A Minimum Tax for the Wealthy • Hacker News Board

Re: A Minimum Tax for the Wealthy

#11

Post by tsotha » Mon, Nov 26, 2012, 4:44 AM UTC

ballstothewalls wrote: post #4

nugget wrote: post #3

Government is the least efficient allocator of resources. For every dollar put to use, many more dollars are wasted due to incompetence or fraud. California's Proposition 30 was a wake-up call for me; despite all the political advertisements to the contrary, the many billions raised for "education" went entirely to shore up the teacher's bloated pensions and benefits fund. Entrepreneurs are some of the most efficient…

Government is the least efficient allocator of resources? Says who? How many wealthy individuals are sitting on piles of money right now because they are unsure of the economic climate and therefore are not going to invest? Who better than the government to take it away from them and then invest it into public infrastructure and consequently stimulate the economy?

>How many wealthy individuals are sitting on piles of money right now because they are unsure of the economic climate and therefore are not going to invest?

So what? It's their money.

Re: A Minimum Tax for the Wealthy

#12

Post by tsotha » Mon, Nov 26, 2012, 4:45 AM UTC

Hey Warren, instead of an income tax, don't you think a wealth tax would be better?

Oh, I thought not.

Re: A Minimum Tax for the Wealthy

#13

Post by rpm4321 » Mon, Nov 26, 2012, 4:46 AM UTC

ballstothewalls wrote: post #4

nugget wrote: post #3

Government is the least efficient allocator of resources. For every dollar put to use, many more dollars are wasted due to incompetence or fraud. California's Proposition 30 was a wake-up call for me; despite all the political advertisements to the contrary, the many billions raised for "education" went entirely to shore up the teacher's bloated pensions and benefits fund. Entrepreneurs are some of the most efficient…

Government is the least efficient allocator of resources? Says who? How many wealthy individuals are sitting on piles of money right now because they are unsure of the economic climate and therefore are not going to invest? Who better than the government to take it away from them and then invest it into public infrastructure and consequently stimulate the economy?

Why do you think they are sitting on these piles of money rather than investing it? It's because of the incessant sabre-rattling from the left over the past six years about raising taxes and ramping up even more regulation. It has a chilling effect.

Re: A Minimum Tax for the Wealthy

#14

Post by nhangen » Mon, Nov 26, 2012, 4:47 AM UTC

mitchty wrote: post #10

nhangen wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What gives the government the right to 'take it away from them?'

They have the guns normally. Force tends to be its own right. That said, Californians complaining about government isn't surprising, they have the worst possible state government of the union. Their bias is understandable, but entirely their own doing.

"Potentially, a government is the most dangerous threat to man's rights: it holds a legal monopoly on the use of physical force against legally disarmed victims."

Re: A Minimum Tax for the Wealthy

#15

Post by nugget » Mon, Nov 26, 2012, 4:49 AM UTC

ballstothewalls wrote: post #4

nugget wrote: post #3

Government is the least efficient allocator of resources. For every dollar put to use, many more dollars are wasted due to incompetence or fraud. California's Proposition 30 was a wake-up call for me; despite all the political advertisements to the contrary, the many billions raised for "education" went entirely to shore up the teacher's bloated pensions and benefits fund. Entrepreneurs are some of the most efficient…

Government is the least efficient allocator of resources? Says who? How many wealthy individuals are sitting on piles of money right now because they are unsure of the economic climate and therefore are not going to invest? Who better than the government to take it away from them and then invest it into public infrastructure and consequently stimulate the economy?

It's very difficult to be "sitting on piles of money" in the way you imply unless you've literally perched yourself atop a chair constructed from stacks of US dollar bills.

When a millionaire earns an extra million dollars, he or she puts it somewhere - into stocks, or bonds, or other investments, and sometimes, rarely, keeps it in a bank account for years on end where it sits and earns no interest. With the exception of the bank account, all of these are capital re-investments that stimulate the economy in some way.

Re: A Minimum Tax for the Wealthy

#16

Post by jaggederest » Mon, Nov 26, 2012, 4:49 AM UTC

Hmm, if only such a thing already existed...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_Minimum_Tax

Although when anyone in my lowly tax bracket has to worry about it, it's pretty sad.

Re: A Minimum Tax for the Wealthy

#17

Post by brianchu » Mon, Nov 26, 2012, 4:49 AM UTC

nugget wrote: post #3

Government is the least efficient allocator of resources. For every dollar put to use, many more dollars are wasted due to incompetence or fraud. California's Proposition 30 was a wake-up call for me; despite all the political advertisements to the contrary, the many billions raised for "education" went entirely to shore up the teacher's bloated pensions and benefits fund. Entrepreneurs are some of the most efficient…

Where did you get the idea that "the many billions raised for 'education' went entirely to shore up the teacher's bloated pensions and benefits fund?" (emphasis added)

As far as I'm aware, the majority of the money went to prevent spending cuts in education budgets, and the rest went into the general budget (http://voterguide.sos.ca.gov/propositions/30/analysis.htm).

Hyperbole is not necessary to make your point.

Re: A Minimum Tax for the Wealthy

#18

Post by tsotha » Mon, Nov 26, 2012, 4:50 AM UTC

nugget wrote: post #3

Government is the least efficient allocator of resources. For every dollar put to use, many more dollars are wasted due to incompetence or fraud. California's Proposition 30 was a wake-up call for me; despite all the political advertisements to the contrary, the many billions raised for "education" went entirely to shore up the teacher's bloated pensions and benefits fund. Entrepreneurs are some of the most efficient…

>For every dollar put to use, many more dollars are wasted due to incompetence or fraud. California's Proposition 30 was a wake-up call for me...

You needed a wake-up call after the shenanigans we've seen in Sacramento over the last decade? They won't even spend the extra money. They'll use it as leverage to issue bonds. Tax increases in California have become mere guarantees taxes will be raised yet further at some future date.

Re: A Minimum Tax for the Wealthy

#19

Post by alwaysdoit » Mon, Nov 26, 2012, 4:50 AM UTC

nugget wrote: post #3

Government is the least efficient allocator of resources. For every dollar put to use, many more dollars are wasted due to incompetence or fraud. California's Proposition 30 was a wake-up call for me; despite all the political advertisements to the contrary, the many billions raised for "education" went entirely to shore up the teacher's bloated pensions and benefits fund. Entrepreneurs are some of the most efficient…

>Government is the least efficient allocator of resources.

This is baseless dogma. Government may not always be the most efficient allocator, but it's not always the least efficient either. In cases of positive and negative externalities, the market does not allocate ideally.

We need to move past this dogma of "All government is bad government" so that we can separate the good from the bad. Good rules are helpful. Bad rules are harmful. When we have low expectations of our government, we will unsurprisingly have low outcomes.

Re: A Minimum Tax for the Wealthy

#20

Post by forensic » Mon, Nov 26, 2012, 4:52 AM UTC

nugget wrote: post #3

Government is the least efficient allocator of resources. For every dollar put to use, many more dollars are wasted due to incompetence or fraud. California's Proposition 30 was a wake-up call for me; despite all the political advertisements to the contrary, the many billions raised for "education" went entirely to shore up the teacher's bloated pensions and benefits fund. Entrepreneurs are some of the most efficient…

Entrepreneurs only work for human beings with money. Who works for those without?

It doesn't matter how inefficient government is. Government is the only entity that works for the disadvantaged.

Government is also the only entity capable of addressing collective problems.