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This is only true for the super rich. See Norway or Finland where the taxes are public. They have lower crime rates than the US. It seems that the publication h
by fxj 8y ago
This is only true for the super rich. See Norway or Finland where the taxes are public. They have lower crime rates than the US. It seems that the publication has the opposite effects by reducing inequality.
- AJ007 8y agohttps://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/10/world/europe/norway-kidnapping-monero.amp.html https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/10/world/europe/norway-kidna...
- fxj 8y agoThat is one incident. Do you have numbers for the US and Norway per capita?
- hn_throwaway_99 8y agoI think that's a huge stretch. Norway and Finland have tons of other things going on that reduce inequality beyond just publication of taxes.
- fxj 8y agoWhy is it a huge stretch? I didn't say that it is the only one.
- hn_throwaway_99 8y agoI'm saying that publicly releasing all tax returns would do nothing to release inequality unless many of those other factors (mainly high redistributive taxes) were in place, and at least the US has shown 0 appetite for those types of measures.
- fxj 8y agoI fully agree, but at least by having the information what other people earn in the same company gives them a lever in salary negotiations.
- jellicle 8y agoThe US public has great appetite for inequality-reducing measures, as any poll will tell you. The political class does not. But perhaps publicly releasing tax returns would spur enough public disgust when people realize just how little in taxes the ultra-wealthy are paying that the above dynamic could change.
- toasterlovin 8y agoIt’s a huge stretch because you haven’t provided a plausible causal mechanism. All you’ve done is point out correlation and correlation is almost meaningless on its own.
- scotty79 8y agoSo maybe if rich were visible in the US they would have more incentives to make sure there's not so much inequality that poor people would think kidnapping their kid is a good course of action in terms of risk-reward. I live in post-comunist country and I've seen crimes on the street back then and now. I can't tell you how wonderful it is that people you meet on the streets have something of their own, something they would risk loosing by attacking you.
- akimball 8y agoIt is not much comfort to the Norwegian familes extorted, that crime rates are low.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- gehsty 8y agoPublication of tax returns does nothing to reduce inequality. A state which supports people does a lot to reduce inequality.
- nothrabannosir 8y agoTFA claims that it does, because it galvanises people to do something about it. Reduced income inequality is, according to TFA, a second order effect of publishing tax records.
- bko 8y agoThis isn't the only difference between us and these countries