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Coinbase lays off around 1,100 employees

coindesk.com

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Re: Coinbase lays off around 1,100 employees

#401

Post by Philip-J-Fry »

smsm42 wrote: post #335
Johnny555 wrote: post #281

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does that do something to the power relationships in the world? The fact that you're even asking that is a reason we shouldn't have billionaires -- world power relationships shouldn't be based on the wealth of individual citizens. For example, what did Musk really talk about when he met with the president of Brazil? Did he represent American interests, Amazon Inc's interests, or Elon Musk's interests?

Why not btw? I mean, why is it worse for somebody to have power because he worked and invested for decades and made optimal decisions (and probably some luck) than for somebody to have power because he was born into the right family, knows all the right people in The Machine, has nice hair and is able to conceal his rampaging cocaine habit long enough to make himself too big to fail? I get that "wealth gets power" is…

I don't think anyone who says a billionaire shouldn't have power also believes that someone born into the right family should have power. Ideally those in power should be democratically elected by the people they hold power over and be protected from lobbying attempts by wealthy individuals.

Someone like Elon Musk having political influence is a bad thing because he's raging capitalist that can, will, and does exploit those below him. It's why he has such a love for his Chinese labour force. They have less rights and they will work 16 hour days in his factory making the cars that make him money.

Elon Musk is great as a wealthy private businessman, that's where capitalism firmly belongs. But he has no place in any sort of politics. Countries aren't run like businesses.

Re: Coinbase lays off around 1,100 employees

#402

Post by yellowapple »

sillysaurusx wrote: post #15

I think if employees feel slighted by being fired, they're fooling themselves. The best mindset is that you could be gone tomorrow. It gives you clarity and purpose. It also happens to be the truth. Coinbase was also extremely generous with severance. 12 weeks plus two for every one year at the company, I think. I've had the experience of being let go without notice and without severance. Devs seem a little more griz…

> If you think billionaires should exist at all

That's a big "if". It's pretty dang hard to amass that much wealth without robbing the people around you.

That's indeed pretty generous severance-wise, but that $110,000,000 happens to be enough to keep each and every one of those laid-off employees on the payroll for another year (assuming $100k/year salary).

Re: Coinbase lays off around 1,100 employees

#403

Post by namaria »

krrrh wrote: post #341
jerry1979 wrote: post #278

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not settled on this yet. I'm from the USA, and one thing that concerns me is the geopolitics of billionaires. What happens when USA taxes billionaires out of existence? Russia and China still have billionaires. Does that do something to the power relationships in the world? Is there such a thing as "our" billionaires? The other question I have has to do with feudalism. If we let "our" billionaires exist, does tha…

Billionaires provide value as alternate sources of power to the state. Distributed sources of philanthropy that can target areas neglected by government are one thing (Carnegie’s libraries, Bill Gates work on tropical diseases, Frick’s art collection which he donated to the American people, alternate media and educational projects (Ford foundation’s continued funding of NPR, Soros’ Open Society Foundation, Koch fundi…

>Billionaires provide value as alternate sources of power to the state.

You haven't yet figured out that all institutions and corporations are merely instruments of the monied classes?

Re: Coinbase lays off around 1,100 employees

#404

Post by passivate »

john_yaya wrote: post #93
ipnon wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Billionaires are highly correlated with millionaires, which don't seem to be beyond the pale for critics of wealth inequality. Countries with billionaires rank much higher on quality of life than those without. It hurts to see Bezos and Musk in yachts but the side effect of their wealth is companies like Amazon and Tesla that have a net positive effect on society in terms of products and employment.

“companies like Amazon and Tesla that have a net positive effect on society” Citation needed.

For me, I am convinced that they create jobs, spend money in the economy, help provide valuable goods and services to society, etc. Amazon is famous for not hoarding money but re-investing their profits. Most 401ks invest in index funds that are buoyed by the tech stocks. I don't have ready citations but I believe these to be relatively uncontroversial statements. This whole talk about "net positive" and what is "net" is a pointless discussion that is going nowhere. There is no way to prove anything unless we have an alternative universe without Amazon to study.

