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( submitting this as a reference to Piketty's whole school of thought not just the latest book ) ( Discussion prompt: what are some radical ideas for slashing

( submitting this as a reference to Piketty's whole school of thought not just the latest book ) ( Discussion prompt: what are some radical ideas for slashing poverty/inequality globally in 2 decades or less - assuming the public support/political will can eventually be obtained through effort/luck )

colechristensen 4y ago
Reduce rent seeking, promote local agriculture university outreach programs, gently trim back on waste, promote competition in stagnated fields. There’s not a radical solution where something bold needs to be done. There’s a lot of mundane progress that needs to be done, but before it’s done it needs to be identified and prioritized.
- pasquinelli 4y ago
  a real attempt to reduce rent seeking would probably lead to civil war.
  - candiddevmike 4y ago
    The feudal lords will call on their bannermen to take up arms via Twitter.
  - colechristensen 4y ago
    Reduce, not eliminate. Put pressure though taxes, regulations, etc that benefit people owning things to do stuff with them and penalize people owning things to make money from somebody else doing things with them. Investment will always be an important mechanism, it just needs to be a bit more disadvantaged than it is at the moment. One of the mechanisms is as simple as taxing vacancy. If you own commercial or residential property that isn’t occupied, your taxes go way up to encourage you to drop prices until it gets used or you decide to sell.
  - Aunche 4y ago
    People pay 50% of their income in taxes in states like California without rioting, so I don't see why attempts to reduce rent seeking would be any different. Any income generated from an land value tax is money that can be saved with less efficient forms of taxation. IMO, this has more to do with lack of economic knowledge rather than anything else. People don't realize that making housing affordable completely opposite from making it a good investment.
  - tharne 4y ago
    > a real attempt to reduce rent seeking would probably lead to civil war. Agreed, but a failure to reduce it would probably lead to the same thing eventually.
tomohawk 4y ago
Radical solutions elicit radical response, and are rarely warranted. See for example the French Revolution. Millions of unnecessary deaths due to political repression and wars. And then, 80 years after it all started, finally achieving democracy. All because those in charge at any given moment cared more about their ideas than people. If you think we can achieve utopia if only everyone signs on to your wonderful idea, it's a sign that you are not only wrong, but should seriously seek counseling.
ForHackernews 4y ago
100% inheritance tax on any estate value over $N (inflation indexed), use that money to fund "baby bonds" to give every newborn an investable trust fund. Nobody should get to be rich because of who their daddy was.
- jkmghkjhg 4y ago
  This wouldn't force the rich to move elsewhere?
  - throwaway1777 4y ago
    It would, so you also need capital controls.
  - lern_too_spel 4y ago
    A living person should want more people to be educated instead of living in poverty because that will increase their own lifespan. A dead person is not capable of caring where their wealth went.
- cmsonger 4y ago
  I could not agree with this more. It feels like trust fund babies are pretty much everything that the US is not supposed to be about. Whenever I'm in a mood to discuss politics and someone brings up the "death tax" I say something like: "I agree, the world absolutely needs more people like Paris Hilton." (Not to pick on Paris Hilton, but I think that she's a visible example that people resonate with.)
- flenserboy 4y ago
  The question this brings up is this: instead of making it impossible for families to establish themselves for generations, instead encourage families to think and invest long-term, without having their accumulated experience and wisdom be made meaningless by having their resources stolen from them? Encourage people to have all-around healthy, well-raised children who will (if they so choose) carry on the and develop the family project instead of being, in effect, scattered to the winds. Rather than encouraging people to start public corporations (which are, in our current system, designed to be taken out of the hands of those who build and care for them, then eventually parted out), let's find ways to incentivize families to actually invest in their children and the future, instead of simply in building wealth that will be only temporary while hoping that maybe the kids will do fine. Encourage long-term thinking, planning, and investment by taking away the fear that all this work will be taken away or have to be sold off for taxes.
shrubble 4y ago
1. Rule of law / a set of laws that are enforced equally upon all citizens regardless of wealth or social status. 2. Elimination of usury applied to the money supply of the country in question. That is, issuing money without having a central bank charge interest on the issuance. I am sure there are more.
larsiusprime 4y ago
Georgist/YIMBYist synthesis with regard to Land Policy + Norwegian natural resource policy (and extending it to all artificial and natural monopolies) https://www.gameofrent.com https://www.gameofrent.com https://progressandpoverty.substack.com/p/norways-sovereign-wealth-fund https://progressandpoverty.substack.com/p/norways-sovereign-... https://slimemoldtimemold.com/2022/05/17/norway-the-once-and-future-georgist-kingdom/ https://slimemoldtimemold.com/2022/05/17/norway-the-once-and...

