Watch Megan try to seem rational about taxes.
But optimal tax theory makes that more complicated. Taxes on the wealthy have especially high deadweight loss. Warren Buffet might not stop working if you ratcheted his tax rate up to 60%, but a goodly number of highly paid consultants, lawyers, small business owners and so forth would, and though it's common to portray them as leeches on society, in fact, they make a lot of stuff run a lot more smoothly.I have class soon, so I can't say much right this moment, but do I even need to? "Do not natter about closing the loopholes"?
The wealthy also have more latitude about when and how to take their earnings, because they aren't living paycheck to paycheck. That means that they will spend a lot of time and energy avoiding taxes. Do not natter about closing the loopholes. Above the complexity level of "Me Urgh! You give Urgh all your acorns!" there is no such thing as a loophole free tax. And come to think of it, I bet Urgh didn't get all the acorns, either.
The rates on the highest brackets were much higher in the post-war years, Megan, and not only did we experience massive growth, rich people still went to their jobs. The wealthy folk who go to great lengths to avoid paying their taxes are, in fact, leeches. They're taking value out of society and not putting their share back in.
I'd call this a philosophical difference, but that'd be giving Megan and her ilk too much credit. There's nothing philosophical about greed.
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Warren Buffet might not stop working if you ratcheted his tax rate up to 60%, but a goodly number of highly paid consultants, lawyers, small business owners and so forth would
I used to hear this argument in my econ classes all the time. People will just stop working if taxes are too high. None of my professors were ever able to satisfactorily explain how people would feed themselves after making such a protest gesture, though one tried to argue for a return of the barter economy.
Of course, that was at a pretty shoddy department, so you should probably factor that in somewhere.
Too hot to actually compose & post something, but great googly-moogly!!
First of all, what exactly does Warren Buffet do that qualifies as "work?" Let alone the "highly paid consultants & lawyers?" Surely consultants & lawyers are, if not out & out leeches, a drag on society, & not very "productive," other than producing high fees for themselves?
And most small businesses in this country are essentially operated as cash cows for the owner & his/her family, while screwing their non-union, powerless employees as much as they can.
Hell, should've at least done this @ "As. Info."
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