On 2012-05-23 14:22 , Stefan Patric wrote:
On Mon, 21 May 2012 14:07:35 -0400, Alan Browne wrote:

On 2012-05-21 13:29 , Stefan Patric wrote:
On Sat, 19 May 2012 15:19:16 +1000, Trevor wrote:

"Stefan Patric" wrote in message
...
You need to brush up on how Property Taxes are calculated. Property
taxes are not the same as Personal Property taxes. Basically, in the
US, the formula is:

((Home's value * Assessment Rate) - Exemption Credit) * Property Tax
Rate = Property Tax

When the Market Value of a home increases, the tax increases. It
can't do otherwise unless the Assessment and Tax rates are LOWERED or
the Exemption INCREASED. All three of which require a time consuming
legislative process to change. And in some states in the US, a vote
by the people in a general election, too. Plus, the amount of change
and the maximum that can be charged are usually limited by law.


OK, over here they just make them up to suit the budget each year.
Seems your system sucks big time, so blame whoever made it law.
Although ours is no better when greedy governments can easily decide
to increase rates by multiples of the inflation rate every year,
whether house prices go up OR down :-(

Seems like your system is a lot worse than mine with bureaucrats
setting variables at will each year with little or no control. At
least with mine, variables and rates can't be changed easily or
quickly, or without legislative, and in some places the people's
approval. However, the flaw in the calculation is how the Home's Value
is determined. One would expect that replacement cost, that is, the
cost of actually building that home "today", is the best, but that
method is costly. It requires actual periodic appraisals. The most
common method, however, and cheapest is comparables or "comps." That
is, your home's "value" is what other homes similar to yours in your
area have sold for that year. This method, as it's not regulated, in a
runaway market results in vastly inflated Home Values, and thus vastly
inflated tax bills even when the other variables do not change. That's
one of the things that busted the housing market in the US.

I'm not familiar with Australia's economy or its banking laws, so I
can't speak on that, but in the US, in hindsight analysis, it was
determined that a piece of legislation championed by then President
Clinton was the single pebble dropped into the sea that became the
tidal wave which devastated the US and, ultimately, the world's
economies. This was reported in newspapers, magazines, TV, etc.,
over and over (with extended commentary) for weeks a few years ago at
the height of the recession here.


"Determined" by who? And what proof did they use to arrive at that
conclusion?

Economists, financiers, financial analysts, think tanks, even
government investigators, etc. Certainly, not your average man on the
street opinions. As far as "proof," as in any financial/business
investigation, they started with the numbers, and followed the money.

Don't believe everything you read in the right wing press! :-)

The "press" here--TV, radio and print--is, by and large, very much left
leaning. Although, they deny it.;-) And even they reported it pretty
much as I stated. Had to or they would have lost credibility.

BS. That was one element (highly supported by Republicans).

Doesn't mean it wasn't true.

Doesn't mean a lot of things didn't contribute. What is inane about
this thread (where it's ended up) is the polarized (and uninformed)
finger pointing - why I posted the Time list below. (In another post,
originally - but the truth is inconvenient).


Time has a good list of "culprits" he

http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/
completelist/0,29569,1877351,00.html

In anything as large and as complex as a nation's (or the world's)
economy can there be ONE simple cause or person to blame for its
failure. However, there can be a catalyst that everything reacts to
setting up that failure. Read the "Bill Clinton" entry in link. In the
last recession (in the US) of the late '70s and early '80s, that catalyst
was the Arab Oil Embargo by the UAE. One little thing, and the dominoes
tumbled.

By your logic the fall of Adam and Eve is the catalyst.

It is collective.

But what is worse is the negligence of Bush (Jr.) & Reps in not stopping
the runaway mortgage morass which was obvious as early as 2003
(Greenspan did not help - his statements were 'enabling' when he should
have used the "irrational exuberance" line again), and in starting a
massive $2 - $3T war _without_ raising taxes (as that was politically
un-viable - Bush Jr's greatest fear was losing a 2nd term and remembered
his father losing his 2nd term as a result of raising taxes).

And referring to the Oil Embargo that you mention - what did US
politicians do with respect to energy policy once things settled down?
Nothing.

Instead the CAFE rules were allowed to stagnate with the result that
technology advances resulted in increasing horsepower (and vehicle size
and weight) rather than reducing consumption for a given horsepower.

In the US Wall Street, big-oil, coal, agriculture and the auto industry
have huge sway over policy to the detriment the greater good.

--
"Civilization is the limitless multiplication of unnecessary necessities."
-Samuel Clemens.