Word: painlessness
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...morning after, and the dream of painless prosperity has been punctured. But what a wild binge it was! Speculative fortunes built on junk bonds and stock manipulations helped paper over the cracks in an economy beset by sluggish investment and productivity. Some of the best minds of a generation marched off to make millions as market mavens, embracing the greed- and-glory smugness that suffused both Wall Street and Washington. An economy that was once based on manufacturing might and inventive genius began pursuing wealth through mergers and takeovers and the creation of new "financial instruments." Fortunes were conjured...
...process is called a "correction," which makes it sound like a painless, orderly affair. But last week's bloodbath on Wall Street was more aptly dubbed an "October massacre." Turmoil and outright fear shook the financial markets as stampeding hordes of investors got caught up in a mood that had been almost absent during the go-go 1980s: bearishness. Over the course of less than two months, in the worst setback since the bull market began five years ago, the value of U.S. stocks has plunged by nearly half a trillion dollars...
...inflation quiescent and unemployment dropping below 6%, pressing economic problems like the deficit and the trade imbalance remain abstract to most voters. Chastened by the experience of Walter Mondale, most Democrats (save for Swim-Against-the-Tide Bruce Babbitt) are reluctant to propose higher taxes. An example of the painless-dentistry approach to the budget is Dukakis' suspect claim that up to $110 billion can be raised by stronger enforcement of existing tax laws...
...Florida Governor Bob Martinez thought he had discovered that politician's dream, a painless tax increase. Last April 23 he signed a law that extended the reach of the state's 5% sales tax to cover everything from legal services to pest control to credit collection. The new levies were intended to raise about $700 million a year, including some $100 million from a tax on advertisers, both in state and out. But while the Governor's constituents have greeted the measures with passive acceptance, Martinez has run into a wave of prickly Madison Avenue opposition that has turned...
...seemed like a good idea at the time. Looking for a relatively painless way to raise funds, Florida Governor Bob Martinez decided to play some creative games with the state's 5% sales tax. Over the voluble protests of many businessmen and lobbyists, he and the Florida legislature expanded the reach of the levy to include many services. Among them: advertising, warehousing and numerous legal, accounting and real estate fees. Last week some fiscal results were in on Martinez's gambit, and they were not good. NBC television announced it was canceling its May 1988 affiliates' convention, scheduled to take...