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It seems like the whole financial system depends on the time delay between people agreeing to get a certain salary/price and then actually getting paid and spen
by cryptica 7y ago
It seems like the whole financial system depends on the time delay between people agreeing to get a certain salary/price and then actually getting paid and spending it.
By the time they actually get paid, the money is actually worth less than what they had originally agreed to.
It seems that large corporations should be able to make a profit on that delay alone, even if they produce nothing of actual value. I guess it explains why huge powerful corporations like Apple and Amazon always ask for money up-front and then delay payment to suppliers for as long as possible. Seems like a vulnerability in the system.
- maneesh 7y agoFascinating. What brought you to this conclusion?
- ikeboy 7y agoEvery company tries to accelerate revenue and delay expenses. Nothing wrong with that, and if everyone knows about it it's hardly misleading anyone. They all take it into account.
- big_chungus 7y agoOur government does the same thing. "Tax witholding" means that I lose out many months of arbitrage. I could have invested that money, saved it an gotten interest, done any number of things. Tax day is once a year; no one ought to pay before then. It's a nasty trick to hide just how much people are paying from those who can't afford fancy financial advisors.
- esoterica 7y agoWhy do you think you are entitled to not pay a cent before tax day?
- bin0 7y agoIt's my money, why do you think the gov't should get it early? You're coming at this from the wrong perspective.
- esoterica 7y agoEarly compared to what benchmark? You’re treating as axiomatic the idea that your taxes are only “supposed” to be due on tax day, which is not grounded in tax law at all.