[ExI] rugged individualists

[Dan]

No, these are subsidies since they exist because of government policy. Were they voluntary, this might be different, but then the whole schema might be different. For instance, the interest rates for student loans might be higher and I doubt there'd be such a thing as unemployment insurance absent the government. (And this is not a bad thing. There'd likely be less of problem in the first place because the economy would be far more productive. But also people would just save for a rainy day* and the overall cost of living would be much lower, especially without taxes and inflation.)
 
Regards,
 
Dan
 
* The significant periods of mass unemployment are all government caused in my reading.
 
From: spike <spike66 at att.net>
To: 'ExI chat list' <extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org>
Sent: Tuesday, July 12, 2011 4:31 PM
Subject: Re: [ExI] rugged individualists

>... On Behalf Of Damien Broderick
...
==========================
Half of Americans Who Get Govt Aid Say They Don’t KRISTINA CHEW

<Half of Americans who receive government aid in the form of social services believe that they have not 'used a government social program.” 
These include:

53.3 percent of those who’ve received federal student loans
51.7 percent of those who’ve received child and dependent care tax credits
43 percent of those who’ve received unemployment insurance
39.8 of those who’ve received Medicare
28.7 of those who’ve received Social Security Disability
25.4 of those who’ve received food stamps...

Ja, but unemployment insurance doesn't belong on this list.  That is insurance, not government aid.  The federal student loans belong on there only if the graduate fails to repay what she owes.

spike
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.extropy.org/pipermail/extropy-chat/attachments/20110714/dbe044c7/attachment.html>