Government 'investment' not the same

     To the editor:
      This letter is in response to Tom Morris' letter of April 30 asking the difference to the economy between money spent by consumers and money spent in taxes.
      Mr. Morris correctly states that in both cases the money circulates through the economy. However, all spending is not equal due to a principle in economics called the velocity of money. In any economy there is a certain amount of money present at any given time. This is called the money supply. The money is always flowing from one party to the next. You get paid, you buy some groceries, the grocery store puts your money in the bank, the bank makes a loan to a business, etc.
      How fast that money flows in a given unit of time determines the amount of economic activity. For example, if a dollar takes one year to circulate through the economy, it generates one dollar of economic activity in that year. If that same dollar takes one month to circulate through, it generates $12 of economic activity in a year.
      Certain types of activities produce higher money velocity than others. An investment of $10 million for a new factory that will create 300 jobs will produce much more economic activity than paying $10 million to have rocks painted white.
      In the case of the factory, the construction and equipment suppliers pay for their materials, pay their employees, the employees purchase goods and services in the economy, and the factory produces goods and has created jobs that created economic activity into perpetuity.
      In the case of the rocks, there is one transfer payment to the painters, who then spend their pay in the economy.
      Saying that there is no difference is like looking at two cars and saying they are equal because they both have an engine. However, one is a Ferrari V-12 and the other is a four-cylinder Volkswagen. If you still don't know the difference, ask the average Russian how he likes an economy that performs like a Volkswagen.
     ROSS E. WILLIAMS
     President
     Service Station Management, Inc.
     Henderson
     
     -- To the editor:
      Here are the 10 Commandments of the liberal Democrats:
      1) People are not capable of taking care of themselves, and must be controlled by the chosen elite (the liberal Democrats).
      2) All money belongs to the federal government.
      3) The success of the United States is because of the federal government.
      4) Individual achievement is only made possible by the federal government.
      5) American citizens are the servants of the federal government.
      6) Religion distracts people from adoring the federal government, so religion should be minimized.
      7) The U.S. Constitution is obsolete and must be changed to define the supremacy of the federal government.
      8) The federal government will ignore the facts, and will make decisions based on feelings and good intentions.
      9) Liberal Democrats will continuously preach fear, uncertainty and doubt.
      10) The federal government must control the upbringing and education of all children to ensure that children believe the 10 Commandments of the liberal Democrats.
     RICHARD J. LISZKA
     Las Vegas