Captain's Hind-Quarters

Today, memeorandum led me to a post by Captain's Quarters about a study of the views of 236 suburban Philadelphia life insurance salesmen. (A bit of a mischaracterization perhaps, but one on a par with much of the Captain's misleading depictions)

The "Nightmare" of the Financial Advisors which is disrupting sleep along Philadelphia's Main Line is supposedly the fear of a Democratic victory in November.  (The Captain is not troubled by the contradiction inherent in the "nightmare", and the sunny optimism of the advisors when asked about the future of the market. Even though all polls seem sure of a Democratic victory,the responders have only rosy predictions about the market place.)

There are lots of studies that indicate that the market does just as well under Democratic administrations as it does under Republican ones, but that is not what I want to look at in this post. (Like ones that look at the period of 1871 to 1998, or those comparing various metrics up to 2004)

It's not the validity of the study which the Captain cites that interests me so much as whether the Captain has any understanding of the study at all. He writes:

They're less concerned about recession than dealing with the economic policies of a new Clinton administration. They fear that a big increase in taxes will erode equity investments, especially given the proclivity of Democrats to target equity funds for new taxes to pay for their increased spending. Eighty-one percent feel that Democrats will raise capital gains taxes, income taxes, and dividends.

Is it just a typo that makes him fear that Democrats might raise dividends? I'd give him the benefit of the doubt, except that he also talks of "the proclivity of Democrats to target equity funds."  Where does this come from? Is he really referring to the fact that some Democrats, and guys like the radical Warren Buffet, do take aim at owners of  Hedge Funds? Funds which are not at all the same as equity funds?

Or is the Captain, once again, talking out of his butt? I mean, his analysis is pure crap.

He is the reasonable Republican.

 

Comments

[Rick]

McCain is the next President. I mentioned that a long, long time ago.

[bbbustard]

I think you might be right, and I also think we could do a lot worse.