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Not surprising that an Atlas Shrugged reading entrepreneur dislikes taxation. But government services cost money, and by other accounts [0] Norway are doing pr
by jplrssn 2y ago
Not surprising that an Atlas Shrugged reading entrepreneur dislikes taxation.
But government services cost money, and by other accounts [0] Norway are doing pretty well:
Norway performs well in many dimensions of well-being relative to other countries in the Better Life Index. Norway outperforms the average in jobs, work-life balance, education, health, environmental quality, social connections, civic engagement, safety and life satisfaction.
[0] https://www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org/countries/norway/ https://www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org/countries/norway/
- SiempreViernes 2y agoCareful, did you pay him the three dollars it costs to quote his text?!
- jjtheblunt 2y agoDoes Norway perform well in various well-being metrics essentially because Norway is extremely oil rich? (I don't pretend to know the answer, and ask because I don't see how to figure that out)
- mediaman 2y agoYes, they're just a petrostate. Over half their economy is oil and mining.
- currymj 2y agothey separate out oil activities in their national accounts. “Mainland Norway” GDP is also not bad compared to neighboring countries. although it doesn’t measure indirect effects of oil wealth on other sectors. but still, “petrostate” isn’t really accurate.
- jplrssn 2y agoIt's a good question. If that were the case, I would have expected to also see other oil rich countries at the top of those rankings.
- thrw42A8N 2y agoNorway is uniquely located among those, though.
- vlovich123 2y agoIt’s uniqueness is more how they manage their petrol dollars through a government investment fund rather than subsidizing government services directly or giving back the money to buy popular support like you see in Alaska.
- tharmas 2y agoYes, well managed indeed! Far superior to what the Canadians did with their oil wealth. The Norwegians negotiated a good price for their oil. The Canadians practically gave it away. https://thetyee.ca/Series/2012/08/01/Norway-Petro-Wealth-Series/ https://thetyee.ca/Series/2012/08/01/Norway-Petro-Wealth-Ser...
- HPsquared 2y agoFor a small country with that much oil money, "better than average" is a pretty low standard.
- cbmuser 2y agoI have lived in Norway for a year and it’s definitely not as bright as you’re painting it. Rent prices are extremely high and apartments are quite small compared to other European cities. Alcohol is so expensive, that Norwegians go on alcohol shopping tours to Sweden. Trains in Oslo don’t run 24 hours, so you have to take long detours with busses at night or pay obnoxiously high rates when taking a cab. No, Norway is definitely not the paradise you’re trying to make it. Also, these people that left Norway weren’t against paying taxes. They were against the socialist government trying to rip them off with a completely unfair taxation.
- elygre 2y agoThey left because they didn't want to pay taxes. No monkeying about, they want to be rich and tax free.
- dzhiurgis 2y agoHow do you pay taxes for something that doesn't exist with money you do not have?
- mikrl 2y agoI think the rationale is that if you have unrealized gains, there is a high likelihood that you are well off, and can therefore be pressured into reifying your economic potential into a resource that the government can appropriate (ie money) It’s not a straightforward tax like income tax, it’s more of a class based tax that has some aspects in common with income / CG taxes. It makes sense when you consider that the capital owning class is and was always the most well off, even more so than aristocrats, since the Industrial Revolution anyway.
- thrw42A8N 2y agoWhat a nice way to preserve feudal classes. It'd be just terrible if someone not rich attempted startups.
- Aeolun 2y agoAnyone that gets taxed more than they have money to pay is inclined to dislike that taxation. I completely agree with the wish to not cannibalize hour company before it’s even properly profitable. They’re ‘unrealized gains’ for a reason. That said, I also feel there is a way to do this tax properly.
- danudey 2y ago> They’re ‘unrealized gains’ for a reason The bridge that governments are attempting to make is between "you can't tax me on these, they're unrealized gains!" and "I'm going to fund my billionaire lifestyle by borrowing against these unrealized gains." Maybe tax people on those unrealized gains if they use them as collateral?
- bluefirebrand 2y agoMaybe don't allow unrealized gains to be used as collateral for borrowing?
- voisin 2y agoI am inclined to agree with your suggestion and agree with OP. Mr Entrepreneur starts a business with $1,000 of his own capital and manages to grow his stake to $1,000,000. If the only way for him to use the $1,000,000 as collateral for a loan is to sell it and realize the gain, then he doesn’t need the loan anymore and a successful entrepreneur is deprived of ongoing ownership. But by allowing him to borrow on the $1,000,000 and taxing him, he is still able to maintain his share and use a portion of the loan proceeds to pay the new collateral tax. Netting less of the loan proceeds seems preferable for everyone than to force him to sell his stake.
- danudey 2y agoIs a man not entitled to the unrealized sweat of his brow?
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]