Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Are super-rich people just better at making money?

pudding.cool

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

261–270 of 587 posts

Re: Are super-rich people just better at making money?

#261

Post by [deleted] »

pixelfarmer wrote: post #234
orcanwe wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You’re assuming an infinite perfectibility of human nature. The problem with government planning is that it’s removed from the best, local information and inherently has broken incentives. By the best, local information I mean that in the market, the people with the need for the good or service, and the people who bear the cost of providing it, are the people with the best information and also the ones making the dec…

Broken incentives? What about Boeing with their 737 MAX? That is a prime example of broken incentives costing human lives. What about stock trading causing famines? Our current way of doing "economy" is massively broken and affects everything.

[deleted]

Re: Are super-rich people just better at making money?

#262

Post by orcanwe »

pixelfarmer wrote: post #234
orcanwe wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You’re assuming an infinite perfectibility of human nature. The problem with government planning is that it’s removed from the best, local information and inherently has broken incentives. By the best, local information I mean that in the market, the people with the need for the good or service, and the people who bear the cost of providing it, are the people with the best information and also the ones making the dec…

Broken incentives? What about Boeing with their 737 MAX? That is a prime example of broken incentives costing human lives. What about stock trading causing famines? Our current way of doing "economy" is massively broken and affects everything.

Who said anything about people being infallible? Amusing to nitpick market failures when planned economies have all led to mass poverty and famine. And market economies have created, in the last 200 years, unparalleled prosperity.

Re: Are super-rich people just better at making money?

#263

Post by robertlagrant »

feet wrote: post #253
robertlagrant wrote: post #248

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think inheritance tax has huge downsides. Past a certain age, if you've done reasonably well, and are thus most likely to make a huge impact for the better in your latter working years, why do that most useful useful work if you can't pass it on?

You can pass it on, but you have to pay taxes on it

We have that today. For some people it's not worth working, and they might as well retire and stop contributing. As we raise the inheritance tax rate, that number will drastically increase, and we get to raid some one-off money in exchange for much less productive work.

Re: Are super-rich people just better at making money?

#264

Post by robertlagrant »

IntrepidWorm wrote: post #256
robertlagrant wrote: post #248

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think inheritance tax has huge downsides. Past a certain age, if you've done reasonably well, and are thus most likely to make a huge impact for the better in your latter working years, why do that most useful useful work if you can't pass it on?

Do the work because it's enjoyable. If it's no longer enjoyable, enjoy your wealth while you have it, and retire.

This is what I mean. It's likely dangerous to disincentivise so many people in their most expert years from working.

Re: Are super-rich people just better at making money?

#265

Post by IntrepidWorm »

robertlagrant wrote: post #264
IntrepidWorm wrote: post #256

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do the work because it's enjoyable. If it's no longer enjoyable, enjoy your wealth while you have it, and retire.

This is what I mean. It's likely dangerous to disincentivise so many people in their most expert years from working.

Perhaps - I would think in many cases, an equilibrium would be reached. Comparatively few people in any industry are wholly irreplaceable. Still, should something like this just pop into law tomorrow, one could expect a large group of experienced specialists at the top of a wide array of fields to decide to retire, to disasterous effect. Given time to settle in though, I'd wager it likely that talent would filter up to replace any losses at an equivalent rate.

Ultimately, people as a whole like to work. They dislike working under poor conditions or doing jobs that don't feel rewarding. A law like this would generate a lot of change, but I just don't see that change being disasterous given sufficient adjustment time.

Re: Are super-rich people just better at making money?

#266

Post by Yizahi »

robertlagrant wrote: post #248
Yizahi wrote: post #215

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For independent financial auditor - none that I can think of. For offshore restrictions - you as a country lose all existing assets already there. A lot of people will move their business to a better countries, providing less restrictions and eventually taxes for them. Probably election loss and further dismantling of all these laws by disgrunted businessmen using their pocket political forces. If will hugely depend…

I think inheritance tax has huge downsides. Past a certain age, if you've done reasonably well, and are thus most likely to make a huge impact for the better in your latter working years, why do that most useful useful work if you can't pass it on?

We can do it incrementally, so that majority op population is not affected much. And if a billionaire is discouraged from earning additional billions and retire - well, that was the point? He stops working (hypothetically) but his place will be immediately replaced by less wealthy successor (or by more wealthy opponent, but that problem need be analyzed separately). His kids won't become billionaires, but will be a mere millionaires, requiring them to contribute if they want to keep up expenses. All in all I think it is possible to set up such inheritance taxes so that majority will have positive result.

Re: Are super-rich people just better at making money?

#267

Post by hestefisk »

klgkjghkjh wrote: post #246
hestefisk wrote: post #235

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why is it hard? Tax capital gains, tax inheritance, tax corporate super profits, tax consumption (vat), tax FX / currency / speculative securities trading (Tobin tax), etc. It’s not hard, our politicians just lack the will and would rather drive a race to the bottom (“tax reforms”).

The rich won't leave? See Europe

I’m pro taxation of wealth.

Re: Are super-rich people just better at making money?

#268

Post by Eddy_Viscosity2 »

bmitc wrote: post #3

To solve all this, it's pretty simple, and the U.S. actually used to do it: heavily tax the super rich. Heavy taxation and then appropriate use of those funds for education, R&D funding, infrastructure, etc. is actual trickle-down economics. And mega corporations should be heavily taxed instead of holding the country economically hostage. They jumpstart their companies off of government funding and R&D and then act a…

Another contributor is dividends getting taxes lower than earned income (like from a job). Why would money you got from sitting on your ass doing nothing be taxed less than money you got by working a job?

Re: Are super-rich people just better at making money?

#269

Post by 543g43g43 »

nobodyandproud wrote: post #251
543g43g43 wrote: post #221

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's the very definition of cherry picking. Try this dataset instead: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_number_of...

According to the third list (Hurun), the UK is keeping pace with the US.

Shame Hurun doesn't publish its source data, or a list of those people.

Re: Are super-rich people just better at making money?

#270

Post by pixelfarmer »

mschuster91 wrote: post #123

This article has some fascinating visualisations and offers a very compelling theory. However, I think the author lacks two very important points that compound the issue of poverty: the "boots theory" - aka a poor person spends 10$ a year over ten years on new but crap shoes while a rich person spends 100$ once every ten years for a new but good shoe - and the fact that money makes money. The latter is the elephant i…

It is also fact that the more money you have, the more options to increase your wealth are actually offered to you. Means there is no "equal footing" to begin with. And when it comes to covering your basic human needs there is an upper limit to that, even if you go the luxury route.
Post reply on HN