Too Hot for TED: Income Inequality
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Too Hot for TED: Income Inequality
1–10 of 229 posts
Re: Too Hot for TED: Income Inequality
#2It's a good argument, but expressed using political code words (job creators has been co-opted) and without numbers to back it up.
I feel he blew his chance to get the message out. I also feel that most TED watchers already know this argument.
Re: Too Hot for TED: Income Inequality
#3While I wholeheartedly agree with the reasoning presented in the talk, I can see why TED chose not to distribute it. It presents a pretty conventional argument for progressive taxation, without bringing any new facts or insight to the table. Historically, there is no evidence of a significant correlation between top tax rates and economic growth. Whether you believe taxes help or hurt the economy is strictly a matter of faith---conservatives hold one opinion unsupported by the facts, liberals another. Unfortunately this talk doesn't shed any additional light on the matter.
Re: Too Hot for TED: Income Inequality
#4Niall Ferguson talking about how the wealth disparity of the "West" relative to the rest of the world is justified with his typical economic moralism.
http://www.ted.com/talks/niall_ferguson_the_6_killer_apps_of...
Wonderfully, it is part of the "Rethinking Poverty" Theme:
Re: Too Hot for TED: Income Inequality
#5TED: Ideas worth spreading, so long as they don't challenge the power of the 1%.
Re: Too Hot for TED: Income Inequality
#6Niall Ferguson talking about how the wealth disparity of the "West" relative to the rest of the world is justified with his typical economic moralism. http://www.ted.com/talks/niall_ferguson_the_6_killer_apps_of... Wonderfully, it is part of the "Rethinking Poverty" Theme: http://www.ted.com/themes/rethinking_poverty.html
I never get tired of Niall Ferguson.
Re: Too Hot for TED: Income Inequality
#7His point is 100% right, but his argument is inappropriate for wide distribution. He's not sharing the results of a scientific study, he's not sharing a personal growthful experience, he's stating his perspective and inviting others to agree with him.
It's persuasive but that's because I already agree with him. I'd like to see it backed with real data so it could be persuasive to all. Then it would be more of an "idea worth spreading" rather than "a really good idea".
Re: Too Hot for TED: Income Inequality
#8I hate the term "the 1%" it's just a bunch of malarkey. Whether you got your money through savvy investing or hard work, it doesn't matter. What you earn, you should KEEP. I detest handouts, especially when someone tries to give them to me. Each person should get according to their work (or their ability to work. The disabled are the only ones remotely eligible for handouts, IMO).
Now I'll just watch as my karma plummets for speaking my mind on something. Oh well I guess.
Edit: I do think though that TED is wise not to wade into this battle. It is a very politically charged topic, especially right now.
Re: Too Hot for TED: Income Inequality
#9Another rich guy trying to persuade average folk that all our problems would be solved if people like him were taxed more. Never mind that the Buffet-rule (minimum 35%) would net $31 Billion over the next 11 years versus $7 Trillion in estimated deficits. (http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0312/74232.html)
Another reason this idea is so wrong-headed is that there can never be enough superrich Americans to power a great economy. The annual earnings of people like me are hundreds, if not thousands, of times greater than those of the median American, but we don't buy hundreds or thousands of times more stuff. My family owns three cars, not 3,000. I buy a few pairs of pants and a few shirts a year, just like most American men. Like everyone else, we go out to eat with friends and family only occasionally.
I can't buy enough of anything to make up for the fact that millions of unemployed and underemployed Americans can't buy any new clothes or cars or enjoy any meals out.
But you can invest... Your money isn't stuffed under your mattress, is it??
That's why taxing the rich to pay for investments that benefit all is a great deal for both the middle class and the rich.
Are they really investments or are they just political favors that over-cost and under-deliver? (See the Department of Education, TARP, Medicare, war, etc.)
Re: Too Hot for TED: Income Inequality
#10I hate the term "the 1%" it's just a bunch of malarkey. Whether you got your money through savvy investing or hard work, it doesn't matter. What you earn, you should KEEP. I detest handouts, especially when someone tries to give them to me. Each person should get according to their work (or their ability to work. The disabled are the only ones remotely eligible for handouts, IMO). Now I'll just watch as my karma plum…
"Savvy investing or hard work"
So, you are up for some kind of strong inheritance tax to ensure that people have to work hard or invest savvily rather than just inherit money from their family.
'Cos, you know, inherited money is neither gotten "according to their work" or "earned", but rather received purely on the basis of random genetics.