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Wealth disparity may be growing, but I think folks disagree about the source. Some point to tax havens which allow the rich to accumulate wealth without a bit b

by pvnick 11y ago

Wealth disparity may be growing, but I think folks disagree about the source. Some point to tax havens which allow the rich to accumulate wealth without a bit being shaved off and redistributed. They say we need to increase taxes and disallow tax havens to limit wealth accumulation. I don't think taxes paint the full picture. For the past 7 years or so central banks in the US, Japan, and UK (and recently the European Central Bank) have embarked on aggressive quantitative easing programs, printing and injecting into the economy massive amounts of new cash, propping up banks and stock markets. The first layer that this cash passes through is filled with wealthy folks (i.e. bankers and those with lots of investments). The people at the lower end of the wealth spectrum benefit indirectly through living in an economy which survived and having their investment-backed retirement/pension packages in-tact (for the most part). Thus quantitative easing is fundamentally a regressive stimulus package, with most of the new cash going into the pockets of the most wealthy, and the least wealthy getting table scraps by comparison. Quantitative easing may have spared us a collapsed global economy, but the effects are increasing wealth inequality. I don't know what the best solution is, and in fact I don't think anybody does. Everyone is kinda shooting in the dark here.

godzillabrennus 11y ago
We are living in a consumer economy where an increasing number of jobs are becoming automated. QE is effective in relaxing capital constraints for private industry to thrive but trickle down economics not only doesn't work it certainly doesn't work when you take into account the increasing automation. More than half of Americans live on less than $30k a year. If we want to jump start America we need a minimal viable income. Guaranteed checks to every citizen for them to do what they want. You can argue inflation all you want but without free market economics working for labor we need to tax the rich and siphon that cash back into the hands of the consumer.

by pvnick 11y ago

godzillabrennus 11y ago

We are living in a consumer economy where an increasing number of jobs are becoming automated. QE is effective in relaxing capital constraints for private industry to thrive but trickle down economics not only doesn't work it certainly doesn't work when you take into account the increasing automation. More than half of Americans live on less than $30k a year. If we want to jump start America we need a minimal viable income. Guaranteed checks to every citizen for them to do what they want. You can argue inflation all you want but without free market economics working for labor we need to tax the rich and siphon that cash back into the hands of the consumer.