07 March 2019

How a "wealth tax" would work



Too many people still don't understand the difference between a wealth tax and an income tax, and don't understand marginal rates.  Show this video to your friends who are in that group.

6 comments:

  1. Here's the problem with that whole idea. Our government doesn't know how to handle money. Billions upon billions of tax dollars are squandered. If we had a wealth tax, you would be taking from those who have proven they know how to handle money and giving it to those who will wonder where it went in the snap of a finger. So the wealth tax will need to be increased because that free college for all is no longer sustainable with the tax money we have accumulated/disappeared. You can not solve the country's problems by raising taxes as demonstrated by history.

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    1. No tax increases are needed! Ad hoc socialism doesn't work. It leads to massive deficits and quite frankly fosters corruption and laziness.

      The sooner the government stops propping up arms manufacturers with handouts the better! Sure, there'll be jobs loses but at least the people laid off will have access to single payer healthcare and affordable education.

      But yeah, we broadly agree.

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  2. I’m skeptical of the federal governments ability to use this money effectively, or that I’d see any benefit from taxing the wealthy like this.

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    1. I'm skeptical of "trickle down" economics where the already mega-rich get even more tax breaks which supposedly frees up their money to invest in the economy and create even more jobs. I'm skeptical not only because I haven't personally seen any benefit, but because history has proven it doesn't work.

      http://www.faireconomy.org/trickle_down_economics_four_reasons

      I'm skeptical because they put their money in off shore tax havens, give themselves even more obscene bonuses, and fail to reinvest that money in the country they profess to so love and cherish every chance they get.

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  3. The greatest period of economic growth our country has ever known was at a time of 70+% marginal tax rates and a fairly confiscatory estate tax.

    Our current tax policy is unsustainable not only because it results in continual $trillion deficits but also because it removes the incentives for the wealthy to take risks: as Picketty (and many others) have shown, low marginal rates allow the wealthy the option of investing ultra-safely while still receiving acceptable after-tax returns. Higher marginal rates force the wealthy to take more risks to achieve the same return after tax. These high risk investments tend to be the crucible for greater long term economic growth in the national economy.

    As for those "who have proven they can handle money," our current crop of american billionaires is about 1/2 inheritance, 1/3 parasites (hedge fund managers and the like) and 1/6 people who have actually created wealth. Overall, this is a very unhealthy population to draw conclusions from! (See Trump, Donald for example, as he manages to be both a legacy AND a parasite.)

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  4. Free money - that sounds great!
    On the other hand, I believe the hyper wealthy are quite capable of defending their wealth.
    Possibilities include moving it to corporations, moving it overseas, moving yourself overseas.....

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