Economic turmoil brings new luster to some classic catchall solutions.

2. Get rid of the IRS! Tax consumption only!

On the right, the flat tax is the preferred cure-all for market and efficiency lovers and IRS haters everywhere. The flat tax is a proposal to eliminate the IRS and personal and corporate income taxes in favor of a single national sales tax. During the Republican primaries, this idea constituted 80 percent of Mike Huckabee’s economic platform. It’s meant to reduce tax fraud, reduce government bureaucracy, encourage savings and investment, and increase the competitiveness of U.S. exports. But what does it have to do with the financial crisis?

According to Iowa Rep. Steven King, it’s all about capital flows. Citing fellow Rep. John Linder, King says that there’s $12 trillion of U.S. capital stranded overseas. Since a flat tax would replace capital gains taxes, it could become a good investment to repatriate that capital, and liquidity would return to the financial sector.