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Lesson: 11 | 12| 13 | 14 | 15 | 16| 17 | 18 | 19 | 20

Page: 1 | 2 | 3

Democratic Party, Property Rights, Universal Suffrage

Democracy's Snare and Property Rights

A Coming Democratic Majority?

If, as John B Judis predicts, there will be a strong Democrat majority within the decade, we can expect entrepreneurial activity to be further eroded by increased personal taxes.

If belief in the Common Stock Legend persists, stocks may continue to rise, but the price to pay when the Baby Boomers retire will be all the more painful.

The consequences of a Democratic Majority in the first decades of the 21st century to the capital market may be as follows:

1. Increased Personal Income Taxes: This will impact small entrepreneurs, continuing to reduce the long-term supply of equities.

Victory of Democratic politicians may increase risk for investors in stocks.

2. Lower Corporate Income Taxes: Since corporations are its most efficient tax-collectors, the government will continue long-term policies of lowering corporate taxes.

3. This may produce short-term improvement in profits and encourage buybacks, as occurred during the Great Bubble of the 1990s..

3. Disengagement From Offshore War on Terror: Reluctance to commit troops to battle may result in disengagement overseas and a policy of waiting for terrorists to strike at home.

4. When a major attack occurs, with severe loss of American life, the political consequences may require a violent response that does not involve committing troops — such as the use of a tactical nuclear weapon. In other words, a timid approach to using national power may, in the long run, lead to greater violence.

5. This can only have negative effects on the U.S. capital market.

4. Increased Government Regulation: By making American industry less competitive, larger government will encourage the long-term trend towards deindustrialization and the growth of the trade deficit, until a breaking point is reached.

5. Increased Speculation in Securities: Strong support for the Democratic Party has come from major Wall Street institutional speculators, from the top management of Goldman Sachs to George Soros.

6. This suggests the return of lax market regulation and short-term attitudes of the Clinton years.

Although it is impossible to predict the future, America has reached a tipping point regarding the voting power of those benefiting from tax dollars.

The risks for long-term investors in the U.S. capital market, especially in equities, seem greater than, say, in the 1950s.

The Bush administration made some positive moves (from the point of view of a more healthy equity market) on dividends, immigration, and personal income taxes, but a shift to a Democratic Majority is likely to result in a continuation of the trend towards socialism that began under Franklin Roosevelt and accelerated under Lyndon Johnson.

Before proceeding, check your progress:

Self-Test

The United States Constitutions presumed an electorate that consisted mainly of: Self-employed property owners. Public employees. Factory workers. The uneducated poor.
James Madison, one of America's founding fathers, argued that the primary role of government was to protect the individual's right to: Privacy. Property. Racial equality. Abortion.
The American Civil Liberty Union has defended the right to vote of which of the following classes of U.S. citizens: White middle-class entrepreneurs. Convicted felons. The mentally retarded. Criminal psychotics.

   End of the Great Age : continued >

Lesson: 11 | 12| 13 | 14 | 15 | 16| 17 | 18 | 19 | 20

Page: 1 | 2 | 3

[Return]

'Democracy in America', Paperback, Alexis de Tocqueville The book that Billie Dawn read in 'Born Yesterday'

'The Intellectual Origins of Jeffersonian Democracy', Paperback, Mark E. Yellin, Joyce Appleby, Douglass G. Adair This book is for any serious reader interested in American intellectual history, political thought, and the founding of the republic.

'Who Will Tell The People? The Betrayal of American Democracy', Paperback, William Grieder Democrats and Republicans are cut from the same corrupt cloth.

'Breaking the News: How the Media Undermine American Democracy', Paperback, James Fallows How can there be Freedom of Speech when only a few have privileged access to the megaphone of the mass media?

'Unfounded Loyalty: An In-depth Look at the Love Affair Between Blacks and Democrats', Hardcover, Wayne Perryman A well-documented book about how you can fool some of the people all of the time.

