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By way of being nitpicky: there is no jab at entrepreneurs here. The two named classes of undeserving rich people are financiers and law firm partners and I put

By way of being nitpicky: there is no jab at entrepreneurs here. The two named classes of undeserving rich people are financiers and law firm partners and I put it to you that a less value-creating lot relative to compensation could hardly be found in American society. Law firm partners, really, are a paradigmatic example of surplus value extraction: law firms get paid by people who produce things to play negative-sum games on their behalf. And while I think it's very wrong to say that all profit is an extraction of value from labor, you could hardly find a purer example of value extraction than a law firm associate being paid <$100/hour and billed out at >$300/hour...

grandalf 16y ago
How is being an entrepreneur different from being a financier? Both are speculative. The financier invests dollars in risky schemes, the entrepreneur invests time and energy in them. If the scheme pans out, both get rich.
- just_a_someone 16y ago
  Astute, but I think they are very significantly different: An entrepreneur is risking his own time and energy. Financiers are putting millions of other people's money at risk. Edit: Seriously, markdown doesn't work?
  - grandalf 16y ago
    Well, I'd argue that the financier is an employee of people who are voluntarily risking their capital. Similarly, a startup CEO is the employee of people who are voluntarily risking their capital.
    - abas 16y ago
      Where other realistic options do people have to invest their money but to put it in the hands of a financier? Put it in a bank/retirement account it goes to/through the financiers.
    - dbfclark 16y ago
      The point really is that "risking your capital" is not in and of itself a productive activity -- making stuff is. I work as an investment analyst myself which is good in both the "fun" and "profit" departments, but I'm not about to pretend that I'm creating value for the world in any but the most indirect of ways.
      - grandalf 16y ago
        Well, by matching investors with investments you are helping the market supply capital where it's needed.

grandalf 16y ago

How is being an entrepreneur different from being a financier? Both are speculative. The financier invests dollars in risky schemes, the entrepreneur invests time and energy in them. If the scheme pans out, both get rich.

just_a_someone 16y ago
Astute, but I think they are very significantly different: An entrepreneur is risking his own time and energy. Financiers are putting millions of other people's money at risk. Edit: Seriously, markdown doesn't work?
- grandalf 16y ago
  Well, I'd argue that the financier is an employee of people who are voluntarily risking their capital. Similarly, a startup CEO is the employee of people who are voluntarily risking their capital.
  - abas 16y ago
    Where other realistic options do people have to invest their money but to put it in the hands of a financier? Put it in a bank/retirement account it goes to/through the financiers.
  - dbfclark 16y ago
    The point really is that "risking your capital" is not in and of itself a productive activity -- making stuff is. I work as an investment analyst myself which is good in both the "fun" and "profit" departments, but I'm not about to pretend that I'm creating value for the world in any but the most indirect of ways.
    - grandalf 16y ago
      Well, by matching investors with investments you are helping the market supply capital where it's needed.