I encountered a news article entitled ‘Obama Tax Plan Would Ask More of Millionaires’ in the September 17th New York Times. The article says a new minimum tax rate for those who make more than 1 million dollars a year will be proposed. The name of new minimum tax is the Buffett Rule and it is aimed at reducing the government deficit.

In Europe, many countries such as Portugal, Italian, Ireland, England, Greece and Spain (PIIGGS) have been suffering from the financial crisis. We have also experienced the aftereffects of financial crisis caused by budget deficits. It goes without saying that the fiscal crisis is dangerous.

So U.S. president Obama has proposed the new tax to combat the crisis. But the Korean govt. still looks on with folded arms. They propose nothing. Many people who are concerned about the deficit have been saying that the government must take measures to avoid getting into a dangerous situation. On the basis of the data, the budget of the national pension plan will be in the red. This means that taxpayers’ money should be use to pay the national pension and the government is operating on a deficit.

In the United States, some people said that the new tax is the result of populism. It may be true, but the Korean government must take some action, even if it is a populist action.

I think this issue is also important to the university students. Many politicians have proposed policies, but these are not always the right policies. Therefore, we should not follow their policy blindly. We need judgment to distinguish what is correct.

by Ryu Seung-bong, Editor-in-Chief

Ryu Seung-bong  nawow100@changwon.ac.kr

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