401–410 of 734 posts
I find the idea lovely for the following reason: I am a great believer in the idea of competition, especially between nation states, and in the US, between states. If California were to ever make such a dumb move (I'm 99% sure they wont'), they are going to create tons of opportunities for nearby states as all the rich folks will move elsewhere with their capital . Please, California, keep on taxing the goose with th…
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Not quite - he paid a wage to labor based on the current competition in the labor market and the cost of a worker to provide for his/her necessities. Then he sold the end product of the workers' collective labor for its value, determined by the sum of the value of all the labor that went into producing it. He pocketed the difference between the former and the latter. That's where profit comes from.
In either case, the workers produced more value than they were compensated for.
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Once the infrastructure is in place to assess this kind of tax, it'll be a matter of time before it starts applying to those with >10M wealth, then >1M, etc
Yup. It's called boiling the frog. I am not totally against wealth taxes, however I disagree with the approach. What I do not understand is why not just implement a more aggressive estate tax on people and close the "trust" and "foundation" loopholes for avoiding the estate tax. Let's take Jeff Bezos as an extreme example (who isn't even a California Resident). At least until we figure out immortality, Jeff Bezos wil…
Sorry, but this stance is outright ignorant. What do you mean return to society ? His wealth is Amazon, the company, dozens of warehouses and an incredible logistics chain.
His wealth currently provides a pretty damn good service to society, in the form of being able to get items delivered fairly quickly and contact-less in the time of a pandemic.
Are you proposing we take his Amazon holdings after his death and give every person in the county a fractional share? Or however many shares it comes out to?
That's certainly a possibility, but the realistic outcome of that is that most people try to sell their shares for cash right away, thereby crashing the price, and most shares ending up in institutional investment banks and funds within the first year.
I'm not against a stronger estate tax either, but you have to be real careful when you're trying to divvy up massive amounts of wealth on a short time scale and think of the second order effects.
What does this proposal achieve for the second point??
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Once the infrastructure is in place to assess this kind of tax, it'll be a matter of time before it starts applying to those with >10M wealth, then >1M, etc
Yup. It's called boiling the frog. I am not totally against wealth taxes, however I disagree with the approach. What I do not understand is why not just implement a more aggressive estate tax on people and close the "trust" and "foundation" loopholes for avoiding the estate tax. Let's take Jeff Bezos as an extreme example (who isn't even a California Resident). At least until we figure out immortality, Jeff Bezos wil…
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Profits are just unpaid wages. He bought labor for less than it was worth and pocketed the excess.
Profit is the wage of the investor that assumes risk in his enterprise. No profit, no investment.
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And I'm glad you're privileged enough to be here posting today, boasting of the wealth your workers generate for you :-)
How do you define "privilege"? Isn't it another way of saying "wealth"?
a special right, advantage, or immunity granted or available only to a particular person or group.
Well I guess I'll take the apparently bold stance here that this isn't the end of Silicon Valley or California and yes this is fair and further, good. When people are getting 5-6% returns on investments (minimum), 0.4% is still not even stopping the rich get richer effect. Not to mention that it's almost certain no one here will ever be touched by this tax. If you're going to move where you live or significantly alte…
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So some dude in Montana should pay for cleaning the streets in San Francisco?
States like Montana receive far more in federal tax dollars than states like California. If you think Montanans are going to be subsidized Californians and not the way around, I have a bridge in Montana I've got to sell you.
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Once the infrastructure is in place to assess this kind of tax, it'll be a matter of time before it starts applying to those with >10M wealth, then >1M, etc
Yup. It's called boiling the frog. I am not totally against wealth taxes, however I disagree with the approach. What I do not understand is why not just implement a more aggressive estate tax on people and close the "trust" and "foundation" loopholes for avoiding the estate tax. Let's take Jeff Bezos as an extreme example (who isn't even a California Resident). At least until we figure out immortality, Jeff Bezos wil…
the kind of A type personality who is a wealth creator..by luck or intent..is likely uber A type that will not submit to dictatorship by legislation. if Jack Dorsey was forced to pay more taxes, he'd probably leave CA for Austin too. (twitter was in SF only for the time they have the tax break. right after it elapsed..coinciding with the covid SAH order, Jack was more vocal about going 100% remote..but the plan to move out of SF was always there even before pre-covid).
A type personalities like to follow rules because it makes it easier to compete in the game. because when you have rules for the game, it means everyone who is playing with you also acknowledge the rules of the game. there will be less conflict, more order and they thrive in such environments because it offer sufficient stability to focus on their goals.
they also want to be recognised and feted. some humbly and others crave it openly. even those who dont realise it enjoy it. california's environment will no longer foster what it did before.
have you ever been pickpocketed? have you ever given money to charity? which feels better? we are still pleasure seeking, rationalising apes. we like to say the words but we will still act with our ape instincts.
california should eliminate ALL taxes. and institute a flat consumption tax. and stop their dirty politics of turning their people against each other. inequalities exist for a reason. i have seen beggars in india with one limb and living in a shack with three children boiling pebbles for soup who are happier than millionaires in california.