You can "print" unlimited amount of money but Earth resources are limited, moreover its usage is overshot (Earth Overshoot Day is 29 July 2019). So the problem is how the money is spent. We should tax money that spent to decrease Overshoot Day.
The Rich Can't Get Richer Forever
21–30 of 189 posts
Re: The Rich Can't Get Richer Forever
#22Earlier quoted context omitted.
That is optimistic. The rich could also just get rid of all the poor people they don’t need. Armed drones even reduce the need for human soldiers to get that done. Anyways, let’s hope for much more peaceful solutions.
Yes, all those laborers the rich don't need: https://www.angryflower.com/348.html
Automation requires capital, not so much labor.
Re: The Rich Can't Get Richer Forever
#23The problem with inheritance taxes, property taxes, etc. is that they erode the meaning of ownership and permanence.
For example, if I as a parent want to save up and give up my immediate gratification from spending that money so my children have a head start or even a luxurious cushion, what’s wrong with that? That’s me spending my utility the way I want.
With property taxes, ownership turns into renting - you never really own anything and even things you already bought can have their ownership eroded into nothing by subsequent policy.
Re: The Rich Can't Get Richer Forever
#24Earlier quoted context omitted.
Eventually, society revolts, and 'the rich' end up owning a place for their head in a basket.
That is optimistic. The rich could also just get rid of all the poor people they don’t need. Armed drones even reduce the need for human soldiers to get that done. Anyways, let’s hope for much more peaceful solutions.
Poor is fractal from this perspective. Like stack ranking, rich people would have to invent poor people in order to save their own hides when their turn comes around.
Re: The Rich Can't Get Richer Forever
#25I see people throwing ideas and most of these ideas rely on politicians and/or govt doing something.
Is there a non govt or non politician dependent way of solving inequality? facebook connected the world not govt or politicians. Google made knowledge and information available to the whole world not a politician or a govt. (I understand there are down sides to these companies products but so is there to govts/politicians)
Even as a thought experiment I would like to see some ideas here to solve inequality in way that just keeps the politician and govt out of it (cos all they do is make the common people foolishly quarrel against each other while they retain power and do what they think is right)
Re: The Rich Can't Get Richer Forever
#26Local inequality may have gone up lately, largely due to loose monetary policy driving up prices for assets which most workers do not (and choose not to) own. Such paper wealth can disappear rapidly during an asset repricing (market crash), as we can see in this graph[1]. Also, this is the result of Keynesianist monetary policy, a far cry away from the persuasions of Milton Friedman.
However, global inequality - especially comparing the economic classes across countries - is way down. For instance, Chinese standard of living is far higher today than in the past, as is the cost of their labor - relative to an American worker. In due time, many a Chinese worker will find themselves uncompetitive due to increased costs - much like the American worker before them.
What would put things back into balance is a massive global re-pricing of labor. This is politically unfavorable and those countries that maintain a reserve currency can put it off for a long time.
[1] https://ourworldindata.org/uploads/2018/07/Top-Incomes.png
Re: The Rich Can't Get Richer Forever
#27The problem with inheritance taxes, property taxes, etc. is that they erode the meaning of ownership and permanence. For example, if I as a parent want to save up and give up my immediate gratification from spending that money so my children have a head start or even a luxurious cushion, what’s wrong with that? That’s me spending my utility the way I want. With property taxes, ownership turns into renting - you never…
> The problem with inheritance taxes, property taxes, etc. is that they erode the meaning of ownership and permanence.
That's just it, we never really own anything anyway.
If the rich are richer than us, it's because we gave our wealth to them, or rather let them take it.
To he who has much, more will be given...
Re: The Rich Can't Get Richer Forever
#28Why is inequality a problem if everyone else’s quality of life is improving? Poverty is lower than ever and most adults in developed countries have a smartphone, an unimaginable luxury that not even the richest could have twenty years ago. Things are good.
In California's Bay Area there are people sleeping under bridges a few steps from houses that cost millions of dollars.
Re: The Rich Can't Get Richer Forever
#29I see people throwing ideas and most of these ideas rely on politicians and/or govt doing something. Is there a non govt or non politician dependent way of solving inequality? facebook connected the world not govt or politicians. Google made knowledge and information available to the whole world not a politician or a govt. (I understand there are down sides to these companies products but so is there to govts/politic…
A political solution that doesn’t involve politicians or the government will just create its own politicians and government to sustain it. Look what happened during the American and French revolutions, or the Russian revolution. It always starts out as “we don’t need that” and in the end you simply recreate that.
Re: The Rich Can't Get Richer Forever
#30The problem with inheritance taxes, property taxes, etc. is that they erode the meaning of ownership and permanence. For example, if I as a parent want to save up and give up my immediate gratification from spending that money so my children have a head start or even a luxurious cushion, what’s wrong with that? That’s me spending my utility the way I want. With property taxes, ownership turns into renting - you never…
Sure thing, but what do we have now?
Most people are only successful because of their inheritance.
If you would be forbidden to give your kids more than a million that would solve that problem pretty well, I guess.