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A Minimum Tax for the Wealthy

nytimes.com

1–10 of 149 posts

Re: A Minimum Tax for the Wealthy

#2
> Our government’s goal should be to bring in revenues of 18.5 percent of G.D.P. and spend about 21 percent of G.D.P

Makes sense, but only after you've paid off all or the vast majority of your debt, which means for a decade or two you'll need to have the income be significantly higher than spending, and pay off the debt with the difference.

Re: A Minimum Tax for the Wealthy

#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 allocators, because they are decision makers with a vested interest in the outcome. This concept is so rare as to practically not exist in the public sector.

I'm not opposed to higher taxes. I am opposed to throwing money, mine or anyone else's, into a black hole. Convince me that the extra tax dollars will be spent wisely and that society will see a net positive return at some point in the future, and you have my support.

Re: A Minimum Tax for the Wealthy

#4
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?

Re: A Minimum Tax for the Wealthy

#5
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…

That has nothing to do with the article. No matter how inefficient the government is, they still need money. And the article is about who pays how big part of that money.

Re: A Minimum Tax for the Wealthy

#6
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' are terrible at allocating capital. Just compare the ROI from venture capital funds vs the S&P 500 over the last 20 years to get some idea. And no the vast majority of CEO's of a fortune 500 company are not Entrepreneurs for any reasonable definition of the term.

PS: It's important to include failures and opportunity costs when you talk about Entrepreneurs or your basically saying lottery winners are great at allocating capital.

Re: A Minimum Tax for the Wealthy

#7
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?

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

Re: A Minimum Tax for the Wealthy

#8
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?

Wealthy people don't "sit on piles of money". That money is either held in a bank or invested. If it's in a bank, it is able to be loaned out to others looking for access to capital now. If its invested, it's being used as capital in a business (assuming it's and equity investment).

Re: A Minimum Tax for the Wealthy

#9
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…

I'm with you. Until the federal gov can prove it is willing to even attempt a balanced budget, is willing to stop giving handouts (to both the wealthy and the lazy), and proves it will actually invest in something other than bad cars and banks, then there's no reason they should get anything more than they already do.

If you keep feeding a monster, all you get is a bigger monster.

Re: A Minimum Tax for the Wealthy

#10
post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

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.

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