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"Massachusetts lawmakers want to change that. State legislators are considering a groundbreaking bill that would impose a 2.5 percent annual excise tax on priva

"Massachusetts lawmakers want to change that. State legislators are considering a groundbreaking bill that would impose a 2.5 percent annual excise tax on private college and university endowments that are larger than $1 billion. The resulting $2.5 billion raised each year would be more than enough to cover the tuition of every undergraduate student currently attending public colleges and universities in the state." The chances that they would use that to cover undergraduate education is pretty low. Would 100% go towards other political causes - I have little faith in our political class doing that or using it effectively.

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birdofhermes 3y ago
They’re Ivy schools; that money was already going to the ruling class and their political causes (e.g., as Supreme Court clerkships, civil service appointments, and etc.). As tax dollars, it will at least serve the useful goal of keeping the state solvent.
- readthenotes1 3y ago
  I believe you mean these will goal of keeping graft lucrative for state employees
- gbacon 3y ago
  If there were a genuine threat of insolvency, they’d solve it today with budget cuts. What are the distinctions as you see them between the ruling class, their political causes, and the state?
  - laidoffamazon 3y ago
    Harvard is not the state, they're a fundamentally exclusionary institution. We should tax and contain them, not go out of our way to avoid taxing them.
fiprofessor 3y ago
I understand the cynicism, but the current text of the bill explicitly creates a separate trust which receives the revenue, and is restricted so that: "The fund shall be used exclusively for the purposes of subsidizing the cost of higher education, early education and child care for lower-income and middle-class residents of the commonwealth." https://malegislature.gov/Bills/193/H2824 https://malegislature.gov/Bills/193/H2824 Now, money is fungible so, just like with lottery revenues that are devoted to "education spending" in some states, it could be the case that it won't in fact increase net spending for the designated purpose, since what would have been spent on this purpose will end up being redirected. On the other hand, the projected tax revenue is so large (>5% of Massachusetts's entire annual tax revenue), that I suspect it would end up being a net increase in funding for the stated purposes, even accounting for fungibility.
- chimeracoder 3y ago
  > Now, money is fungible so, just like with lottery revenues that are devoted to "education spending" in some states, it could be the case that it won't in fact increase net spending for the designated purpose, since what would have been spent on this purpose will end up being redirected. The projected revenues from this are way larger than what's currently being spent on that purpose, so in that sense, there's no risk of "redirection" - if the projected revenues come to pass (which is likely, as a tax on an endowment is pretty easy to forecast) then it will result in an increase in funding for that purpose.
DinaCoder99 3y ago
I got a full ride through the Massachusetts state school system; so did many others I know. It's not difficult to believe.

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birdofhermes 3y ago

They’re Ivy schools; that money was already going to the ruling class and their political causes (e.g., as Supreme Court clerkships, civil service appointments, and etc.). As tax dollars, it will at least serve the useful goal of keeping the state solvent.

readthenotes1 3y ago
I believe you mean these will goal of keeping graft lucrative for state employees
gbacon 3y ago
If there were a genuine threat of insolvency, they’d solve it today with budget cuts. What are the distinctions as you see them between the ruling class, their political causes, and the state?
- laidoffamazon 3y ago
  Harvard is not the state, they're a fundamentally exclusionary institution. We should tax and contain them, not go out of our way to avoid taxing them.

fiprofessor 3y ago

I understand the cynicism, but the current text of the bill explicitly creates a separate trust which receives the revenue, and is restricted so that: "The fund shall be used exclusively for the purposes of subsidizing the cost of higher education, early education and child care for lower-income and middle-class residents of the commonwealth." https://malegislature.gov/Bills/193/H2824 https://malegislature.gov/Bills/193/H2824 Now, money is fungible so, just like with lottery revenues that are devoted to "education spending" in some states, it could be the case that it won't in fact increase net spending for the designated purpose, since what would have been spent on this purpose will end up being redirected. On the other hand, the projected tax revenue is so large (>5% of Massachusetts's entire annual tax revenue), that I suspect it would end up being a net increase in funding for the stated purposes, even accounting for fungibility.

chimeracoder 3y ago
> Now, money is fungible so, just like with lottery revenues that are devoted to "education spending" in some states, it could be the case that it won't in fact increase net spending for the designated purpose, since what would have been spent on this purpose will end up being redirected. The projected revenues from this are way larger than what's currently being spent on that purpose, so in that sense, there's no risk of "redirection" - if the projected revenues come to pass (which is likely, as a tax on an endowment is pretty easy to forecast) then it will result in an increase in funding for that purpose.

DinaCoder99 3y ago

I got a full ride through the Massachusetts state school system; so did many others I know. It's not difficult to believe.