tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7539577136486286096.post8050464616103841802..comments2024-03-28T02:46:41.090-05:00Comments on Supply and Demand (in that order): Do Not Read This Until Nov 5Casey B. Mulliganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03317454408275318282noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7539577136486286096.post-13818263466921345022008-10-20T14:20:00.000-05:002008-10-20T14:20:00.000-05:00Surely one can only tell if it's worth the cost if...Surely one can only tell if it's worth the cost if you know what it buys. Otherwise, everyone would shop at the dollar store.<BR/><BR/>Here's Greg Mankiw on presidential power and the stock market:<BR/><BR/>http://gregmankiw.blogspot.com/2008/10/republicans-democrats-and-stock-market.htmlDonald Pretarihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14493535232127084725noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7539577136486286096.post-75375779128157420482008-10-20T12:03:00.000-05:002008-10-20T12:03:00.000-05:00I don't know about all Republican presidents, but ...I don't know about all Republican presidents, but Reagan significantly cut the marginal rate of tax on married couples. Note that the top tax rate isn't the only marginal rate that (likely) matters a lot when there is a marriage tax penalty.<BR/><BR/>By cutting the marginal tax rate on married working women, Reagan thus encouraged, by action not words, women to go to work in droves, which they did indeed do during his presidency.<BR/><BR/>Since one of the best ways to increase one's wages is to get on the job training, and since skills are highly correlated with wages in a capitalist economy, it is not at all unreasonable to suggest that Reagan was arguably the best thing that could have happened to women who wanted to work! Especially educated women, the subgroup most likely to skew the wage averages upward.<BR/><BR/>He is usually portrayed as having been a negative force for women, so this is a huge swing between reality and public opinion.<BR/><BR/>By the way, the other major way to increase one's wages is education. A mindblowingly large amount of women "went back to school" after Reagan got elected, for the precise purpose of (re)joining the workforce, so Reagan gets credit for this too since it suddenly made financial sense for many more married women to work, especially educated women married to high earner men.<BR/><BR/>I suspect other Republican presidents were mostly noise, although if they engaged in tax cutting talk they may well have fooled women into thinking that going to work would be more lucrative than it really turned out to be (who else besides Reagan made any income (rate) tax cuts, let alone significant tax (rate) cuts?<BR/><BR/>By the way, I guess I cheated. I read the post before Election Day (+1). Oops.happyjuggler0https://www.blogger.com/profile/06546894212910327392noreply@blogger.com