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> What happens in practice is that when Richie is 18 years old he launches a company with a loan from his parents in the same line of business where they have e

> What happens in practice is that when Richie is 18 years old he launches a company with a loan from his parents in the same line of business where they have expertise and contacts so that 20 years later he's a billionaire in his own right. It's not as simple as you make it sound. In every sane tax system, donations (even loans with lower than usual interest rates) are taxed just like inheritance. Of course, getting a million dollar loan at all makes a huge difference. But it's still no guarantee to build a successful business. The point is to make it a lot harder to bequeath obscene amounts of wealth.

AnthonyMouse 6y ago
> In every sane tax system, donations (even loans with lower than usual interest rates) are taxed just like inheritance. But it's not donations at all. It's, you vouch for this person with a customer who trusts you and correspondingly awards them a billion dollar contract. You take them on as a customer or supplier in a business with 4% margins, so that a 4% difference here and there on what prices you negotiate with them can shift ~100% of your profits to them. You teach them trade secrets that only successful companies in that line of business are privy to. There are a thousand ways to do it that don't show up on any tax form, and trying to exclude some only causes people to invent new ones. The real way to fix it is to make it easier for newcomers to compete with the incumbents so the incumbent companies fail or maintain thin margins and new ones are created at a fast enough rate that it's rare for them to exist at a large scale for generations on end to enable the long-term accumulation of capital.