Tariffs

If you’re reading this the day it’s published it means this is the due date for extensions for partnerships and corporations. If you work in a tax office and things are quiet you might want to consider another job. (This is an inside joke directed at a former employee who struck out on her own. If you need bookkeeping in Vegas I know a qualified person to handle that. Seriously.)

I thought today would be the perfect day for me to announce my candidacy for president with a few tax policies I’ll sign into law via executive order if elected. Some of you might be darn excited about this unwelcome event as you think I’m a Democrat. Other might be excited because they think I’m a Republican. The truth is I’m neither. I prefer to waffle between both side of the aisle or as the police call it: walking in a drunken stupor.

Rare is the decade where a capitalist society doesn’t experience an economic slowdown. Call it a soft landing, recession or depression, the results are the same with varying degrees. Economic slowdowns and declines are inevitable under capitalism.

Expansions are born from the depths of the previous economic decline. Inflation tends to be low and unemployment high. Pent up demand is waiting for an influx of goods and services to satiate desires. As businesses whittle down inventory, the recession eases. A glimmer of increased demand begins the cycle all over. Employment increases to meet demand. Eventually wages climb as the labor market tightens.