So France bounces Sarkozy and Greece bounces them all. A morality play for US austerity proponents.

[girl gone mad]

12. Unfortunately, this presumption is not accurate in our present framework.

Unless federal spending is increased to make up for the dollars being removed from the private sector via increased taxation, you will unquestionably see a net decline in economic activity. The rich will not lose because they've rigged the system.

It's all good and well to talk of soaking the rich. Raising taxes on the 1% is not the best way to achieve a more equitable economy right now.

You've got to understand that destroying dollars through tax hikes is net deflationary, not inflationary. I'm not concerned about price hikes. I'm concerned about more job losses and further financialization of our economy.

ETA: The best way to achieve greater financial parity is simply for the federal government to put people to work and pump money into the real economy via fiscal stimulus while reigning in the financial sector. Unless we do the latter, it won't be effective since the cycle of extreme leverage, speculation and asset bubble creation followed by collapse will continue.