I think that I mentioned this some time ago but at an OECD meeting I happened to attend (on measuring the Internet economy) I was informed that "voluntary" i.e. non-monetized (think for example Open Source) contributions to the development and operaton of the Internet are not included in GDP figures. Rough calculations I made with some colleagues also attending that event were that historically "voluntary" contributions to the development of the Internet probably represented at least 50% of the overall activity (up to the popularization of the web in about 1996 or so and a not insignificant proportion from then forward (probably much more significant for non-US economies given the dominant role of the US in much of Internet economic activity.
This would suggest that GDP figures are in many instances almost completely out of whack with (some sort of) reality and are deeply flawed as a basis for economic or social policy. M From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Arthur Cordell Sent: Friday, August 17, 2012 3:52 PM To: 'Keith Hudson'; 'RE-DESIGNING WORK, INCOME DISTRIBUTION, , EDUCATION' Subject: Re: [Futurework] Arthur's 5th belief IT creates many external benefits. These are not reflected in GDP. We are wealthier, because of these benefits, than the current accounts show. With a bit tax we can monetize the benefits which will show up in GDP and therefore more clearly reflect the workings of a digital economy. Agreed that it might cramp the ability to spend by consumers as prices rise to reflect the added tax. But the added revenues can be spent by governments on a range of social services or other things that govts choose, or can be used to reduce personal income taxes. How the revenues are spent becomes a political decision. arthur From: Keith Hudson [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Thursday, August 16, 2012 9:33 PM To: RE-DESIGNING WORK, INCOME DISTRIBUTION, , EDUCATION; Arthur Cordell Subject: RE: [Futurework] Arthur's 5th belief At 02:04 17/08/2012, you wrote: A bit tax is an indirect tax, like the gasoline tax, and collecting it doesn't increase govt debt. arthur It doesn't matter that it's an indirect tax, it still adds onto the total tax that a government is able to tax without cramping the wealth producing part of the economy. A bit tax would have the same effect as Gordon Brown's "stealth" taxes (during the last 8 years of the 12-year Labour government). His taxes were well-nigh invisible and apparently of little consequence but they added up to higher government debt at the end of his term than before it. Keith From: [email protected] [ mailto:[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> ] On Behalf Of Keith Hudson Sent: Thursday, August 16, 2012 8:42 PM To: RE-DESIGNING WORK, INCOME DISTRIBUTION, EDUCATION Subject: [Futurework] Arthur's 5th belief At 21:17 15/08/2012, Arthur wrote: 5. That money will be found (from a bit tax, a tobin tax, some other form of turnover indirect tax) to provide a basic income, or to provide spending for some other type of workfare activivities in the third sector. A consensus of the evidence from all existing advanced Western nation-states (particularly from high-welfare Nordic countries) is that total government taxation of around 40/45% of GDP is as much as governments can manage without stumbling into deep debt. Some countries are beyond any possibility of redeeming that debt already (e.g. Japan, Greece, Hungary, Ukraine) and others are now reaching the very edge of possible redemption by means of austerity for many years (e.g. Spain, Portugal, UK, Italy, US). All others are at various stages in between with only a few governments (e.g. Finland, Germany) with a chance of reducing their debts. Even the latter might not be able to afford basic incomes or workfare schemes. Keith Keith Hudson, Saltford, England http://allisstatus.wordpress.com <http://allisstatus.wordpress.com/> Keith Hudson, Saltford, England http://allisstatus.wordpress.com <http://allisstatus.wordpress.com/>
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