Alternative Visions - Trump’s Tax Cuts: More than $5 Trillion (Not $1.5T) - 01.12.18

 Dr. Rasmus starts the show with comments on last week’s announcement by WalMart raising its minimum wage and the Bloomberg News story about China considering cutting back buying US Treasury bonds. The rest of the show addresses the Trump Tax Cuts true extent of tax reduction on corporations, businesses, investors and the wealthiest 1% households. Jack debunks the notion that the US budget deficit hit from the tax cuts will equal only $1.46 trillion, the official government estimate, showing it is based on the absurd assumption of a 10 year annual average GDP growth rate of 3% and no recession occurring for another decade (or 19 years from the last). The deficit hit will be at least twice, or $3 trillion. Tax hikes on the middle class are about $2 trillion. So the tax cuts for corporate America et. al. therefore exceed $5 trillion. Rasmus then estimates the $5 trillion from the major provisions of the Act: $1.5t from corporate rate reduction, $1t from accelerated depreciation write-offs, $.5t from elimination of corporate AMT, and between $2-$2.5t for US multinational corporations from repatriation of $2.8t to $4.0t profits in offshore subsidiaries and tax havens and a future offshore tax rate reduction from 35% formerly, to 8%. Rasmus explains the cornerstones of the US global economic empire: the twin deficits (trade-budget), free trade (benefits share with local capitalist elites offshore), the dominance of the US dollar as global trading currency, and US domestic tax policy that ensure trillions of profits keep flowing to investors via dividends, stock buybacks, and capital gains.