3 ms·
> If we have a monopoly problem (as the article's framing conveys), then we should maybe look at a solution to the incentives for excess corporate consolidation
by majormajor 7y ago
> If we have a monopoly problem (as the article's framing conveys), then we should maybe look at a solution to the incentives for excess corporate consolidation and anti-competitive behaviour, rather than getting dragged into the weeds with tired conversations about personal income taxes.
How do you discourage consolidation without increasingly punitive tax levels on concentrated wealth and income (individual and corporate)? There are strong financial incentives for winner-take-all, I don't see non-financial tools being effective at fighting them.
- dctoedt 7y ago> increasingly punitive tax levels After-tax income is not the only incentive that drives people. Entrepreneurs and corporate executives did their thing even when tax rates were significantly higher than today.
- AnthonyMouse 7y ago> How do you discourage consolidation without increasingly punitive tax levels on concentrated wealth and income (individual and corporate)? Income taxes can't do that anyway. If you have a pile of money collecting interest, it gets bigger over time whether you keep 80% of the interest or only 10%. It changes the rate but not the trend. And that's assuming it even does that, rather than having a nominally high marginal rate that nobody pays in practice, as was the case prior to the 1980s. The way you fight consolidation is by facilitating competition. You can't keep a monopoly if anyone with a dominant market position is prohibited by antitrust from vertically integrating and anybody with $100 in their pocket and an hour's notice can join the market and compete with you. The way you get stable monopolies is regulatory capture and a regulatory environment with many overlapping barriers to entry for small businesses.