5 ms·

How do you go from "tax on private wealth" to "tax on the poor"?

by vruiz 11y ago

minot 11y ago
Inflation is tax on the poor.
- Mikeb85 11y ago
  Except it's not.
  - pooper 11y ago
    I'm sure you can do better than that as a student of economics...
    - Mikeb85 11y ago
      Of course I can. But I don't need to. If someone says the sky is green with no justification or explanation, do I need to write a paragraph about why it's not green?
      - minot 11y ago
        I guess inflation is tax on those who hold cash. Inflation is tax on people who hold cash (or are on a fixed income that will not go up as inflation drives prices up). My thought was that inflation hurts the poor the most. If someone is rich, they probably hold more than just bank notes and government bonds. They hold controlling interests in the markets. As inflation goes up, they will hurt but the rich will not hurt as much as the poor will.
- jessaustin 11y ago
  Inflation is a "tax" on those who have savings. In some cases (e.g. elderly retired) those who have savings are poor, but mostly if you have enough money left over after eating and keeping the lights on to save, you're not poor.
adventured 11y ago
Inflation always hits the non-rich the hardest. The rich have countless options for avoiding inflation. Those that are primarily wage dependent, do not. This is why the wealth gap has expanded so much in the US the last 15 years: the abuse levied on the dollar. Take a look at how nearly every single thing priced in dollars zoomed after 2001, including the GDP of every nation on earth and commodities - all went up simultaneously, often dramatically, and all stopped going up simultaneously. That was the dollar losing value, aka the non-rich in America having their standard of living hammered, while the rich were able to shield themselves from the damage, leading to a vastly expanded wealth gap.
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
- bodyfour 11y ago
  Your first sentence makes some sense, but your second is way off base. Over a time scale of generations the wealth gap is controlled by larger social/taxation/etc questions. (For one example, in the US more public money is spent educating a rich student than a poor one) However, in the shorter day-to-day or year-to-year time scales it's mostly just a reflection of equity values. The rich have a lot of their money in equities and the poor have none. If at the closing bell the stock markets are up then the wealth gap just increased that day; if they're down it has shrunk. The "dollar losing value" argument is silly. The opponents of loose monetary policy (and especially gold bugs and bitcoin fanboys) have been predicting sky-high inflation. When it didn't show up on cue their line morphed into this wishy-washy claim that inflation is somehow secretly high. Believe me, when inflation is high its not a secret.

How do you go from "tax on private wealth" to "tax on the poor"?

by vruiz 11y ago

How do you go from "tax on private wealth" to "tax on the poor"?

minot 11y ago

Inflation is tax on the poor.

Mikeb85 11y ago
Except it's not.
- pooper 11y ago
  I'm sure you can do better than that as a student of economics...
  - Mikeb85 11y ago
    Of course I can. But I don't need to. If someone says the sky is green with no justification or explanation, do I need to write a paragraph about why it's not green?
    - minot 11y ago
      I guess inflation is tax on those who hold cash. Inflation is tax on people who hold cash (or are on a fixed income that will not go up as inflation drives prices up). My thought was that inflation hurts the poor the most. If someone is rich, they probably hold more than just bank notes and government bonds. They hold controlling interests in the markets. As inflation goes up, they will hurt but the rich will not hurt as much as the poor will.
jessaustin 11y ago
Inflation is a "tax" on those who have savings. In some cases (e.g. elderly retired) those who have savings are poor, but mostly if you have enough money left over after eating and keeping the lights on to save, you're not poor.

adventured 11y ago

Inflation always hits the non-rich the hardest. The rich have countless options for avoiding inflation. Those that are primarily wage dependent, do not. This is why the wealth gap has expanded so much in the US the last 15 years: the abuse levied on the dollar. Take a look at how nearly every single thing priced in dollars zoomed after 2001, including the GDP of every nation on earth and commodities - all went up simultaneously, often dramatically, and all stopped going up simultaneously. That was the dollar losing value, aka the non-rich in America having their standard of living hammered, while the rich were able to shield themselves from the damage, leading to a vastly expanded wealth gap.

deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
bodyfour 11y ago
Your first sentence makes some sense, but your second is way off base. Over a time scale of generations the wealth gap is controlled by larger social/taxation/etc questions. (For one example, in the US more public money is spent educating a rich student than a poor one) However, in the shorter day-to-day or year-to-year time scales it's mostly just a reflection of equity values. The rich have a lot of their money in equities and the poor have none. If at the closing bell the stock markets are up then the wealth gap just increased that day; if they're down it has shrunk. The "dollar losing value" argument is silly. The opponents of loose monetary policy (and especially gold bugs and bitcoin fanboys) have been predicting sky-high inflation. When it didn't show up on cue their line morphed into this wishy-washy claim that inflation is somehow secretly high. Believe me, when inflation is high its not a secret.