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Contrarian point: tax havens protect wealth from wasteful public sector interests. Case in point: California, where income tax rates are over 50% for some inco

Contrarian point: tax havens protect wealth from wasteful public sector interests. Case in point: California, where income tax rates are over 50% for some income brackets, because the state sector has taken over the political system, via control over the dominant narrative/ideology. To give just one example, emergency workers can retire at 55 with 90% of their pension, that averages $108,000 per year. California now has $1 trillion in pension obligations for its unionized public sector workers. The one thing that the leak revealed, that should not be tolerated, is wealth hiding by public officials. Public officials should be under intense scrutiny. In fact all the financial surveillance laws which are misleadingly labeled anti-money laundering laws, should be repealed, and in their, place we should have financial surveillance laws for public officials.

ganzuul 5y ago
When do you think emergency workers should retire?
- refurb 5y ago
  I have no idea what CA pensions are like but NY it was generous to a fault. Someone did an analysis of the NYFD and noticed that overtime peaked during the last 3 years of service (no shit, that’s what the pension is based on). They also noticed that a huge proportion were retiring with disability (like 70%) which provides a pension “kicker” and boosters it further. What you ended up with was firefighters working 30+ hrs of OT per week and qualifying for disability and retiring with 120% of their normal salary versus the typical 60%. Dude we’re retiring with pensions of $120,000 per year until they die. I don’t blame them for gaming the system but Jesus Christ.
  - pjc50 5y ago
    Someone commented that the most effective way to dig out abusive and violent police officers was simply to audit their overtime properly; fraud is rampant, and there's a correlation between ignoring one set of laws and ignoring another.
    - Zigurd 5y ago
      That's right. Detail and overtime fraud is rampant and in some PDs it is pervasive. I am surprised nobody has tried to "defund the police" simply by enforcing the law.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
ClumsyPilot 5y ago
"Wastefull public sector interests." Is buying a luxury house in central london and letting it rot, empty for 20 years while it's value climbs 'efficient free market'? https://theconversation.com/londons-extraordinary-surplus-of-empty-luxury-apartments-revealed-97947 https://theconversation.com/londons-extraordinary-surplus-of...
- CryptoPunk 5y ago
  Spending on non-essentials happens by people of all income categories, including the hundreds of thousands of 55 year pensioners receiving $100K+ a year from taxpayers in California. At least the market system is allocating capital to those who are generally better at growing it. The automatic pay raises in the public sector are not mediated by any kind of economic efficiency metric. With respect to tax havens, the problem is when it's public officials that are hiding their wealth, which is why I suggested more scrutiny should be placed on them.
  - ClumsyPilot 5y ago
    "Spending on non-essentials happens by people of all income categories" You are totally missing the point, they are competing for a scarce resource and driving up it's prices only to waste it. They are creating a housing crisis. "market system is allocating capital to those who are generally better are growing it" So 'wealth attrachs more wealth'? That's a benefit in your mind? Not that the capital is used productively, or deployed efficiency in the real world, just that imaginary numbers are growing in a spreadsheet "the problem is when it's public officials that are hiding their wealth" As opposed to Jeff Bezos hiding his wealth? If Jeff has 1,000X more wealth than all of them combined, why are they 'the problem'?
    - alanlammiman 5y ago
      In fact, one reason property is scarce and prices are sky-high in London & South-East England more generally is restrictions on new development. In other words - the lack of a properly free market rather than free market excess. London, apart from a few flashy skyscrapers in the City and the odd legacy housing tower is a bunch of low-rise flats and terraced houses. Contrast this to Manhattan or São Paulo.

ganzuul 5y ago

When do you think emergency workers should retire?

refurb 5y ago
I have no idea what CA pensions are like but NY it was generous to a fault. Someone did an analysis of the NYFD and noticed that overtime peaked during the last 3 years of service (no shit, that’s what the pension is based on). They also noticed that a huge proportion were retiring with disability (like 70%) which provides a pension “kicker” and boosters it further. What you ended up with was firefighters working 30+ hrs of OT per week and qualifying for disability and retiring with 120% of their normal salary versus the typical 60%. Dude we’re retiring with pensions of $120,000 per year until they die. I don’t blame them for gaming the system but Jesus Christ.
- pjc50 5y ago
  Someone commented that the most effective way to dig out abusive and violent police officers was simply to audit their overtime properly; fraud is rampant, and there's a correlation between ignoring one set of laws and ignoring another.
  - Zigurd 5y ago
    That's right. Detail and overtime fraud is rampant and in some PDs it is pervasive. I am surprised nobody has tried to "defund the police" simply by enforcing the law.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

ClumsyPilot 5y ago

"Wastefull public sector interests." Is buying a luxury house in central london and letting it rot, empty for 20 years while it's value climbs 'efficient free market'? https://theconversation.com/londons-extraordinary-surplus-of-empty-luxury-apartments-revealed-97947 https://theconversation.com/londons-extraordinary-surplus-of...

CryptoPunk 5y ago
Spending on non-essentials happens by people of all income categories, including the hundreds of thousands of 55 year pensioners receiving $100K+ a year from taxpayers in California. At least the market system is allocating capital to those who are generally better at growing it. The automatic pay raises in the public sector are not mediated by any kind of economic efficiency metric. With respect to tax havens, the problem is when it's public officials that are hiding their wealth, which is why I suggested more scrutiny should be placed on them.
- ClumsyPilot 5y ago
  "Spending on non-essentials happens by people of all income categories" You are totally missing the point, they are competing for a scarce resource and driving up it's prices only to waste it. They are creating a housing crisis. "market system is allocating capital to those who are generally better are growing it" So 'wealth attrachs more wealth'? That's a benefit in your mind? Not that the capital is used productively, or deployed efficiency in the real world, just that imaginary numbers are growing in a spreadsheet "the problem is when it's public officials that are hiding their wealth" As opposed to Jeff Bezos hiding his wealth? If Jeff has 1,000X more wealth than all of them combined, why are they 'the problem'?
  - alanlammiman 5y ago
    In fact, one reason property is scarce and prices are sky-high in London & South-East England more generally is restrictions on new development. In other words - the lack of a properly free market rather than free market excess. London, apart from a few flashy skyscrapers in the City and the odd legacy housing tower is a bunch of low-rise flats and terraced houses. Contrast this to Manhattan or São Paulo.