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Just Be Rich (2021)

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Re: Just Be Rich (2021)

#181

Post by drpixie »

cpursley wrote: post #122
slwvx wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It looks like the Norwegian wealth tax is for wealth above $170M, which seems pretty aggressive to me. Gabriel Zucman and others made a website [2] in 2020 aimed at the US that included a wealth tax; the lowest bracket it had was for wealth above $1M. I like wealth taxes, and prefer Zucman's model over that of Norway. Progressive income taxes and wealth taxes seem to me like great mechanisms to build a middle class a…

The problem is, ultra-rich people don't pay income taxes because they don't have incomes. And they type of income earners who earn high are often those who spend years studying for no/low pay like doctors, lawyers (yeah, yeah), local small biz owners, etc. The tax experiment I'd like to see is a very progressive sales/VAT tax that exempts certain used goods, essentials (groceries, etc) and hits luxuries, sin tax (tha…

Why not something a little simpler, like a universal sales/VAT/transaction tax offset by a UBI. This simpler model provides fewer opportunities to build or exploit loopholes.

The universal tax would be at a relatively low rate, because it would apply to all transactions. And the UBI compensates everyone for the tax on essentials.

Re: Just Be Rich (2021)

#182

Post by [deleted] »

SpaceManNabs wrote: post #14
rvrs wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oddly? His essays are regularly thinly-veiled excuses to peddle libertarian horse shit I thought Hackers and Painters was decent and even in those essays Paul couldn’t help him self

Totally agree. One of my biggest critiques of entrepreneur and hacker circles is how much they ride PG. dude is rich, not some sort of genius policy maker. The difference between a lot of hackers now and PG isnt talent, it is that someone was making a good website when the internet pretty much was empty lol. Google was still a baby compared to yahoo. edit: since i was pretty negative here, i will sing some praise. Gr…

[deleted]

Re: Just Be Rich (2021)

#183

Post by [deleted] »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #172
throwaway22032 wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Aside from the influence of money on politics almost all of what you have written is complete bollocks. Many of us have been successful from nothing and know friends who have been more so. There is usually a luck element in the size of that success but it is blindingly obvious to someone who was in the crab bucket to see that actions work. It sounds as if you have an emotional issue with the idea that people can chan…

> It sounds as if you have an emotional issue with the idea that people can change their own situation. On the contrary, I am simply data informed. It sounds like you're operating from a mental model that overweighs ability in outcomes. I have provided links below to help you improve and evolve this model. https://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/beautiful-minds/the-... ("The Role of Luck in Life Success Is Far Greate…

[deleted]

Re: Just Be Rich (2021)

#184

Post by WalterBright »

shakow wrote: post #167
WalterBright wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Zillionaire Paul Allen was famous for spending billions in the local economy. He transformed Seattle. He's passed away, and his projects are being sold off and closed down. > the state allows companies to leave If you have to build a wall around your state to keep people from fleeing, you have failed.

> If you have to build a wall around your state to keep people from fleeing It's not really about building a wall around your country to keep people from fleeing, but to prevent gadgets sold by people leveraging arbitrage in an unfair way to get in – or, as we call them for now millenia, tariffs.

Arbitrage is a major reason why free market companies prosper. It's taking advantage of the Law of Comparative Advantage.

For example, consider Bob and Fred. Bob is good at hunting, but stinks at growing blueberries. Fred grows luscious blueberries, but he's likely to blow his own foot off when hunting.

Bob brings home twice the meat he needs, and Fred grows twice the blueberries he needs, and they trade.

They are both better off than if Bob and Fred each only fended for themselves.

BTW, back in the 80s, my (British) partner at Zortech noticed that boxed software in Britain sold for twice as much as the same box in the US. So he would order large quantities of boxes from the US, mark them up, and sell them locally at a nice profit.

Eventually, other businessmen caught on and this no longer worked.

That's arbitrage in action. It benefits consumers.

Re: Just Be Rich (2021)

#185

Post by arrosenberg »

WalterBright wrote: post #174
arrosenberg wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If California taxes people and businesses at insane levels, maybe we shouldn't replicate insane level of taxation everywhere else in U.S., on the off chance that it is not, in fact, an optimal level for generating wealth for the people. This is nonsense. California is the strongest state in the union economically, with one of the highest quality of life and income per capita. We have an affordability crisis that is…

https://www.statsamerica.org/sip/rank_list.aspx?rank_label=p...

California is the 4th highest state in income per capita, which supports my statement. Thanks :)

Re: Just Be Rich (2021)

#186

Post by arrosenberg »

WalterBright wrote: post #169
arrosenberg wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This isn't a feudal country and a single magnate leaving will barely affect the economy. What affected the Rust Belt, and is causing problems nationally, is that ultrawealthy people like Jeff Bezos are manipulating the government to change the laws in ways that allow him more concentration of wealth and power at the expense of the middle class. The lack of a middle class is what causes an economy to go down, and that…

The Rust Belt long predated Amazon. How is Bezos extracting money from the middle class?

I refuse to believe the Rust Belt existed before 1995. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof.

Re: Just Be Rich (2021)

#187

Post by fragmede »

WalterBright wrote: post #179
glitchc wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think any of the wealth inequality experts are arguing for identical wealth. They want to make sure that all tiers of society maintain social mobility and can participate in the American dream. This generally means preventing various stratas from taking unfair advantage of the system, making it more of a level playing field where we can. It benefits society when a genius born in the slums can make something o…

> Extreme inequality leads to crime, social instability and eventually major civil unrest Historical example, please.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Revolution

Re: Just Be Rich (2021)

#189

Post by WalterBright »

skybrian wrote: post #180
WalterBright wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Jeff Bezos famously left the state just before the Washington's new cap gains tax targeted at him was set to go into effect. I know other people with 8 figure fortunes who left, too. I didn't know it was controversial that spending a lot of money in a local economy makes it more prosperous, and when a big spender leaves, the local economy goes down. The Rust Belt is an example of the latter.

And yet, Microsoft and Amazon are still there. Isn’t that what matters? I see people moving to other states as a form of load balancing.

People living and spending their money in the same place is irrelevant to the local economy?

The taxes they pay into the local economy have produced obvious civic booms in places like Redmond and Bellevue.

BTW, the Ferrari dealer moved to be close by the Microsoft campus.

Re: Just Be Rich (2021)

#190

Post by WalterBright »

ryandrake wrote: post #157
dexterdog wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because most will leave as soon as the law is announced before it becomes law in that case.

OK, so make it retroactive on the day the law was passed. Laws are words written on paper, it's not like dark wizardry. These kinds of objections always come up. "But, rich people are oh so clever, and they will exploit loopholes in any law that gets written!" Well, write stronger laws. Don't include exceptions. Lawmakers need to think more than 5 minutes about what kinds of options/resources are available to people,…

> OK, so make it retroactive on the day the law was passed

Ex post facto laws are illegal.

Even so, you might get the taxes once, before they leave. That's not a plan for a future.

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