351–360 of 367 posts
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> and the top 50% of incomes pay 97.7% of the federal taxes. The bottom 50% of incomes get 2.5% of GDP. Seems proper to me.
Gemini 2.5 Flash thinks they get 13.9%. When I asked for its source, it replied, "The Distribution of Household Income, 2019," by the Congressional Budget Office.
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Gemini 2.5 Flash thinks they get 13.9%. When I asked for its source, it replied, "The Distribution of Household Income, 2019," by the Congressional Budget Office.
They get 2.5% of wealth which is a better estimate of real earnings. The data is for Q3 2024.
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There's been a spike in news articles on the invasion the last couple of weeks. Given that the US appears to not hold on to any alliances or assurances, and ~~incontinent~~ incompetent in chief is on the helm, it seems that they've the perfect opportunity. Europe's busy with Russia, US is busy with itself, so honestly, why not?
Economy is wrecked due to real estate and internal power struggles.
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Explain to me the benefit of attracting the wealthy if they don't pay tax? Come to our country - have our police and courts and soldiers protect you wealth - all for free. Oh - and because you are not paying tax - can I borrow some of that wealth please so I can pay for the stuff I'm providing for you free - I'll give you a healthy return. The rich benefit the most from civilisation - and it costs - you can't just ke…
> Explain to me the benefit of attracting the wealthy if they don't pay tax? You've fallen victim to the false dichotomy. I don't see anyone argue the wealthy shouldn't pay any tax at all. This renders the 2nd paragraph wrong. And then 3rd paragraph wrong too. > you can't just keep running from country to country hollowing it out for ever - eventually there will be nowhere left you can free ride. Depends how much tim…
And sure - while you could move from one country to another like a parasite finding a new host, and cycle around as the original host recovers - the key questions is whether that results in a few people owning more and more as a result, and paying a lower and lower marginal rate until civilisation collapses. ( or the rich decide to take the rains of power instead to keep the society they benefit from so hugely afloat ).
> IMO the education is poor, producing stupid societies electing the governments which are incompetent, corrupt and largely sympathizing with the rich.
I think you underestimate the level to which the rich judicously share their wealth in order to influence people and policy.
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Europe has repeatedly tried to soak the rich, and the results are always the same: the rich move their wealth somewhere else and you end up breaking even or even reducing your tax revenue. France: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/dec/31/france-drops-7... UK: https://obr.uk/box/effect-of-the-additional-rate-of-income-t... Sweden: https://eml.berkeley.edu/~saez/course/seimAEJ17wealth.pdf It's interesting to note…
>Europe has repeatedly tried to soak the rich, and the results are always the same: Yes, the results are always the same: Europe consistently runs lower budget deficits, yet provides greater benefits to their citizens. How awful for them. https://www.cato.org/blog/spending-debt-oecd https://oecdstatistics.blog/2023/02/02/sizing-up-welfare-sta...
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>Europe has repeatedly tried to soak the rich, and the results are always the same: Yes, the results are always the same: Europe consistently runs lower budget deficits, yet provides greater benefits to their citizens. How awful for them. https://www.cato.org/blog/spending-debt-oecd https://oecdstatistics.blog/2023/02/02/sizing-up-welfare-sta...
Europe also consistently hasn't paid for its own defense in eighty years.
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FY2024 federal spend 6.75 trillion. FY2019 was 4.4 trillion. FY2009 was 3.1 trillion. Twice the growth in half the time. Was there so much more that private industry "will not fill" in 2024 vs 2009? How about vs 1999? (1.7 trillion budget). We can't attribute the difference to inflation: the US government's inflation calculator says 1.7 trillion in 1999 is 3.3 trillion today. No one is arguing that the federal govern…
> FY2024 federal spend 6.75 trillion. That's selective apples to oranges Deficit as % of GDP: 2009 - 10%, 2011 - 8.6%, 2012 - 6.7%, 2013 - 4% ... 2019 - 4.6%, 2020 - 15%, 2021 - 12%, 2022 - 5.4%, 2023 - 6%.
The the US dollar safe for now because of the lack of a viable alternative?
Seems like lowering interest rates and raising inflation is the only viable political solution. Sure, it causes issues with people financing our debt. But also, where else would they put their money?
Are there winners and losers here? Or does everyone lose?
How would the world work in an idealized free market without a reserve currency?