Things like this (link to reddit.com) http://www.reddit.com/r/politics/comments/epbto/the_math_is_really_pretty_simple_when_the/
appear to be the new “solution.” Is their any literature written specifically on addressing this from an Austrian point of view? I know why its wrong, but its hard for me to summarize it well for all my friends.
PS: Don’t read the comments on that site. It will make you cry and lose faith in humanity.
George Reisman has written extensively on this ‘genius’ idea of ‘soaking the rich’
Do any particular articles / books come to mind? I found a few things on this site which I’ve bookmarked for later, but this is an argument I’d also like to learn more about.
Do they understand that when taxes on high earners (not the rich… high earners) were cut by Kennedy, Reagan, and Bush 43, revenues from the highest earners dramatically increased each time?
Today, income tax revenue from the top 1% is 40% when in 1980, it was just 17%.
Also, when statists talk about the “rich”, replace “rich” with “blacks” or “jews” or something, and it reveals the odiousness of the comment. They are singling out people to harm based on a personal characteristic that makes them lesser humans.
The basic idea is this. Say a man owns a chicken that lays a few eggs every day. That’s all he owns. One day he is hungrier than usual. So he decides to eat the chicken. Is he better or worse off now?
Sure, if you soak the rich, you will get money from them. Once. After you wipe them out, now what?
Now someone may say, “I won’t confiscate their money, I will just confiscate 90% of their yearly profits. That way I get to soak them year after year.” Well, do you think they will bother to work anymore if they have to give away 90% of their profits? They may as well retire, close down their business, FIRE ALL THEIR EMPLOYEES, and relax.
Rich people are rich for a reason. Certainly all the people who have successful businesses are rich. We need them to keep running their businesses. In fact we need them to make more and more profits, so that they will expand their business and HIRE MORE PEOPLE.
After all, who is going to hire you, a poor person?
Thanks for the fantastic link. It’s exactly what I was looking for!
I wonder if these “miraculous periods with high taxes and incomes” is entirely a product of the boom.
“When the uber-rich are heavily taxed, economies prosper and wages for working people steadily rise. When taxes are cut for the rich, working people suffer and economies turn into casinos.”
The statement falsely claims prosperity is due to taxing the rich. Division of labor, improved production methods, risk-taking, investment, none of that matters, according to this falsehood. How wealth was created long ago when there were no rich people is omitted. There are Five Key Reasons to Reject Class-Warfare Tax Policy, assuming the legitimacy of a minimal state.
This hatred of the rich was shown by Barack Obama in the April 2008 Democratic Debate in Philadelphia. Relevant excerpt:
MR. GIBSON: All right. You have however said you would favor an increase in the capital gains tax. As a matter of fact, you said on CNBC, and I quote, “I certainly would not go above what existed under Bill Clinton, which was 28 percent.” It’s now 15 percent. That’s almost a doubling if you went to 28 percent. But actually Bill Clinton in 1997 signed legislation that dropped the capital gains tax to 20 percent.
SENATOR OBAMA: Right.
MR. GIBSON: And George Bush has taken it down to 15 percent.
SENATOR OBAMA: Right.
MR. GIBSON: And in each instance, when the rate dropped, revenues from the tax increased. The government took in more money. And in the 1980s, when the tax was increased to 28 percent, the revenues went down. So why raise it at all, especially given the fact that 100 million people in this country own stock and would be affected?
SENATOR OBAMA: Well, Charlie, what I’ve said is that I would look at raising the capital gains tax for purposes of fairness.
Earning more money is unfair? Is stealing it via taxation fair?
SENATOR OBAMA: And what I want is not oppressive taxation. I want businesses to thrive and I want people to be rewarded for their success. But what I also want to make sure is that our tax system is fair and that we are able to finance health care for Americans who currently don’t have it and that we’re able to invest in our infrastructure and invest in our schools.
In other words, hand over the money with the threat of violence. That is not change or hope I can believe in, but a Yes We Can harm you if you do not obey.
Gero, I saw a video about that excerpt on YouTube once, it’s indeed mind boggling. How one could knowingly destroy economic progress for the sake of “fairness”…