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Yes that's very helpful. I cannot imagine any founder being deterred to start a company because of this wealth tax. With or without it you'd be very rich under

Yes that's very helpful. I cannot imagine any founder being deterred to start a company because of this wealth tax. With or without it you'd be very rich under PG's assumptions

refurb 5y ago
It not a matter of a founder not starting a company, it doing it somewhere else than the US. Didn’t some study show a majority of founders are foreigners? They choose to come to the US. They can choose not to in the future.
- xbpx 5y ago
  Because of a tiny wealth tax that is already lower than in many other countries? You think a relatively well off individual from a less wealthy country facing many systemic problems for business will pass up the opportunity to migrate to the US because they may need to pay a couple percent if they strike gold?
  - refurb 5y ago
    I mean, isn’t that exactly what Singapore did to attract talent and capital? And it worked? And didn’t one of the Facebook founders give up his US citizenship and move there? Sure it’s one case, but it’s evidence at least some are motivated by taxes. Sure, not every founder will make that choice and not right away, but you could see a slow shift over decades to more tax friendly locations.
    - Tepix 5y ago
      You may be right. A small number of startups may be founded elsewhere. But the large income from a wealth tax likely provides a greater benefit. We've had a wealth tax in the past. It worked. The only reason why it got removed was because the super rich used their vast influence. It's not something that's in the public's best interest.
      - jimbokun 5y ago
        > We've had a wealth tax in the past. Who's "we"? I can't find any references to a wealth tax in US history.
      - refurb 5y ago
        You do realize that most European countries that has a wealth tax abandoned it and the recent ones never actually collected anything close to what was forecasted because it’s not that hard to move wealth around.
  - jimbokun 5y ago
    "facing many systemic problems for business" Like a wealth tax?
    - danShumway 5y ago
      No, I don't think that's the kind of thing that GP means. There are problems that your business faces once it's successful, and there are problems that prevent it from becoming successful. This has come up in a number of other areas on HN. For example, scaling your technology is a problem you'd like to have, because it implies you actually have customers causing you to scale. Regardless of whether or not a wealth tax is a bad idea, it's certainly in the "problems you'd like to have" category. That doesn't necessarily mean it's not a problem that business owners worry about, but it's a completely different category of problem from "I can't get my business off the ground at all." It's a problem that you only run into after you've (by many measures) already won the game.
  - ameister14 5y ago
    What countries currently have a wealth tax that is higher than the proposed wealth tax combined with existing property taxes?
- everybodyknows 5y ago
  A founder whose only agenda is to get rich and then put the proceeds into a mega-yacht and private island or worse yet, lobbyists and political contributions aimed at protecting his own privileged tax status, is one I'd prefer remained a citizen of some country other than my own.
- Agenttin 5y ago
  Then go. If the price of having them here is that they get to not pay their fair share while taking advantage of our infrastructure and workforce, they can pound sand.
  - refurb 5y ago
    I keep hearing about a “fair share” which is vague. What is the exact percentage that is a “fair share” for say someone with $10M? Maybe if we can all agree on a number then we can figure out how best to collect it.
    - Agenttin 5y ago
      I'm not concerned with people with that little money. If you've got $10M, you're rich, but you're not part of the problem rich. The three walmart heirs are worth $180B between them. Jeff is worth that by himself. This isn't "being good at business" it's hording. I'm concerned with Billionaires. 800 people who control $3.4T in assets. I don't want to make them poor, I am completely happy if they remain obscenely rich, but you just can't have that much of the pie.
- jcfrei 5y ago
  They come to the US because it continues to be the largest free market in the world with a stable jurisdiction. That's the reason for the success of the American economy: Being the largest free-market economy with a stable jurisdiction for the past ca. 200 years. That's why entrepreneurs come to the US. Nothing to do with taxes.

Yes that's very helpful. I cannot imagine any founder being deterred to start a company because of this wealth tax. With or without it you'd be very rich under PG's assumptions

refurb 5y ago

It not a matter of a founder not starting a company, it doing it somewhere else than the US. Didn’t some study show a majority of founders are foreigners? They choose to come to the US. They can choose not to in the future.

xbpx 5y ago
Because of a tiny wealth tax that is already lower than in many other countries? You think a relatively well off individual from a less wealthy country facing many systemic problems for business will pass up the opportunity to migrate to the US because they may need to pay a couple percent if they strike gold?
- refurb 5y ago
  I mean, isn’t that exactly what Singapore did to attract talent and capital? And it worked? And didn’t one of the Facebook founders give up his US citizenship and move there? Sure it’s one case, but it’s evidence at least some are motivated by taxes. Sure, not every founder will make that choice and not right away, but you could see a slow shift over decades to more tax friendly locations.
  - Tepix 5y ago
    You may be right. A small number of startups may be founded elsewhere. But the large income from a wealth tax likely provides a greater benefit. We've had a wealth tax in the past. It worked. The only reason why it got removed was because the super rich used their vast influence. It's not something that's in the public's best interest.
    - jimbokun 5y ago
      > We've had a wealth tax in the past. Who's "we"? I can't find any references to a wealth tax in US history.
    - refurb 5y ago
      You do realize that most European countries that has a wealth tax abandoned it and the recent ones never actually collected anything close to what was forecasted because it’s not that hard to move wealth around.
- jimbokun 5y ago
  "facing many systemic problems for business" Like a wealth tax?
  - danShumway 5y ago
    No, I don't think that's the kind of thing that GP means. There are problems that your business faces once it's successful, and there are problems that prevent it from becoming successful. This has come up in a number of other areas on HN. For example, scaling your technology is a problem you'd like to have, because it implies you actually have customers causing you to scale. Regardless of whether or not a wealth tax is a bad idea, it's certainly in the "problems you'd like to have" category. That doesn't necessarily mean it's not a problem that business owners worry about, but it's a completely different category of problem from "I can't get my business off the ground at all." It's a problem that you only run into after you've (by many measures) already won the game.
- ameister14 5y ago
  What countries currently have a wealth tax that is higher than the proposed wealth tax combined with existing property taxes?
everybodyknows 5y ago
A founder whose only agenda is to get rich and then put the proceeds into a mega-yacht and private island or worse yet, lobbyists and political contributions aimed at protecting his own privileged tax status, is one I'd prefer remained a citizen of some country other than my own.
Agenttin 5y ago
Then go. If the price of having them here is that they get to not pay their fair share while taking advantage of our infrastructure and workforce, they can pound sand.
- refurb 5y ago
  I keep hearing about a “fair share” which is vague. What is the exact percentage that is a “fair share” for say someone with $10M? Maybe if we can all agree on a number then we can figure out how best to collect it.
  - Agenttin 5y ago
    I'm not concerned with people with that little money. If you've got $10M, you're rich, but you're not part of the problem rich. The three walmart heirs are worth $180B between them. Jeff is worth that by himself. This isn't "being good at business" it's hording. I'm concerned with Billionaires. 800 people who control $3.4T in assets. I don't want to make them poor, I am completely happy if they remain obscenely rich, but you just can't have that much of the pie.
jcfrei 5y ago
They come to the US because it continues to be the largest free market in the world with a stable jurisdiction. That's the reason for the success of the American economy: Being the largest free-market economy with a stable jurisdiction for the past ca. 200 years. That's why entrepreneurs come to the US. Nothing to do with taxes.