'FDR's Folly: How Roosevelt and His New Deal Prolonged the Great Depression', Hardcover, Jim Powell The rise of Big Government that started the long decline in entrepreneurial spirit was based on a failure of democracy and a big lie.

'Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community', Paperback, Robert D. Putnam In 1880, 85% of eligible Americans voted in presidential elections: by 1996, the percentage had slipped to 48.9%. This best selling sociological classic is essential reading.

'The Revolt of the Elites and The Betrayal of Democracy', Paperback, Christopher Lasch Professional and managerial elites are becoming increasingly disassociated with general society and the nation, which combined with amoral capitalism (i.e., against the Protestant Ethic), leads to the psychology of Enron and the Clinton Era.

'Restoration: Congress, Term Limits, and the Recovery of Deliberative Democracy', Hardcover, George F. Will A Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist argues that term limits are needed to restore Congress's dignity, authority, and capacity to govern in a deliberative democracy.

'Sons of Camelot: The Fate of an American Dynasty', Hardcover, Laurence Leamer The decline of the Kennedys after the assassination of JFK.

'The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life', Hardcover, Richard J. Herrnstein, Charles Murray This book, savagely attacked by the liberal establishment, points out the obvious: smarter people generally are better off than dumber people. The statistics are useful in some areas of Capital Flow Analysis.

'Rights Talk: The Impoverishment of Political Discourse', Paperback, Mary Ann Glendon A Harvard Law School professor argues that modern American political discourse, by emphasizing rights over duties, has lost the role in civic life envisioned by the Founding Fathers.

'An Economic Theory of Democracy', Paperback, Anthony Downs One of the most influential books of political science.

'Democracy: The God That Failed : The Economics and Politics of Monarchy, Democracy, and Natural Order', Paperback, Hans-Hermann Hoppe 'The first Great Book of the 21st century.'

'The Vision of the Anointed: Self-congratulation as a Basis for Social Policy', Paperback, Thomas Sowell How fuzzy, self-serving thinking of the academic and intellectual elites works against the common good.

'Mugged by the State: Outrageous Government Assaults on Ordinary People and Their Property', Hardcover, Randall Fitzgerald How far we have come from James Madison's belief in putting personal and property rights on an equal footing.

'Alexander Hamilton', Hardcover, Ron Chernow One of the greatest founding fathers of the American Republic who feared universal suffrage

'James Madison and the Creation of the American Republic', Paperback, Jack Rakove An excellent history. Madison gave importance to property rights.

'A National Party No More: The Conscience of a Conservative Democrat', Hardcover, Zell Miller A lifelong Democrat turns against his party for being out of the main stream.

'The Emerging Democratic Majority', Paperback, John B. Judis Based on comprehensive demographic, geographic, economic, and political data, the authors predict the dominance of the Democrat Party in the next decade.

'Elbridge Gerry's Salamander : The Electoral Consequences of the Reapportionment Revolution' The manipulation of the electoral process has been around since colonial times. In 1962, the Supreme Court began to get into the game.

'The Bushes: Portrait of a Dynasty', Hardcover, Peter Schweizer, Rochelle Schweizer Four generations of prominent Bushes

'Sizing Up the Senate : Unequal Consequences of Equal Representation', Paperback, Francis E. Lee, Bruce Ian Oppenheimer A Senatorial system devised for the year 1800 is not necessarily valid in the year 2000.

'The Interest Group Connection: Electioneering, Lobbying, and Policy Making in Washington', Paperback, Paul S. Herrnson, Ronald G. Shaiko, Clyde Wilcox Essays on the role of interest groups in the U.S. political system.

'Semisovereign People: A Realist's View of Democracy in America', Paperback, Elmer E. Schattschneider The classic political text: Whomever controls the agenda controls the outcome.

'The Selling of 'Free Trade': NAFTA, Washington, and the Subversion of American Democracy', Hardcover, John R. MacArthur The political machinations behind the North American Free Trade Agreement and the outcome.

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