What if your entire worldview was just because of near-zero interest rates? • Hacker News Board

Re: What if your entire worldview was just because of near-zero interest rates?

#391

Post by mitthrowaway2 » Wed, Dec 14, 2022, 6:02 PM UTC

neilwilson wrote: post #373

mitthrowaway2 wrote: post #315

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The purpose of jobs isn't to kill time, but to produce things like food, shoes, and soap. It's important that it accomplishes that.

The purpose of jobs is to use up time. A job is a contract for employment - selling hours. If I have to use up my time to get the things I need to live, then I'm going to want to see you doing the same. At root we exchange time with each other. And that time has to be for the service of others. Service to others is the rent we pay for our room here on earth. It's a little more than just producing consumption goods -…

I don't know how to cordially express how much I disagree with this.

The time that a job consumes is a bug, not a feature. The reason a farmer hires a carpenter is to get the barn built, not to feel better about the hours the farmer spent growing the crops that the carpenter eats. If the carpenter could snap their fingers and get the barn built instantaneously, rather than over the course of a few days, they would, and the farmer would still give them food to pay for it.

Re: What if your entire worldview was just because of near-zero interest rates?

#392

Post by t0suj4 » Fri, Dec 16, 2022, 12:07 PM UTC

Krisjohn wrote: post #131

t0suj4 wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From my parents' experience guaranteeing people a job will only result in people idling at job site because there is no work to do instead of people idling at home or possibly studying for a job they want to do. Giving artificial jobs don't differ much from giving people artificially valued money.

Look around when you're outside and take notice of all the maintenance not being performed. Speak with people who have a job and see how many of them would describe their workplace as chronically understaffed. We're a long way away from "people idling at a job site". And even if we weren't, there's a cost to idle tasks that sit around waiting for someone to be available to do them. That said, only a small percentage…

I think the maintenance is not being performed because nobody wants to spend all the time and sweat to fix a bridge and getting rewarded by "Thank you and Goodbye! Oh by the way we couldn't get your budget approved but thank you, again, you helped us out with that thorn in our butt... about your payment.. better luck next time! KTHXBYE!".

Re: What if your entire worldview was just because of near-zero interest rates?

#393

Post by FooBarWidget » Sat, Dec 17, 2022, 6:50 AM UTC

s1artibartfast wrote: post #334

em500 wrote: post #281

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not a capital gains tax. The Netherlands has been taxing net wealth (with some exemptions, most notably for primary residences and vehicles) at around around 1.2%/year. This was implemented as a 30% levy on an assumed 4% investment return on net wealth, regardless of actual or realized returns and regardless of how the wealth was held (stocks, bonds, savings account, bitcoins). I suppose you could say that the t…

You say it is a distinction without a difference, but it seems like it is very relevant to me. For one, the fictional assumed income is based on the type of asset. Second, it seems like the fictitious rate is calculated based on Market conditions and changes over time. Lastly, the entire premise of the tax is to be levied on income. The assumed rate is just a simplification to calculate that. It seems that the legal…

> For one, the fictional assumed income is based on the type of asset

It isn't. Under the current systen they make bo distinction, they just look at total worth per the market value. They treat 200k in savings the same as 200k in stocks.