Correlation/causation is so crucial. Someone needs to do a study on the effect of solar eclipses on economic prosperity (BTW, we had an awesome solar eclipse visible here on the US West Coast today!). I’m willing to bet money there’s some kind of non-random correlation. But so what?
Hanauer begins the speech by drawing an equivalence between geocentrism (a fact about the way the world is) and being opposed to taxing the rich (a position on the way the world ought to be) - a blatant confusion of clearly separate categories. And the rest of the talk is just an unfolding of the confused introduction.
As for how wealthy businessmen can be so confused about why they are wealthy, I think there are three big reasons that account for much of it:
-
They have an interest in being “confused”. For example, no one ever considers the possibility that Buffett actually benefits from increased taxation by a greater degree than he loses. Buffett calling for increased taxation is no different than a King or Lord calling for increased taxation. To paint it as some kind of altruistic act of self-sacrifice is exasperatingly absurd.
-
They got lucky. A lot of people who get wealthy in the market didn’t so much have any greater skill, diligence, knowledge, discipline or anything else than other people so much as they happened to be the right person at the right place at the right time.
-
They’re rent-seekers, not capitalists. Many of the most wealthy “businessmen” work in highly cartelized industries - defense industry, financial industry, law, etc.
This doesn’t explain all of it but I think it explains a great deal of it.
Clayton -