Sunday, January 22, 2012

Modern Robin Hoods

My Sunday opinion section had a commentary piece arguing why we should tax the rich more. It ends with this:
Am I envious, Mr. Romney? You bet I am. But I'm also angry at the stark injustice of it all.
The author is the 'vice president of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance.'

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Olivier Blanchard recently asserted that "perception is reality".

If, for instance, Mitt Romney's federal tax rate is lower than the Warren Buffett 15% benchmark, then the "perceived" case against the well to do will become much stronger.

The ILSR may be in tune with the future direction of this country...a world of equal opportunity for everyone (we solve our education problems by making sure everyone gets a PhD in astrophysics from Harvard) and equal outcomes....everyone gets the same comp....

Michael Meyers said...

"Self-Reliance" SWEET! :)

Anonymous said...

The combination of laughing and crying here is exquisite.

BTW, the prime authors are both French leftists, one directs an institute with the title “Center for Equitable Growth” (basically a title assuming the result of their research), and one has in his wikipedia bio "Piketty was born on May 7, 1971, in Clichy, Paris, to parents who had taken part in the May 1968 riots". Really.

And if you check the literature they are THE authorities on this issue for the left.

A friend sent this analysis of their paper:

"The 83% figure assumes, (a) that people in the top income group set their own income through influencing compensation committees and negotiating deals, and (b) that lower tax rates increase their incentives to do so. Therefore 83% tax rates will help everyone because CEOs and star athletes won't bother to ask for as much money, so there will be more for everyone else."

Just a socialist joke on civilization.

Daniel Milstein said...

That is so true Eric. As an author and business man, I can relate to what you had said. I hope more people discover your blog because you really know what you're talking about. Can't wait to read more from you!

Mercury said...

There seems to be a strong belief out there that the noun “distribution” is actually the past tense of the action verb “to distribute”.

As if there is a fixed amount of wealth in the world which gets "distrubuted" according to how society sets the levers, filters and buckets on the economic gameboard.

Patrick R. Sullivan said...

This is priceless:

------quote------
3. Income inequality is not a result of tax policy.

Nonsense. A painstaking analysis by economists Thomas Piketty, Emmanuel Saez and Stefanie Stantcheva found "a strong correlation....
------endquote-----

Anonymous said...

He actually was saying that he was envious of John Paulson paying zero taxes on $5 Billion in profits, not Mr. Romney.

"Am I envious, Mr. Romney? You bet I am."

Not that it really changes the message.

I'm not saying, just saying.

Leo said...

Yawn. Another post without substance. Strange how as soon as you're out of quantitative finance you feel entitled to an opinion without any need to show us that it is correct.

But I guess your ego is easily satisfied with a few approbative comments from your cronies, so it's not worth your time to do any research and come up with anything original...

Anonymous said...

Time to shrug. Let's see how well the author gets along without the taxes paid by the successful.