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About The Author I view myself as a renaissance man with a wide range of interests. My background includes the sciences and engineering, writing, teaching, music and all around nice guy (well, depending on who you ask). What if a non-mechanic was able to modify a car so that it would get more mileage, save gas and not pollute the environment? Do you think anyone would listen, more importantly, do you think anyone should listen to a non-wall street insider who developed a tax plan that could pull us out of the economic slump we're currently stuck in? But, enough about me, the following is a brief glimpse of the evolution of the VTax: A "Scientific American" article, from the 1980's discussed the Tobin Tax proposal that, if enacted, would protect the economies of Third World countries from greedy speculators. This was my first exposure to the idea of economic velocity and taxing transactions. I now know why economics is called the dismal science after spending years of research and spending countless hours pouring over books, articles and government statistics at UCLA's economic library. The VTax went through many evolutionary changes. We are traditionally taught that the economy is the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), in reality; the GDP is only five percent of the economy. It was shocking to discover that virtually all federal taxes are collected from this five percent segment. Most shocking of all is eighty percent of the economy is tax-free! Spreading one-half of the federal tax burden over this eighty percent is about a painless as it gets, and relieves the hard working middle class from the present oppressive tax system. Five percent of the economy (you the consumer) pays virtually all the taxes. True tax reform can only be achieved when taxes are distributed over the entire economy. As I say in the book "I hope all of you find peace and happiness in your personal and professional lives." Jonathon J Brown. |