Marginal -- How big is it?

Pratt makes the important point about the "ratchet effect" and the importance of marginal versus large scale changes in response to my comment that marginal reductions in government size will do nothing but lead to increasing size in the future. Histor of government and liberty as presented in two brief books, The Road to Tyranny, by Michael E. Newton, and The Future of Freedom, by Fareed Zakaria, suggest that there is no stopping of government growth and the erosion of liberty. While Zakaria makes this point throughout he ends with some gobbly gook about the road to increased liberty.

Simply look at the policy proposals suggested so far by the debt commission and others. Look at the suggestions by a commissoin of CEOs, leaders, and the Economic Development leaders for the State of Arizona. They are so limited, so marginal, that they will at best slow, temporarily, the growth of the state. Machiavelli said in making policy give the bad news all at once and spread the good news out. We must seriously reduce the role of government, not marginally change it. In Arizona, the corporate tax should be eliminated, the personal tax reduced to a small flat consumption tax, and no tax imposed on income. There should be NO special incentives for businesses to locate in Arizona. If policies are correct, all businesses will have an incentive to locate in Arizona. It is not the government's role to pick and choose which businesses to recruit and bring to the state. Similarly at the Federal level, taxes on corporations should be cut to the lowest level of all OECD nations, the personal income tax eliminated and a flat consumption tax be imposed. Government spending should be reduced by privatizing as much as possible. At the Federal level this means that Social Security and Medicare must begin transitioning to private pension and health programs and away from government programs. At the State level public pensions have to be converted to defined contribution programs and state employees, and departments cut.

Big Ideas, Big Policies, not Marginal changes are necessary to retard the reduction in liberty.