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Consumer prices will fall because the hidden payroll taxes contained in the cost of labor will no longer be a component of price. And the poor will take home their entire paycheck without any withholding, so they will have more to spend. Plus, under Linder's bill, the poor get an advance...

Thank you for posting Will's editorial. Linder's Bill will probably never see the light of day, but at least it shows that there are occasionally some people in government and the media who recognize the brilliance of simplicity.

I'm not talking about eliminating taxation. I'm talking about replacing it with a more efficient system. However, you're correct that there's an intrenched buracracy. It's really up to the People. And, I admit that the average person feels a sales tax with every purchase, vs. an income tax...

If a person buys $10 worth of goods wholesale and sells them for $20 from a storefront, and there is no sales tax, then the government has no authority to enter the store and inquire as to what's being sold and for how much. By the time tax season appears, the person has closed the store...

You are wrong about enforcement. I invite you to contact any government taxing authority and ask the head of the auditor division whether sales tax is easier to audit than income tax. As for what people do to get away with not paying taxes, in Oregon, where there is no sales tax, there is a...

(1) So, we agree that business already collects taxes on behalf of the government. (2) Savings is only cherished by those who profit by the spending of others. I merely suggest that a sales tax permits the saver to control his/her money, whereas now, the saver has no personal control at all...

Merchants already serve as unpaid tax collectors for the Federal government visa vis payroll taxes. And, anyone who has ever worked for a government taxing authority will tell you that auditing sales tax is enormously easier than auditing income. So, your enforcement theory doesn't hold with the...

Are you really ES's spouse?

I don't understand your point. How does what you've just said enable a trader to make money from an inherently inefficient/rigged market?

OK, well, assuming that you are on the money, and that this is one evidence of a rigged market, how does a trader take advantage of this inherent unfairness. Do we always short an IPO that is distributed by an intermediary/investment banker? Is the fact that Google was not distributed via an...

I am not in the slightest offended. Only one person on ET (and on only one occasion) has ever successfully managed that notable achievement -- and, there's no need to retell that tale. The market does indeed range widely. The problem is that when you personally enter it, your opponent, who is...

I don't think I've missed the point at all. You asked if trading was gambling. I believe that I have successfully answered the question in the affirmative. Furthermore, if you were certain that trading wasn't gambling, then you wouldn't have asked the question in the first place, because you...

If you bought all the tickets, it wouldn't be gambling...it would be losing! Guaranteed!

OK. 1. If the market is fair, then it must be random. Otherwise, the market is not fair. It is the very randomness of the market that demonstrates its fairness. Instruments are a part of the market, therefore, if they are fairly traded, they must also be random. 2. It is well...

First, let me restate the legal definition of gambling as succinctly as possible. Gambling requires three elements: 1. A prize (what you get if you win). 2. The element of chance (uncertainty in the outcome/the guess). 3. Consideration (money/bet). Instruments neither "trend" nor...

Sorry if I'm boring you, but your question is irrelevant to the thread topic, which was whether or not trading is gambling. Trading exactly meets the legal definition of gambling, if the subject matter of the wager has no inherent underlying value. Options have no inherent underlying value...

In my opinion, whether or not trading = gambling, depends largely upon the potential for loss on the trade. Gambling and trading both rely on a legal contract that basically says, "In exchange for my wager of $X, you will pay me $Y, if I guess correctly on the agreed upon subject of the...

Your comment captures my position, but your postulate re vectors goes one step too far. If trendlines can be extrapolated beyond their endpoints, then the same math that you would use to predict market direction could be used to predict other natural events. But, prediction of future...

Thanks. That's helpful. How long have you been trading? Do you do it for a living?

It matters if you're trying to understand why you're winning or losing. Otherwise, you may as well throw darts at the WSJ.