Billionaires amass more through inheritance than wealth creation, says UBS

Post by 1-6 » Tue, Dec 05, 2023, 3:21 PM UTC

hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #160

1-6 wrote: post #51

When you have the assurance that you'll get wealth handed down to you, it opens up the possibility to explore things you're good at and take on more risk to amass greater wealth. So really, it's a push and pull situation. Billionaires do indeed know how to get rich but they're from stable backgrounds which permits them to do so. Meanwhile, most of us are stuck at 9-to-5 jobs and worried about making good on our inter…

That's partially true, but I've very much seen the flip side as well. I know a few people that had trust funds, and for them it was absolutely the worst thing that could have been given to them. It basically stunted their growth to the point that they never really escaped the orbit of their parents because their parents always had the "leash" of paying for their lifestyle. Obviously that experience isn't universal -…

Post by EarthAmbassador » Thu, Dec 07, 2023, 11:12 PM UTC

AnthonyMouse wrote: post #209

abeppu wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I also think it's worth calling out that his follow-up, "Capital and Ideology" in its latter sections includes several suggestions for counteracting the trend to increasing inequality. One of these is basically that _every_ person should have a windfall inheritance when they're in their early adulthood, which would give them opportunities to pursue education, try starting a business, or whatever else. And naturally,…

> And naturally, this needs to be funded by taxes on the very wealthy. This is the part where the math never works out. If you look at the richest people, they have something like tens to low hundreds of billions of dollars. Which is less than the amount of money the federal government already spends every week. If you taxed the top 100 billionaires at a rate of 100%, it would fund the existing federal government (an…

Post by EarthAmbassador » Thu, Dec 07, 2023, 11:18 PM UTC

jay_kyburz wrote: post #327

trealira wrote: post #279

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I don't think "class mobility" is a thing that we have to have. I don't think its a problem that needs fixing. Really? If there were zero class mobility, that would mean that no matter how hard someone works, no matter how good their business ideas are, they'll never become more wealthy than their parents were when they were born (at least, compared to someone who sat around doing nothing). And it would mean that n…

When I hear class mobility, I think moving categories, not moving up and down in your own category. I believe strongly that people need to be rewarded for getting out of bed in the morning and doing something productive. I fear the UBI because I think its human nature to choose to do nothing. I think people who claim people will still work on a UBI are kidding themselves. So in context, I believe it's important that…