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It is very relevant in that it empties out the middle class, and middle-class consumption has always been the engine driving the modern American economy. Middl

It is very relevant in that it empties out the middle class, and middle-class consumption has always been the engine driving the modern American economy. Middle-class people buy stuff. Poor people don't, because they don't have any money. Rich people don't, because once you've got five houses it's more appealing to stick your extra money in a bank or in investments than it is to buy a sixth one. So when you've got an economy geared around selling consumer products and services, you need a middle class to make that economy go. If you make 5% of that middle class rich and the rest poor, suddenly there's nobody around to buy those products and services anymore. Which in turn means the jobs of the poor people disappear and the investments of the rich people take a nosedive.

kortilla 7y ago
No, it doesn’t empty out the middle class. That assertion is unfounded. The middle class in the US is so large that the wealth of the billionaires spread out amongst it is effectively a drop in the bucket. > If you make 5% of that middle class rich If you’re talking about the top 5%, you’re not just attacking billionaires, you’re hitting all successful small business owners, doctors, lawyers, engineers, etc. That’s an entirely different argument. The middle class has not been emptying at all. It just hasn’t progressed in wealth like the upper. https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/09/06/the-american-middle-class-is-stable-in-size-but-losing-ground-financially-to-upper-income-families/ https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/09/06/the-america...
- FisDugthop 7y ago
  The top 5% is not wealthy enough to be affected by the proposed wealth taxes that people are currently fearing. Even the top 1% is not totally affected. Yes, some of us are in the top 10%, even in the top 5%. No, we are not going to be up against the wall just for having a modicum of success.

kortilla 7y ago

No, it doesn’t empty out the middle class. That assertion is unfounded. The middle class in the US is so large that the wealth of the billionaires spread out amongst it is effectively a drop in the bucket. > If you make 5% of that middle class rich If you’re talking about the top 5%, you’re not just attacking billionaires, you’re hitting all successful small business owners, doctors, lawyers, engineers, etc. That’s an entirely different argument. The middle class has not been emptying at all. It just hasn’t progressed in wealth like the upper. https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/09/06/the-american-middle-class-is-stable-in-size-but-losing-ground-financially-to-upper-income-families/ https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/09/06/the-america...

FisDugthop 7y ago
The top 5% is not wealthy enough to be affected by the proposed wealth taxes that people are currently fearing. Even the top 1% is not totally affected. Yes, some of us are in the top 10%, even in the top 5%. No, we are not going to be up against the wall just for having a modicum of success.