Word: term
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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There is nothing magical or unique about capital gains. A special break for this particular form of investment profit distorts the free market in two ways. First, it prejudices the economy in favor of certain kinds of investment. Those who say we need to encourage entrepreneurs or long-term investors with this break (which actually would reserve few of its benefits for those charmed circles) are saying the Government can outguess the market about which investments will pay off. If a risky or long-term investment makes more sense than keeping money in a savings account, the market will reward...
...avoid paying the tax. That makes the economy less efficient. A tax break for capital gains would reduce this so-called lock-in effect. (Although, please note, this is exactly the opposite of one argument usually heard for a capital-gains break -- that we need to encourage long-term investment.) What would reduce the lock-in effect even more, however -- without adding to the favorable treatment capital gains already enjoy -- would be to tax capital gains at death. People would then know that their gains could not escape tax forever...
When it comes to productive tools, we should buy the best, regardless of origin, because it's in our long-term self-interest to do so. The best tools | make for the most competitive products. But when it comes to trinkets, we should think twice. Of course, with a lot of today's trinkets -- VCRs and camcorders, to name just two -- there's no way to buy American. The only choice is whether to buy at all, or whether, perhaps, to invest that money instead...
...another, and at whatever cost, the earthquake damage will be repaired. The bigger question is whether the Bay Area's prosperity will be affected over the long term. Though the region's economy is still growing, at least since 1983 it has fallen behind that of the Los Angeles area, and the Bay Area has lost relative importance as a financial, insurance and manufacturing center. It is too early to tell whether the earthquake will affect that trend, especially since the Los Angeles area is equally, if not more, vulnerable to the fearsome...
...Include Poland in the Brady Plan, which provides for the long-term restructuring of foreign loans...