Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Federal Reserve chair says decline in workers' share of profits 'very troubling'

latimes.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

91–100 of 289 posts

Re: Federal Reserve chair says decline in workers' share of profits 'very troubling'

#91

Post by ATsch »

yardie wrote: post #60
sbov wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The reason is simple: labor has less options. Capital can mostly go where it pleases - if it is taxed too much it might flee the country. But your 160 million workers aren't going to uproot themselves and move to another country because they're too heavily taxed.

Honestly, where would it go? The US Treasury sets the bond price and no one is turning it down even with completely shitty returns (like 1-2%!). If capital flees they can go to an even higher tax country in the EU. They can go to a negative return country like Switzerland. They could go to China, but guess what, it's a one way trip! I bet if lawmakers said capital gains tax is bumped to 20% everyone of them would bit…

Well, they don't need to go anywhere. But their money can go anywhere and vanish in complex shell constructs, as it already does.

Re: Federal Reserve chair says decline in workers' share of profits 'very troubling'

#92

Post by israelisreal »

headcanon wrote: post #87
israelisreal wrote: post #39

My daughter is going into the Air Force, getting her degree at night for nothing in 2.5 years, going back in as an officer, effectively doubling her income all the while not paying for food, lodging, medical/dental. She plans on doing 20. She'll likely marry an Air Force officer, and two people retiring at 39/40 YO will have a combined retirement of just under 100k (today's money), all the while not wasting precious…

I'm happy for your daughter, but I'm not sure what your point is. State service can be a rewarding career path, I don't think that is in debate here.

The post was meant to state that there are paths that do not require going into mounting debt. The military is a fine path for those who are wired that way. It teaches discipline, team work, being a part of something bigger than yourself, and in return you basically live for free, largely pocketing the lion's share of your income. A young person can get a degree at night in the military (free) and if they like the military after their 4-year enlistment, can become commissioned in 3 months and effectively double their income, all the while spending nothing. It's a win-win. To the leftists that hate the military, nothing will convince them, but they sleep well at night because there are people willing to do so.

Re: Federal Reserve chair says decline in workers' share of profits 'very troubling'

#93

Post by JustSomeNobody »

How can this be fixed? If businesses increase salaries they will likely not meet their quarterly which means investors will punish them. Too many quarters like this and the C-Team gets replaced. This is a sad, pathetic treadmill we are on. I strongly feel we need to go back to annual reporting.

Re: Federal Reserve chair says decline in workers' share of profits 'very troubling'

#94

Post by malvosenior »

pmoriarty wrote: post #55
legitster wrote: post #27

To me it is pretty ridiculous how much labor is taxed, and how little capital is taxed. Especially if we are worried about automation and lack of productivity growth, it seems so counter-intuitive that we are completely stuck to a tax system that devalues workers.

It's not counter-intuitive if you look at who makes the laws. The system is one where back-scratching, ass-covering, and kickback-giving is the norm. It's surprising there's any tax on capital at all. A few more rounds of conservatives in power might take care of that. Conservative anti-tax crusader Grover Norquist once said, "I don't want to abolish government. I simply want to reduce it to the size where I can drag…

From Wikipedia:

> Grover Glenn Norquist (born October 19, 1956) is an American political advocate who is founder and president of Americans for Tax Reform, an organization that opposes all tax increases. A Republican,[4] he is the primary promoter of the "Taxpayer Protection Pledge", a pledge signed by lawmakers who agree to oppose increases in marginal income tax rates for individuals and businesses, as well as net reductions or eliminations of deductions and credits without a matching reduced tax rate.

Sounds like he wants to lower individual's income taxes. Letting people keep the money they earn hardly seems anti-labor.

Re: Federal Reserve chair says decline in workers' share of profits 'very troubling'

#95

Post by rellui »

yardie wrote: post #60
sbov wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The reason is simple: labor has less options. Capital can mostly go where it pleases - if it is taxed too much it might flee the country. But your 160 million workers aren't going to uproot themselves and move to another country because they're too heavily taxed.

