By now the broad media (where suddenly everyone has become a political expert... math - not so much) has said everything there is to say about Paul Ryan and about 4-5x more than necessary. Now it is time for the pundits. First in line, PIMCO's Bill Gross who just tweeted the following...
GROSS: Do bond markets take heart from Ryan selection? Not me. He talks lower deficits but really believes in lower taxes – exact opposite.
— PIMCO (@PIMCO) August 13, 2012 [6]
The flip side to that question is, of course, very simple: why pay any taxes at all?
With US tax revenues at roughly half of total spending, and declining every day, meaning the balance has to be funded by debt issuance, aren't we just splitting hairs here? Just go the whole hog and collect zero taxes. After all based on recent bizarro logic, the resulting global crisis would guarantee demand for "safe haven" US bonds for centuries to come, even as America effectively collects no tax revenue in perpetuity.
Also, what a better way to test trickle down economics and MMT at the same time.
That way everyone will be happy, including Bill, whose bonds in inventory will be monetized by the Fed day after day, as quite soon there will be no-one else left to buy.