4 ms·

I wonder how much the super-rich pay for the protection of their assets? I don't mean the physical security around their property or the fees to whatever vault

I wonder how much the super-rich pay for the protection of their assets? I don't mean the physical security around their property or the fees to whatever vault holds their art collection. I mean how much to the super-rich pay to national governments for security of the national borders, court systems, general policing, financial rules, auditing, banking systems, and all the education and infrastructure required to run that system. I wonder if measured by a percentage of wealth whether the ultra rich are actually getting subsidised by the rest of the population.

teamonkey 3y ago
If you believe in market rates, the cost of protecting large assets from taxes will be very slightly less than the cost of paying those taxes. Or actually it should cost somewhat more, if you think that holding on to those assets has significantly more utility to you than paying tax.
- badcppdev 3y ago
  I don't believe that market rates are applicable in all of these situations. I think that the super rich benefit from economies of scale which means that they spend £X on accountants and benefit £1000X
- michaelt 3y ago
  Not if there's more than one supplier of tax avoidance services. The Cayman Islands, Bermuda, and the British Virgin Islands all have to compete against one another, after all.
pjc50 3y ago
This is quite significant; especially this is why wealthy people from less stable or rule-of-law states tend to park their wealth in the West. There's a lot of money in London from Gulf states, Russian oligarchs, Chinese "property investors" and so on. To some extent it's a benefit, but it also prices out locals, and the distorting effects of that concentration of money start to affect the local rule-of-law as well...
altacc 3y ago
Corporate welfare (socialism for the rich, capitalism for the poor) is widespread and based on the mythical infallibility of trickle down economics. To add to your list: when a company wants to build a new factory or office, often the tax payer funded local government will subside the building of that or offer long term tax breaks. True capitalism would be that the company funds it all themselves and if they can't afford it, they're not strong enough. Instead they have officials fighting over crumbs whilst the company rakes in massive profits.

teamonkey 3y ago

If you believe in market rates, the cost of protecting large assets from taxes will be very slightly less than the cost of paying those taxes. Or actually it should cost somewhat more, if you think that holding on to those assets has significantly more utility to you than paying tax.

badcppdev 3y ago
I don't believe that market rates are applicable in all of these situations. I think that the super rich benefit from economies of scale which means that they spend £X on accountants and benefit £1000X
michaelt 3y ago
Not if there's more than one supplier of tax avoidance services. The Cayman Islands, Bermuda, and the British Virgin Islands all have to compete against one another, after all.

pjc50 3y ago

This is quite significant; especially this is why wealthy people from less stable or rule-of-law states tend to park their wealth in the West. There's a lot of money in London from Gulf states, Russian oligarchs, Chinese "property investors" and so on. To some extent it's a benefit, but it also prices out locals, and the distorting effects of that concentration of money start to affect the local rule-of-law as well...

altacc 3y ago

Corporate welfare (socialism for the rich, capitalism for the poor) is widespread and based on the mythical infallibility of trickle down economics. To add to your list: when a company wants to build a new factory or office, often the tax payer funded local government will subside the building of that or offer long term tax breaks. True capitalism would be that the company funds it all themselves and if they can't afford it, they're not strong enough. Instead they have officials fighting over crumbs whilst the company rakes in massive profits.