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On the whole lockdown. If we had culled the over 65s in March, the economy could function just fine, hospitals would be mostly empty, and while younger people

On the whole lockdown. If we had culled the over 65s in March, the economy could function just fine, hospitals would be mostly empty, and while younger people would get covid and might even need hospital treatment, it would be a very low level. The IFR for 45-65s is 1 in 300, for 25-45s it's 1 in 3000, and 15-25s 1 in 30,000. But that would be a barbaric approach. The main beneficierays of lockdowns are the over 65s, who as a generation 1) Have the most wealth 2) Have no income The main losers of lockdowns are the younger people who have 1) Very little wealth 2) Years of income to pay The cost of lockdowns should therefore come from the beneficiaries, the ones who are the wealthiest, can afford it, and who benefit the most The cost of lockdowns will actually come from government spending though, which is primarilly funded by income related tax

heavenlyblue 6y ago
In the UK the older generation also voted for Brexit; so I am still surprised no one in politics made the argument for “let them then die during COVID as they didn’t seem to think about youth when they were voting for Brexit”.
- throwaway3699 6y ago
  That's because there's no comparison between letting old people die and young people having to get an EU passport... or whatever downsides Brexit will bring us.
- iso1210 6y ago
  Old people run the world so get policies that benefit them. Young people are far more empathic and actually care about "not killing grandma" Farage did try to push his populist views on young people, it didn't go down well. There aren't any prominent young people calling for say a rebate on rent paid to say boomer house owners in university towns.
user5994461 6y ago
Just a tidbit on the over 65s having "no income". They actually have a lot of income, from collecting pensions and rents. Neither of these income streams were cut by COVID.
- iso1210 6y ago
  Fair. Not sure how tax works in america, but those types of income are taxed at a far lower rate (marginal tax on £1k being bunged at a £30k/year worker is 13.8% + 10.5% + 17.6% == 40%. It's 20% for £1k being bunged at a retiree drawing a £30k pension, or less if that income comes from dividends.) And without having to pay rent, the outgoings are far lower too. Someone living on a net of £2k a month after £1500 a month rent would need £3500 net income and cost an employer £52k a year. Throw in student loans and commuting and you'd need even more. Someone owning their house and getting a net of £2k a month would need just £26k a year of income, or even less if that was funded from dividends.
playcache 6y ago
This is why at the very least the triple lock pension needs to go as soon as possible.
- iso1210 6y ago
  Not all over 65s have lots of wealth. Those relying on the state pension, especially in council houses, have very little money. Now sure, when you have a situation where income drops 20% one year then increases 20% the year after, pensions shouldn't go +2%, +20%, but as a whole Far better would be a windfall tax on the immense unearned wealth that many have had over the last 20 years, combined with a land value tax to correct housing costs and transfer planning gain away from the wealthy to the public. Why is it that the duke of westminster, who owns 200ha of Mayfair (valued about £20b), pays nothing. A 1% LVT would cost a farmer with a 100 acre prime dairy farm in Cheshire £10k a year (less than tax paid to workers), a typical houseowner in London suburbs would pay £5k a year, not much more than council tax - and far less than house price inflation, and Grovesnor would pay £200m a year.

heavenlyblue 6y ago

In the UK the older generation also voted for Brexit; so I am still surprised no one in politics made the argument for “let them then die during COVID as they didn’t seem to think about youth when they were voting for Brexit”.

throwaway3699 6y ago
That's because there's no comparison between letting old people die and young people having to get an EU passport... or whatever downsides Brexit will bring us.
iso1210 6y ago
Old people run the world so get policies that benefit them. Young people are far more empathic and actually care about "not killing grandma" Farage did try to push his populist views on young people, it didn't go down well. There aren't any prominent young people calling for say a rebate on rent paid to say boomer house owners in university towns.

user5994461 6y ago

Just a tidbit on the over 65s having "no income". They actually have a lot of income, from collecting pensions and rents. Neither of these income streams were cut by COVID.

iso1210 6y ago
Fair. Not sure how tax works in america, but those types of income are taxed at a far lower rate (marginal tax on £1k being bunged at a £30k/year worker is 13.8% + 10.5% + 17.6% == 40%. It's 20% for £1k being bunged at a retiree drawing a £30k pension, or less if that income comes from dividends.) And without having to pay rent, the outgoings are far lower too. Someone living on a net of £2k a month after £1500 a month rent would need £3500 net income and cost an employer £52k a year. Throw in student loans and commuting and you'd need even more. Someone owning their house and getting a net of £2k a month would need just £26k a year of income, or even less if that was funded from dividends.

playcache 6y ago

This is why at the very least the triple lock pension needs to go as soon as possible.

iso1210 6y ago
Not all over 65s have lots of wealth. Those relying on the state pension, especially in council houses, have very little money. Now sure, when you have a situation where income drops 20% one year then increases 20% the year after, pensions shouldn't go +2%, +20%, but as a whole Far better would be a windfall tax on the immense unearned wealth that many have had over the last 20 years, combined with a land value tax to correct housing costs and transfer planning gain away from the wealthy to the public. Why is it that the duke of westminster, who owns 200ha of Mayfair (valued about £20b), pays nothing. A 1% LVT would cost a farmer with a 100 acre prime dairy farm in Cheshire £10k a year (less than tax paid to workers), a typical houseowner in London suburbs would pay £5k a year, not much more than council tax - and far less than house price inflation, and Grovesnor would pay £200m a year.