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I don't want to sound like an extremist here: reasonable capital gains taxes are on net good. But it's certainly not the case that people make the "exact same"

I don't want to sound like an extremist here: reasonable capital gains taxes are on net good. But it's certainly not the case that people make the "exact same" investments with or without taxes, especially of course as taxes get higher. Money will shift out of investment to consumption as expected profits decrease, or indeed out of the tax regime to other areas or to black markets.

pas 4y ago
that's absolutely not a problem, quite the opposite. the goal is to have investments that serve broad interests. instead of investing in better yachts, supercars, jets, etc. instead of investing into Amazon to dropship fake shit for quick bucks our economic surplus ought to go into developing better actually useful appliances, tools, technologies for example, instead of OralB and Philips bamboozling us with sonic this and that with smart AI toothbrush marketing we ought to actually figure out dental care. okay, sure, higher taxes on the wealthy doesn't guarantee more conscious consumerism, but might at least give it a chance.
- aetherson 4y ago
  I'm afraid that in fact the kind of consumption encouraged by high cap gains taxes are things like yachts, supercars, and jets (which are not investments).
  - ianai 4y ago
    I think those are more about inequality and greed. They have so many resources they’re exhausting any and all passing interest. Bees seem to have solved this with graduating highly productive bees into a bohemian class. They spend their time doing oddball stuff and inform the hive of new opportunities missed.
- tdehnel 4y ago
  Sounds like you’ll be angling for the position of Commissar of Which Things are OK to Innovate.
rs999gti 4y ago
> reasonable capital gains taxes are on net good Except on the middle class. All capital gains do to middle class workers is ensure they stay middle class
nicoburns 4y ago
I’d agree that the won’t made exactly the same investments, but I’d argue that on average they’ll make better ones.

pas 4y ago

that's absolutely not a problem, quite the opposite. the goal is to have investments that serve broad interests. instead of investing in better yachts, supercars, jets, etc. instead of investing into Amazon to dropship fake shit for quick bucks our economic surplus ought to go into developing better actually useful appliances, tools, technologies for example, instead of OralB and Philips bamboozling us with sonic this and that with smart AI toothbrush marketing we ought to actually figure out dental care. okay, sure, higher taxes on the wealthy doesn't guarantee more conscious consumerism, but might at least give it a chance.

aetherson 4y ago
I'm afraid that in fact the kind of consumption encouraged by high cap gains taxes are things like yachts, supercars, and jets (which are not investments).
- ianai 4y ago
  I think those are more about inequality and greed. They have so many resources they’re exhausting any and all passing interest. Bees seem to have solved this with graduating highly productive bees into a bohemian class. They spend their time doing oddball stuff and inform the hive of new opportunities missed.
tdehnel 4y ago
Sounds like you’ll be angling for the position of Commissar of Which Things are OK to Innovate.

rs999gti 4y ago

> reasonable capital gains taxes are on net good Except on the middle class. All capital gains do to middle class workers is ensure they stay middle class

nicoburns 4y ago

I’d agree that the won’t made exactly the same investments, but I’d argue that on average they’ll make better ones.