The New York Times has a good article about cities going to extremes due to budget problems and scrapping entire services (such as buses) and cutting the school calendar. These types of stories are common these days. The good part of this article shows how the public savings were forcing individuals to pay higher private expenses. In the article, it is mostly less affluent people who are hurt. However, it does not take long to figure out that this higher cost should also affect wealthier groups.
There is a lot of talk about how consumers need to start spending to revive the economy, and that the root to this is raising consumer confidence. However, if services that people depend on are being cut, or are under threat of being cut, and the alternatives are potentially expensive, why would people choose to spend current income instead of saving it for unknown expenses. This is a big issue and a key part of consumer uncertainty.
You wonder how many people would be willing to pay higher taxes to get their services back.
No comments:
Post a Comment