Additional factors driving mergers and acquisitions

That’s not all. Congressman Charles Rangel (D-NY) has proposed a 4% surcharge on incomes exceeding $200,000. There is talk of repealing the wage cap on social security, which is currently at 6.2% but capped at $102,000. In aggregate, rates could ultimately go much higher.

Some have asked whether we at BGSA believe these tax changes are cyclical. While it is true that historically governments tend to alternate between left-leaning and right-leaning policies, historically government expenditures have only gone up.

What about Gross Domestic Product? Didn’t the U.S. economy expand during that timeframe? Yes, but government spending grew faster. As a percentage of GDP, government spending has continued to grow consistently, from 13% of GDP in 1930 to 46% today. With the exception of the World War II period, government spending has continued its steady march upward, both in dollar terms and as a percentage of the total economy. What about the future? Sadly, as the national debt continues to skyrocket, future tax obligations are likely to follow. Furthermore, entitlement spending is ballooning. In sum, we are likely to witness decades of ever-increasing taxes required to fund these generational liabilities.