Honestly, where would it go? The US Treasury sets the bond price and no one is turning it down even with completely shitty returns (like 1-2%!). If capital flees they can go to an even higher tax country in the EU. They can go to a negative return country like Switzerland. They could go to China, but guess what, it's a one way trip! I bet if lawmakers said capital gains tax is bumped to 20% everyone of them would bit…

That's the problem, they wouldn't just moan for 30 minutes. They would spend money to have the tax reduced which I'm assuming is the only reason the tax isn't at 0% because it's not worth it for them to push it below 15%.

Re: Federal Reserve chair says decline in workers' share of profits 'very troubling'

#96

Post by tivert »

sbov wrote: post #49
legitster wrote: post #27

To me it is pretty ridiculous how much labor is taxed, and how little capital is taxed. Especially if we are worried about automation and lack of productivity growth, it seems so counter-intuitive that we are completely stuck to a tax system that devalues workers.

The reason is simple: labor has less options. Capital can mostly go where it pleases - if it is taxed too much it might flee the country. But your 160 million workers aren't going to uproot themselves and move to another country because they're too heavily taxed.

> The reason is simple: labor has less options. Capital can mostly go where it pleases - if it is taxed too much it might flee the country.

That's not a law of nature, just an artifact of the current legal regime. It would definitely be a challenge to update the law to make it harder for capital to hop between jurisdictions to avoid tax, but it's also a challenge to collect individual income tax, so I think it'd be doable if the political will was there.

Re: Federal Reserve chair says decline in workers' share of profits 'very troubling'

#97

Post by slg »

kadenshep wrote: post #69
slg wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't disagree with you, but the obvious counter is that you are mixing causation and correlation. You would have to show that people are not investing because they have no extra money and not that they are choosing to use their money now instead of investing. Realistically it is likely a combination of those two and therefore the comment that started this thread has a point that teaching people about investing can…

>You would have to show that people are not investing because they have no extra money and not that they are choosing to use their money now instead of investing. We know they don't have enough money to invest. Average income + average cost of living We've quite literally known about if for years on a national scale. He doesn't have to show anything.

I am not victim blaming, I am pointing out a way that the "broken system" has failed to educate people about the problem. You also can't just cite the average cost of living as if that it is a standard that has no waste in it. We need to do a better job of framing things like "if you switch to a worse phone plan and save $10 per month to invest, you will probably have something around $30,000 in 30 years while only investing $3,600.".

Re: Federal Reserve chair says decline in workers' share of profits 'very troubling'

#98

Post by wavefunction »

test6554 wrote: post #85
yardie wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honestly, where would it go? The US Treasury sets the bond price and no one is turning it down even with completely shitty returns (like 1-2%!). If capital flees they can go to an even higher tax country in the EU. They can go to a negative return country like Switzerland. They could go to China, but guess what, it's a one way trip! I bet if lawmakers said capital gains tax is bumped to 20% everyone of them would bit…

If it were me, I would consider moving my money to Latin America. Not Mexico of course, due to the recent election, but definitely would research the regions and political climates of our southern neighbors.

Sounds like you should probably start researching now if a 20% capital gains rate makes you think "Latin America" outweighs an additional 5% in taxes.

Re: Federal Reserve chair says decline in workers' share of profits 'very troubling'

#99

Post by sctb »

arblegobblebrbl wrote: post #41
AlimJaffer wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

With what money? Between student debt, stagnant wages, the 'gig' economy, and limited mobility - how is anyone supposed to save a reasonable sum to invest in even when taking into account the joys of compound interest?

Well, for starters, you could stop with all the avocado toast.

Could you please read the guidelines and then take care to comment civilly and substantively here?

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

Re: Federal Reserve chair says decline in workers' share of profits 'very troubling'

#100

Post by bluntfang »

israelisreal wrote: post #76
isostatic wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All paid for by those who don't go into the military–industrial complex, but instead pay enormous taxes to fund it. The kid fixing broken windows does well too. The U.S. accounts for 35% of the world's defence spending, more than twice that of Russia and China together.

You are paying for it by your service, which only 1% of the population serves. I have nothing but respect for the military and those who serve. People need to stand behind the troops or in front of them. People sleep well at night because of the military and their sacrifice.

except for all those people in poverty who don't sleep or eat well.
Post reply on HN