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Saverin's exit is a warning sign, a symptom of a growing sickness in America. All of the envious, hateful attacks on the "top 1%" and the likely prospect of pu

Saverin's exit is a warning sign, a symptom of a growing sickness in America. All of the envious, hateful attacks on the "top 1%" and the likely prospect of punitive new taxes to support our out-of-control entitlement state make entrepreneurs like Saverin a target, and he knows it.

Aloisius 14y ago
Yes, the out of control entitlement state which collects... significantly less taxes than most of the 20th century. I hate to sound like a populist, but for goodness sake some perspective is necessary.
- dantheman 14y ago
  There's a difference between tax rate and effective tax rate; the high taxes of yore were never really paid by anyone with money.
  - eli 14y ago
    Prett sure the effective tax rate is declining as well...
    - romeodelight 14y ago
      The average effective corporate tax rates last year was 12.1%
- javert 14y ago
  AFAIK your claim is factually untrue by a very large margin. Care to explain?
  - Aloisius 14y ago
    The top marginal tax rate averaged about 54% for the 20th century: http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/taxfacts/displayafact.cfm?Docid=213 http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/taxfacts/displayafact.cfm?Doc... It peaked at 94% during WW2, but even absent of any wars, it was significantly higher than it is now (35%). It was even worse once you work out how much more progressive our tax is now than it used to be. In 1982, you were paying 50% federal tax on all income above $106K (about $200K in today's dollars). Now the top tax rate doesn't even kick in until after $388K. People today are paying historically low tax rates mostly because of the Republican's cynical attempt to "starve the beast" in order to reduce spending - which I might add is entirely backwards as it gives everyone what they want and no one feels any pain. If they really wanted to reduce spending, they'd force tax raises so everyone felt the consequences of every new government program.
- orangecat 14y ago
  Yes, the out of control entitlement state which collects... significantly less taxes than most of the 20th century. Spending is just deferred taxation, and spending keeps going up. Yes, after adjusting for population and inflation: http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/spending_chart_1970_2017USd_13s1li111mcn_F0t http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/spending_chart_1970_2017...
mikeash 14y ago
Is it really that awful to want wealthy people to pay at least as much in taxes as the middle class?
- dantheman 14y ago
  They pay way more total money, and most people are complaining about capital gains taxes but that's not really income is it? It's risked capital that has already been taxed at the corporate rates.
  - chadmalik 14y ago
    Care to source that? Anyway, the point is there's something wrong when capital income is taxed at half the rate of labor income. In particular, taxing carried interest income that low is especially egregious. Private equity and VC partners that are earning a guaranteed % of funds under management annually are NOT taking a risk.
  - Drbble 14y ago
    Salary isn't income either, it's risked labor that should be deductible as a business expense.
    - dantheman 14y ago
      I have always gotten paid for every hour I've ever worked, but I've lost money on investments. In fact, one of the reasons for a wage is so that your risk is limited. In theory you could get paid purely in stock grants and bear the risk that entails.
  - mikeash 14y ago
    Can you explain the bit about already having been taxed at the corporate rates? I've seen others mention that but I never quite got it. Say a person buys $1 million of AAPL at $50, then sells at $500, netting $9 million of capital gains. Where and when were the corporate taxes paid on that $9 million?
13rules 14y ago
Completely agree! This is the result of the short-sightedness of a liberal, progressive, tax-the-rich policy. California has already seen what happens when you keep raising taxes, now it's happening countrywide. Wouldn't we rather keep Eduardo and his billions in the US to spend and invest here?

Aloisius 14y ago

Yes, the out of control entitlement state which collects... significantly less taxes than most of the 20th century. I hate to sound like a populist, but for goodness sake some perspective is necessary.

dantheman 14y ago
There's a difference between tax rate and effective tax rate; the high taxes of yore were never really paid by anyone with money.
- eli 14y ago
  Prett sure the effective tax rate is declining as well...
  - romeodelight 14y ago
    The average effective corporate tax rates last year was 12.1%
javert 14y ago
AFAIK your claim is factually untrue by a very large margin. Care to explain?
- Aloisius 14y ago
  The top marginal tax rate averaged about 54% for the 20th century: http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/taxfacts/displayafact.cfm?Docid=213 http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/taxfacts/displayafact.cfm?Doc... It peaked at 94% during WW2, but even absent of any wars, it was significantly higher than it is now (35%). It was even worse once you work out how much more progressive our tax is now than it used to be. In 1982, you were paying 50% federal tax on all income above $106K (about $200K in today's dollars). Now the top tax rate doesn't even kick in until after $388K. People today are paying historically low tax rates mostly because of the Republican's cynical attempt to "starve the beast" in order to reduce spending - which I might add is entirely backwards as it gives everyone what they want and no one feels any pain. If they really wanted to reduce spending, they'd force tax raises so everyone felt the consequences of every new government program.
orangecat 14y ago
Yes, the out of control entitlement state which collects... significantly less taxes than most of the 20th century. Spending is just deferred taxation, and spending keeps going up. Yes, after adjusting for population and inflation: http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/spending_chart_1970_2017USd_13s1li111mcn_F0t http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/spending_chart_1970_2017...

mikeash 14y ago

Is it really that awful to want wealthy people to pay at least as much in taxes as the middle class?

dantheman 14y ago
They pay way more total money, and most people are complaining about capital gains taxes but that's not really income is it? It's risked capital that has already been taxed at the corporate rates.
- chadmalik 14y ago
  Care to source that? Anyway, the point is there's something wrong when capital income is taxed at half the rate of labor income. In particular, taxing carried interest income that low is especially egregious. Private equity and VC partners that are earning a guaranteed % of funds under management annually are NOT taking a risk.
- Drbble 14y ago
  Salary isn't income either, it's risked labor that should be deductible as a business expense.
  - dantheman 14y ago
    I have always gotten paid for every hour I've ever worked, but I've lost money on investments. In fact, one of the reasons for a wage is so that your risk is limited. In theory you could get paid purely in stock grants and bear the risk that entails.
- mikeash 14y ago
  Can you explain the bit about already having been taxed at the corporate rates? I've seen others mention that but I never quite got it. Say a person buys $1 million of AAPL at $50, then sells at $500, netting $9 million of capital gains. Where and when were the corporate taxes paid on that $9 million?

13rules 14y ago

Completely agree! This is the result of the short-sightedness of a liberal, progressive, tax-the-rich policy. California has already seen what happens when you keep raising taxes, now it's happening countrywide. Wouldn't we rather keep Eduardo and his billions in the US to spend and invest here?