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Is this supposed to be reassuring? From a societal standpoint, we should design a system that rewards the behavior we want to see. No one has given me any evid

Is this supposed to be reassuring? From a societal standpoint, we should design a system that rewards the behavior we want to see. No one has given me any evidence that "being born to someone rich" is actually the thing we want to reward in our tax code.

sokoloff 5y ago
It’s not clear that the tax code is rewarding that in a significant way. You might argue it’s failing to punish it enough for your taste, which is a fine discussion to have. When I look over the top 10 here, 9/10 are on that list from being overwhelmingly self-made and I want what 8 of those have created to exist. (I think lots of other people self-evidently want LVMH to exist, even though I don’t care either way. Same with L’Oreal though that’s also the one that’s not self-made.) https://www.forbes.com/real-time-billionaires/ https://www.forbes.com/real-time-billionaires/
- ggggtez 5y ago
  So when deciding on the policies of a nation of 350 million people, you look at the top 10? That's a completely arbitrary cut off. Why not look at the top 1, and then tell me that I should extrapolate that out to say that every billionaire is bald and owns Amazon.com ? Surely you see how choosing top 10 is a completely arbitrary cut off that you invented.
  - sokoloff 5y ago
    Ok. Pick a different N and do the analysis to see if it differs materially in a way that supports that birth lottery matters more than within-life activity.
- ABCLAW 5y ago
  This has a LOT to do with the fact that inherited wealth is distributed amongst a number of heirs and held in trusts that they aren't the full beneficiaries of. The argument that the top few have self-generated wealth doesn't in any way impinge upon the larger trend of wealth being concentrated amongst a smaller cohort over time.
drdeca 5y ago
Of course inheritance is not meant as an incentive for people to choose to be born to someone rich; that is not something one can choose. When asking whose behavior something incentivizes, the answer must always be among those who can influence it. The possibility of inheritance is an incentive to have money when one dies, that it might be passed on to one's heirs, whose wealth one often values, by virtue of valuing their general well being (as money can be exchanged for goods and services). It is not the not-yet-conceived who advocate against there being large inheritance taxes.
insert_coin 5y ago
Aren't prosperity and wealth things we want to see? We shouldn't tax wealth at all, that is what we want, a wealthy society.

sokoloff 5y ago

It’s not clear that the tax code is rewarding that in a significant way. You might argue it’s failing to punish it enough for your taste, which is a fine discussion to have. When I look over the top 10 here, 9/10 are on that list from being overwhelmingly self-made and I want what 8 of those have created to exist. (I think lots of other people self-evidently want LVMH to exist, even though I don’t care either way. Same with L’Oreal though that’s also the one that’s not self-made.) https://www.forbes.com/real-time-billionaires/ https://www.forbes.com/real-time-billionaires/

ggggtez 5y ago
So when deciding on the policies of a nation of 350 million people, you look at the top 10? That's a completely arbitrary cut off. Why not look at the top 1, and then tell me that I should extrapolate that out to say that every billionaire is bald and owns Amazon.com ? Surely you see how choosing top 10 is a completely arbitrary cut off that you invented.
- sokoloff 5y ago
  Ok. Pick a different N and do the analysis to see if it differs materially in a way that supports that birth lottery matters more than within-life activity.
ABCLAW 5y ago
This has a LOT to do with the fact that inherited wealth is distributed amongst a number of heirs and held in trusts that they aren't the full beneficiaries of. The argument that the top few have self-generated wealth doesn't in any way impinge upon the larger trend of wealth being concentrated amongst a smaller cohort over time.

drdeca 5y ago

Of course inheritance is not meant as an incentive for people to choose to be born to someone rich; that is not something one can choose. When asking whose behavior something incentivizes, the answer must always be among those who can influence it. The possibility of inheritance is an incentive to have money when one dies, that it might be passed on to one's heirs, whose wealth one often values, by virtue of valuing their general well being (as money can be exchanged for goods and services). It is not the not-yet-conceived who advocate against there being large inheritance taxes.

insert_coin 5y ago

Aren't prosperity and wealth things we want to see? We shouldn't tax wealth at all, that is what we want, a wealthy society.