2 ms·

Maybe there's something disfunctional about an economic system that lets ordinary people set up complex product and distributions systems, and then take all the

Maybe there's something disfunctional about an economic system that lets ordinary people set up complex product and distributions systems, and then take all the money from them forever. There's something in Europe called VAT that addresses this. It's important to come up with some kind of solution. When the current system reduces to a single purveyor for every product sector, which we're heading for at breakneck speed right now, there will be only a few people owning the whole shebang, and nobody to buy the products because nobody else is needed/has a job at all.

gopher_space 2y ago
I’d like a discussion around hard caps well beneath the “teens on a private island” level. It seems like we could determine the curve of corrosion that the idea of increasing wealth has on the brain with a few really unkind experiments.
fsckboy 2y ago
VAT is Value Added Tax. What is value-add? Selling something for more than it cost you to make it, "adding value" as measured by revenues minus costs. What are other words for that? profit, income What are taxes on that? income taxes. from the point of view of the govt, the VAT is just an ordinary income tax. but instead of being paid by the businesses, it's paid by the consumers, discouraging them from buying high margin items, encouraging them to buy low margin items.
- rich_sasha 2y ago
  What is nice about VAT is that you can tax different goods differently. You can have low VAT on essentials, which everyone - poor or rich - needs, but have higher tax on luxury items. In that respect, it is similar to a progressive tax, except harder to avoid - even an ultra rich who has "no income" buys stuff. Except of course there are gaping loopholes, for example businesses are effectively exempt from VAT, also you can buy stuff abroad where VAT is lower.
- Ekaros 2y ago
  VAT is essentially flat-tax. Which like all consumption tax works against those that spend higher proportion of their income on buying things necessary for living...

gopher_space 2y ago

I’d like a discussion around hard caps well beneath the “teens on a private island” level. It seems like we could determine the curve of corrosion that the idea of increasing wealth has on the brain with a few really unkind experiments.

fsckboy 2y ago

VAT is Value Added Tax. What is value-add? Selling something for more than it cost you to make it, "adding value" as measured by revenues minus costs. What are other words for that? profit, income What are taxes on that? income taxes. from the point of view of the govt, the VAT is just an ordinary income tax. but instead of being paid by the businesses, it's paid by the consumers, discouraging them from buying high margin items, encouraging them to buy low margin items.

rich_sasha 2y ago
What is nice about VAT is that you can tax different goods differently. You can have low VAT on essentials, which everyone - poor or rich - needs, but have higher tax on luxury items. In that respect, it is similar to a progressive tax, except harder to avoid - even an ultra rich who has "no income" buys stuff. Except of course there are gaping loopholes, for example businesses are effectively exempt from VAT, also you can buy stuff abroad where VAT is lower.
Ekaros 2y ago
VAT is essentially flat-tax. Which like all consumption tax works against those that spend higher proportion of their income on buying things necessary for living...