3 ms·

I may get in trouble for this but it's funny how what is effectively attempted wealth redistribution - I mean massive money printing and deficit spending - is a

I may get in trouble for this but it's funny how what is effectively attempted wealth redistribution - I mean massive money printing and deficit spending - is actually having the opposite effect of creating massive inequality, where there are now all kinds or people for whom money is basically nothing, while there are others who still make basically what they did in the 90s. That is why I'm not a socialist, not because I don't believe in equality, but because government overreach always makes inequality worse.

lotsofpulp 5y ago
18 months of a small amount of cash is not a meaningful attempt at wealth redistribution.
- version_five 5y ago
  And even that small amount was able to spur massive inequality. Or are you making the "we've never tried true communism" argument?
- josephcsible 5y ago
  How is that "a small amount of cash"? I see comparisons all the time here on how absurdly high the net worth of Jeff Bezos is, but taking all of it wouldn't have even covered just the first round of the stimulus checks.
  - dghlsakjg 5y ago
    Jeff bezos’ net worth is a number that gets divided into 1 The stimulus program is divided into several hundred million and intended to help all of them Just because they are both numbers representing money doesn’t mean they are comparable
  - Arainach 5y ago
    People making less than $75000 a year received a grand total of $3000 over 18 months. Some of them received a few thousand in supplemantary unemployment benefits - during a period when they were not working. No, this isn't a huge amount of money for any person, certainly not anything that makes any microscopic dent in addressing inequality. That wasn't the point of the program.
  - KarlKemp 5y ago
    No, but the net worth of the top 1.5 % could cover the first round of the stimulus checks 10 times over: https://www.statista.com/statistics/300482/us-high-net-worth-individuals-wealth/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/300482/us-high-net-worth...
    - josephcsible 5y ago
      Keep in mind that 1.5% is 5 million people, and that we've done a lot more than just the first round of the stimulus checks.
  - maxerickson 5y ago
    One guy couldn't cover 300 million stimulus checks? Amazing!
Retric 5y ago
I think you misunderstood the point of all that spending. The goal was to keep things operating as they where not to somehow increase equality. Most people got a trivial amount of cash just enough to limp through the worst of it often much worse than they started. Anyone that kept their job where basically forced to save as restaurants etc shut down. That’s what boosted the stock market, a giant influx of cash from regular people.
vmception 5y ago
That wasn't an attempt at wealth distribution lol. The Federal Reserve's corporate bond buying program was always to be bigger than stimulus checks and payment protection program. I was more so amused how PPP got all the headlines and watched neighbors turn on each other, while the corporate bond issuers move in silence. It was in the CARES Act of 2020 and watching the corporate bond market closely, it's just a matter of reading comprehension.
akyu 5y ago
They squirm and recoil when you reveal the true plan. Careful.
KarlKemp 5y ago
Inequality in the US is far worse than any comparable country, i. e. Western Europe, Canada, NZ, etc. All those countries have higher taxes and would be considered to be more actively involved in the economy. Here’s a nice chart: https://images.app.goo.gl/WpcWjHghC5XTmYKn6 https://images.app.goo.gl/WpcWjHghC5XTmYKn6. It shows, among other things, that besides being too small overall, US tax policy does nothing to reduce inequality. That’s because it has seized to be a typical progressive tax regime. Instead, the top 1 % pay lower rates than the middle class. And the top 0.1 %, in turn, pay less than the 1 %: https://images.app.goo.gl/seh6KtpZ2GbQcH2AA https://images.app.goo.gl/seh6KtpZ2GbQcH2AA None of those countries is socialist, by the way. The closest is probably East Germany until 1990.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
dogorman 5y ago
'Overreach' can only be defined in relative terms.

lotsofpulp 5y ago

18 months of a small amount of cash is not a meaningful attempt at wealth redistribution.

version_five 5y ago
And even that small amount was able to spur massive inequality. Or are you making the "we've never tried true communism" argument?
josephcsible 5y ago
How is that "a small amount of cash"? I see comparisons all the time here on how absurdly high the net worth of Jeff Bezos is, but taking all of it wouldn't have even covered just the first round of the stimulus checks.
- dghlsakjg 5y ago
  Jeff bezos’ net worth is a number that gets divided into 1 The stimulus program is divided into several hundred million and intended to help all of them Just because they are both numbers representing money doesn’t mean they are comparable
- Arainach 5y ago
  People making less than $75000 a year received a grand total of $3000 over 18 months. Some of them received a few thousand in supplemantary unemployment benefits - during a period when they were not working. No, this isn't a huge amount of money for any person, certainly not anything that makes any microscopic dent in addressing inequality. That wasn't the point of the program.
- KarlKemp 5y ago
  No, but the net worth of the top 1.5 % could cover the first round of the stimulus checks 10 times over: https://www.statista.com/statistics/300482/us-high-net-worth-individuals-wealth/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/300482/us-high-net-worth...
  - josephcsible 5y ago
    Keep in mind that 1.5% is 5 million people, and that we've done a lot more than just the first round of the stimulus checks.
- maxerickson 5y ago
  One guy couldn't cover 300 million stimulus checks? Amazing!

Retric 5y ago

I think you misunderstood the point of all that spending. The goal was to keep things operating as they where not to somehow increase equality. Most people got a trivial amount of cash just enough to limp through the worst of it often much worse than they started. Anyone that kept their job where basically forced to save as restaurants etc shut down. That’s what boosted the stock market, a giant influx of cash from regular people.

vmception 5y ago

That wasn't an attempt at wealth distribution lol. The Federal Reserve's corporate bond buying program was always to be bigger than stimulus checks and payment protection program. I was more so amused how PPP got all the headlines and watched neighbors turn on each other, while the corporate bond issuers move in silence. It was in the CARES Act of 2020 and watching the corporate bond market closely, it's just a matter of reading comprehension.

akyu 5y ago

They squirm and recoil when you reveal the true plan. Careful.

KarlKemp 5y ago

Inequality in the US is far worse than any comparable country, i. e. Western Europe, Canada, NZ, etc. All those countries have higher taxes and would be considered to be more actively involved in the economy. Here’s a nice chart: https://images.app.goo.gl/WpcWjHghC5XTmYKn6 https://images.app.goo.gl/WpcWjHghC5XTmYKn6. It shows, among other things, that besides being too small overall, US tax policy does nothing to reduce inequality. That’s because it has seized to be a typical progressive tax regime. Instead, the top 1 % pay lower rates than the middle class. And the top 0.1 %, in turn, pay less than the 1 %: https://images.app.goo.gl/seh6KtpZ2GbQcH2AA https://images.app.goo.gl/seh6KtpZ2GbQcH2AA None of those countries is socialist, by the way. The closest is probably East Germany until 1990.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

dogorman 5y ago

'Overreach' can only be defined in relative terms.