Editors at Investor’s Business Daily explore the impact of U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez‘s policy pronouncements.
During an interview on “60 Minutes,” Anderson Cooper put this question to Ocasio-Cortez: “When people hear the word socialism, they think Soviet Union, Cuba, Venezuela. Is that what you have in mind?”
Her response: “Of course not. What we have in mind — and what of my — and my policies most closely resemble what we see in the U.K., in Norway, in Finland, in Sweden.”
If that were true, then Ocasio-Cortez would have to abandon almost her entire economic agenda and embrace free-market economic policies. Because that’s what those countries have been doing. …
… [T]wo of the countries she cites as role models have partially privatized their social security programs to save taxpayer money and provide better retirements for their citizens.
Sweden partially privatized its social security program in the mid-1990s. Britain began partially privatizing its public pension program in the late 1950s. In both countries, workers can invest a portion of their payroll taxes in individual, private accounts. …
… She is apparently unaware that neither Sweden nor Norway have any minimum wage laws at all. Or that Finland’s is 83% lower than the current U.S. minimum. The UK’s minimum wage is higher than the U.S., but nowhere near the $15 minimum she and other leftist Democrats are pushing. …
… Ocasio-Cortez also wants to hike the federal corporate tax rate from 21% to 28%. But wait a minute. The corporate income tax rate in the UK is only 19%. In Finland, it’s 20%. The rate is 22% in Sweden and 23% in Norway.
When you count state corporate income taxes, the average tax on corporate profits in the U.S. is currently 25.7%, according to the Tax Foundation. So instead of calling for a hike, Ocasio-Cortez should be calling for further cuts in the corporate tax rate to bring them in line with her “socialist” role models.
