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Globalization has broken the social contract. You've got countless companies that truly "form" in western countries with high standards of living - the founder
by tw04 6y ago
Globalization has broken the social contract. You've got countless companies that truly "form" in western countries with high standards of living - the founders and leaders all reside there. But then they offshore their profits to keep more for themselves, draining that western economy and creating an unsustainable funnel of money.
The problem isn't taxes, the problem is founders who believe they are above the social contract. They want the benefits of a highly stable society with high taxes and high standards of living, but they don't want to pay their share of keeping that system alive.
- m12k 6y agoThe problem is exactly taxes and tax laws. These founders live in a society where if you structure your company one way, you pay 21% in corporate tax, and if you structure it another way you pay 0%, and both are legal - which one do you think they will choose? We need to make profit shifting illegal, but it currently isn't. We can't count on founders being 'ethical' enough to not play the game optimally, we need to change the rules of the game, so optimal play from them isn't bad for the rest of us.
- nickpp 6y agoIf you think the founders have an unfair advantage, why don’t you go ahead, become one and lead by example? The world needs more founders anyway. They are the ones who created the amazing wealth we are enjoying right now, not the politicians, bureaucrats, regulators or commissioners.
- nodamage 6y agoIn the case of Apple it's not really accurate to say they paid 0%. Instead, their taxes on overseas sales were deferred until they were repatriated into the US. Upon repatriation they paid $38 billion in taxes on $252 billion of income, or a tax rate of 15%.