2 ms·

Sorry; what? Taxes function the same as rent seeking? Taxes pay for schools, roads, environmental protections; common good stuff. Rent seeking further enriches

Sorry; what? Taxes function the same as rent seeking? Taxes pay for schools, roads, environmental protections; common good stuff. Rent seeking further enriches the wealthiest by 'virute' of them being wealthy. How are you confusing the two? ... It is absurd for highly profitable - and in many cases, highly exploitative - corporations to be subsidised and supported by requiring they pay less tax than the average worker. It's utterly and completely absurd that a "foundation for economic education" would spin tax havens as a "good thing" for the countries who have been robbed - much less a "win win"! There are many sources you can explore for why tax havens are lose-lose. That this "article" doesn't mention any of those reasons might clue you in as to it's level of argument. For example: https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2019/09/tackling-global-tax-havens-shaxon.htm https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2019/09/tackling-...

missedthecue 5y ago
Rent seeking describes an economic situation where existing wealth is taken without creating new wealth in exchange for it, such as offering a competitively priced product or service. This is what happens when taxation occurs. It doesn't matter what the money is spent on after it is taken; that doesn't change that fact that rent seeking occurred. If a monopoly company raises prices 50% and then gives all of the proceeds to Doctors Without Borders, or heck the government itself, it doesn't suddenly make it not rent seeking.
- mandmandam 5y ago
  > It doesn't matter what the money is spent on after it is taken; that doesn't change that fact that rent seeking occurred. It does matter. It matters a whole lot. Saying it doesn't reduces your argument to a purely semantic one; and a very stretched, very pointless argument it is.
  - missedthecue 5y ago
    It's not pointless. The point is that competition is healthy, whether it's in regard to the cost of milk or the cost of taxes. Monopolies are economically inefficient and make us poorer on net.

missedthecue 5y ago

Rent seeking describes an economic situation where existing wealth is taken without creating new wealth in exchange for it, such as offering a competitively priced product or service. This is what happens when taxation occurs. It doesn't matter what the money is spent on after it is taken; that doesn't change that fact that rent seeking occurred. If a monopoly company raises prices 50% and then gives all of the proceeds to Doctors Without Borders, or heck the government itself, it doesn't suddenly make it not rent seeking.

mandmandam 5y ago
> It doesn't matter what the money is spent on after it is taken; that doesn't change that fact that rent seeking occurred. It does matter. It matters a whole lot. Saying it doesn't reduces your argument to a purely semantic one; and a very stretched, very pointless argument it is.
- missedthecue 5y ago
  It's not pointless. The point is that competition is healthy, whether it's in regard to the cost of milk or the cost of taxes. Monopolies are economically inefficient and make us poorer on net.