Re:Farewell potholes? UK team invents self-healing road surface
by vasco on Saturday February 08, 2025 @03:34AM
(#42981462)
Nothing in any country funds things directly. It's just a ploy to get people to accept new taxes. Every tax is whatever % it is of the global tax revenue and that's it, and if you know what a tax dollar is used for you can look at the overall budget of expenses.
Re:Farewell potholes? UK team invents self-healing road surface
by hgomersall on Saturday February 08, 2025 @04:51AM
(#42981828)
Taxes don't pay for things at all in a monetarily sovereign country. The spending happens from new money creation. The tax (among other things) is about resource liberation to prevent inflationary pressure.
Re:Farewell potholes? UK team invents self-healing road surface
by vasco on Saturday February 08, 2025 @08:45AM
(#42982914)
I realize that and agree with this modern view on monetary policy but you cannot say they are totally divorced concepts because deficits do get accounted for based on difference between money raised with taxes and money spent.
Re:Farewell potholes? UK team invents self-healing road surface
by hgomersall on Saturday February 08, 2025 @12:28PM
(#42984488)
It's important framing as it counters the prevalent view that the government can only spend once they have scraped together sufficient buckaroos into the necessary account, either through tax income or borrowing. From what you say, you get it, but most people do not. It's also important because it recognises that spending must preceed tax as a matter of causality. By necessity the consolidated government's cash accounts must be negative.
Local councils who are responsible for fixing the roads have been underfunded for years and is normally the area that gets squeezed the most. The British weather doesn’t help too with constant rain and freezing winters…