What sort of citation will make you happy?

Re: Coinbase lays off around 1,100 employees

#405

Post by chrisseaton »

ryandrake wrote: post #394
Aarostotle wrote: post #321

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We live in the most equal time in human history. The actual standard of living of the average person in most developed countries rivals that of royal families from just a couple of centuries ago. Don't confuse monetary inequality with wealth inequality. Measure by the standard of living, not monetary units. What are the actual differences between the life of the average American worker and Jeff Bezos? It's not that b…

> What are the actual differences between the life of the average American worker and Jeff Bezos? Here are just a few massive differences between the life of the average American worker and Jeff Bezos that have nothing to do with buying luxury goods: 1. Jeff Bezos can get an audience with any Congressperson, any State governor, most countries's heads of state and probably the President of the US, with a telephone cal…

> Jeff Bezos can get an audience with any Congressperson, any State governor, most countries's heads of state and probably the President of the US, with a telephone call

Can he?

Re: Coinbase lays off around 1,100 employees

#406

Post by triyambakam »

sillysaurusx wrote: post #15

I think if employees feel slighted by being fired, they're fooling themselves. The best mindset is that you could be gone tomorrow. It gives you clarity and purpose. It also happens to be the truth. Coinbase was also extremely generous with severance. 12 weeks plus two for every one year at the company, I think. I've had the experience of being let go without notice and without severance. Devs seem a little more griz…

I technically got 3 months of severance when covid started, however after taxes it reduced it to 1 month. That was so depressing.

Re: Coinbase lays off around 1,100 employees

#408

Post by rnxrx »

ipnon wrote: post #84
Johnny555 wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People keep pointing to Armstrong's $110M house like it's some sort of injustice. If you think billionaires should exist at all, then that's one of the least-bad injustices imaginable Ok, I'll admit it, billionaires should not exist at all, there should be a heavy wealth tax that makes it hard to become a billionaire. Will a CEO work less hard if he (and his peers) can only ever gain $100M in net worth before a wealt…

Billionaires are highly correlated with millionaires, which don't seem to be beyond the pale for critics of wealth inequality. Countries with billionaires rank much higher on quality of life than those without. It hurts to see Bezos and Musk in yachts but the side effect of their wealth is companies like Amazon and Tesla that have a net positive effect on society in terms of products and employment.

Do countries with more billionaires inherently rank higher in terms of quality of life, or do billionaires tend to live in places that already have higher quality of life (...particularly for the wealthy)?

Re: Coinbase lays off around 1,100 employees

#409

Post by Johnny555 »

toephu2 wrote: post #359
weakfish wrote: post #264

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The postal service is a marvel of efficiency

Right.. which is why it is running at a net loss? "USPS's operating revenue was $77 billion for the 2021 budget year, an increase of $3.9 billion, or 5.3%. It reported a 2020 net loss of $9.2 billion." https://www.reuters.com/business/us-postal-service-reports-4... .

It's a service. The US Highway system runs at a loss too if you treat it as a business.

I can send a letter anywhere in t he country for 58 cents, UPS or Fedex would charge $10?

Re: Coinbase lays off around 1,100 employees

#410

Post by trgn »

whimsicalism wrote: post #213
adastra22 wrote: post #203

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your issue here is the cost-basis step-up on inheritance, not anything to do with loans.

I was just explaining how tax deference can be tax avoidance.

That's the key one.

The tax code, today, in practice, already frowns very much on tax deference, and tries to inhibit it when possible. The AMT-schedule is purposely designed to pull tax forward, and precisely discourage strategies for tax deference e.g. to counter the abuses that would arise by using stock-based (or cult rocks) compensation to avoid income tax.

Property tax (which is a wealth tax) is another way to siphon off tax on unrealized wealth.

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