colechristensen 4y ago

Reduce rent seeking, promote local agriculture university outreach programs, gently trim back on waste, promote competition in stagnated fields. There’s not a radical solution where something bold needs to be done. There’s a lot of mundane progress that needs to be done, but before it’s done it needs to be identified and prioritized.

pasquinelli 4y ago
a real attempt to reduce rent seeking would probably lead to civil war.
- candiddevmike 4y ago
  The feudal lords will call on their bannermen to take up arms via Twitter.
- colechristensen 4y ago
  Reduce, not eliminate. Put pressure though taxes, regulations, etc that benefit people owning things to do stuff with them and penalize people owning things to make money from somebody else doing things with them. Investment will always be an important mechanism, it just needs to be a bit more disadvantaged than it is at the moment. One of the mechanisms is as simple as taxing vacancy. If you own commercial or residential property that isn’t occupied, your taxes go way up to encourage you to drop prices until it gets used or you decide to sell.
- Aunche 4y ago
  People pay 50% of their income in taxes in states like California without rioting, so I don't see why attempts to reduce rent seeking would be any different. Any income generated from an land value tax is money that can be saved with less efficient forms of taxation. IMO, this has more to do with lack of economic knowledge rather than anything else. People don't realize that making housing affordable completely opposite from making it a good investment.
- tharne 4y ago
  > a real attempt to reduce rent seeking would probably lead to civil war. Agreed, but a failure to reduce it would probably lead to the same thing eventually.

tomohawk 4y ago

Radical solutions elicit radical response, and are rarely warranted. See for example the French Revolution. Millions of unnecessary deaths due to political repression and wars. And then, 80 years after it all started, finally achieving democracy. All because those in charge at any given moment cared more about their ideas than people. If you think we can achieve utopia if only everyone signs on to your wonderful idea, it's a sign that you are not only wrong, but should seriously seek counseling.

ForHackernews 4y ago

100% inheritance tax on any estate value over $N (inflation indexed), use that money to fund "baby bonds" to give every newborn an investable trust fund. Nobody should get to be rich because of who their daddy was.

jkmghkjhg 4y ago
This wouldn't force the rich to move elsewhere?
- throwaway1777 4y ago
  It would, so you also need capital controls.
- lern_too_spel 4y ago
  A living person should want more people to be educated instead of living in poverty because that will increase their own lifespan. A dead person is not capable of caring where their wealth went.
cmsonger 4y ago
I could not agree with this more. It feels like trust fund babies are pretty much everything that the US is not supposed to be about. Whenever I'm in a mood to discuss politics and someone brings up the "death tax" I say something like: "I agree, the world absolutely needs more people like Paris Hilton." (Not to pick on Paris Hilton, but I think that she's a visible example that people resonate with.)
flenserboy 4y ago
The question this brings up is this: instead of making it impossible for families to establish themselves for generations, instead encourage families to think and invest long-term, without having their accumulated experience and wisdom be made meaningless by having their resources stolen from them? Encourage people to have all-around healthy, well-raised children who will (if they so choose) carry on the and develop the family project instead of being, in effect, scattered to the winds. Rather than encouraging people to start public corporations (which are, in our current system, designed to be taken out of the hands of those who build and care for them, then eventually parted out), let's find ways to incentivize families to actually invest in their children and the future, instead of simply in building wealth that will be only temporary while hoping that maybe the kids will do fine. Encourage long-term thinking, planning, and investment by taking away the fear that all this work will be taken away or have to be sold off for taxes.

shrubble 4y ago

1. Rule of law / a set of laws that are enforced equally upon all citizens regardless of wealth or social status. 2. Elimination of usury applied to the money supply of the country in question. That is, issuing money without having a central bank charge interest on the issuance. I am sure there are more.

larsiusprime 4y ago

Georgist/YIMBYist synthesis with regard to Land Policy + Norwegian natural resource policy (and extending it to all artificial and natural monopolies) https://www.gameofrent.com https://www.gameofrent.com https://progressandpoverty.substack.com/p/norways-sovereign-wealth-fund https://progressandpoverty.substack.com/p/norways-sovereign-... https://slimemoldtimemold.com/2022/05/17/norway-the-once-and-future-georgist-kingdom/ https://slimemoldtimemold.com/2022/05/17/norway-the-once-and...