About American Shareholders

AmericanShareholders.org was founded in 2000 to represent the interests of America's shareholder-majority.  In 1980, only 20 percent of adults owned shares of stock or mutual funds.  Today, that number is over 50 percent.  According to Rasmussen Poling, two out of every three voters are shareholders.

On taxes, AmericanShareholders.org believes that shareholder income should be taxed only once at one low, flat rate.  That means no double taxation of corporate capital gains and dividends, no death tax, and no other bites at the apple.  Ideally, all shareholder savings should be deducted when saved and taxed later (as with 401(k) plans), or have their yields exempt from taxation (as with Roth IRAs). 

On regulation, AmericanShareholders.org believes that less regulation and less red tape are necessary for a well-functioning capital market.  The government has some role to play in the areas of contract rights and other limited duties, but in general profit and loss should be the real overseer of our capitalist system.  AmericanShareholders.org firmly believes that government attempts to "help" or "ameliorate" capital markets produce unintended consequences which result in less wealth and freedom.

On government spending, AmericanShareholders.org believes that the more the government spends, the less is available to be re-invested in the private economy.  Too often, this "crowd-out" effect has been made worse by the government demanding higher taxes from shareholders to "pay for" all the spending.  Shareholders are always among the first groups to be targeted when politicians start demanding "sacrifices."

On free trade, AmericanShareholders.org believes that tariffs are a transaction tax governments impose on voluntary economic interactions across borders.  These taxes are a dead-weight cost to international trade, and should be abolished globally.  Free trade over time results in more wealth and better jobs for everyone.

On monetary policy, AmericanShareholders.org believes that the government's role is simply to provide a sufficient amount of liquidity to prevent both inflation and deflation.  The latter items are almost always a result of government central bank over-reaching.  Price stability can be achieved by a disciplined price rule which investors can count on being free of political influence.