Security began in 1984 following passage of a set of Amendments in 1983, which were signed into law by President Reagan in April 1983. These amendments passed the Congress in 1983 on an overwhelmingly bi-partisan vote. The commission which recommended this action was appointed by President Reagan and praised by him at the bill signing ceremony.

·       Neither immigrants nor anyone else is able to collect Social Security benefits without someone paying Social Security payroll taxes into the system.   

Which brings  us to the last question:

·       In fact, no Democrats, or any other legislators for that matter, voted for or against the 2.8 percent cost of living allowance (COLA) increase that Social Security recipients will see beginning in 2019. I fact no one from any persuasion had a chance to vote either way! Since 1975, COLA increases have kicked in automatically and are based on changes in the consumer price index, a figure calculated by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

That’s enough for today. Stamping out ignorance one day at a time.