patmcc

40 ms·

451.
by patmcc 6y ago
How do you think transactions are verified? There's a limit to the number of transactions per block, and each block takes ~10 minutes to mine. So; ~2000 transactions/block, 600 seconds, 0.3 seconds/transaction. How much energ
452.
by patmcc 6y ago
"The markets can remain irrational longer than you can remain solvent" If I could short bitcoin over a 20, 30, 40 year timeframe I absolutely would, unfortunately that's not possible. There might be utility in some cryptocu
453.
by patmcc 6y ago
Both the US military and bitcoin can be hugely wasteful, it's not xor.
454.
by patmcc 6y ago
I think you'll be surprised what a government can accomplish when it really tries. Being able to make laws helps with that.
455.
by patmcc 6y ago
This is still an under researched field (with a lot of alternative medicine types surrounding it), but there have been some studies that even relatively minor antibiotic usage in childhood may have long-term impacts. And there are more (and
456.
by patmcc 6y ago
Driving below the speed limit is strange, driving above the speed limit is illegal. Almost sounds like the police can pull over and search whoever they like, weird.
457.
by patmcc 6y ago
The OP specifically said "in the absence of evidence we need to ask ourselves which is more likely..." - and suggested (strongly) that a lab outbreak is much more likely than the alternatives. I was trying to point out that a) onc
458.
by patmcc 6y ago
>>>1) A disease traveled hundreds of miles to a large city without leaving a trace of evidence This doesn't strike me as intrinsically unlikely. Bats can apparently fly ~50 miles for food, a person on a bus can easily travel ~
459.
by patmcc 6y ago
I have the same visceral reaction - if I was seated next to a murderer at work I'd probably be wary. But visceral reactions tend not to make good social policy, and that's really my concern. We have some number of people who commi
460.
by patmcc 6y ago
So what should happen to that person, exactly? Should they be in prison forever? Should they be released but not allowed to work? Should they only be allowed to work by themselves? I understand your reluctance, but the alternatives to &quot
461.
by patmcc 6y ago
If someone has "moral foundations" that cause them to think that, for example, a particular race of people is not worthy of life, I will refuse to engage with them in reasonable debate. There's no midpoint between nazis and n
462.
by patmcc 6y ago
>>>Wait, does that mean that snooping by US intelligence agencies on people in EU is required for Facebook operation? Any US-based company is required to submit to warrants/subpoenas (assuming they're legal/proper) f
463.
by patmcc 6y ago
>>>I don't follow. The countries with the highest GDP growth rates are the ones seeing standard of living and poverty rates improve the fastest. Right, because they have a lot of low hanging fruit to pick. I'd rather live
464.
by patmcc 6y ago
Estate taxes are often on the order of ~20%+, so they can necessitate the sale of assets (real estate, companies, etc.) - and in the case of a sudden death, this can come at a very inopportune time, as well as being stressful on people who
465.
by patmcc 6y ago
What exactly is "fair"? There are lots of ways we could tax people, that some or other people would declare to be fair. Sure, we could tax all sales at 20%, or 45%. That would be fair. Can you see any problems? We could tax everyo
466.
by patmcc 6y ago
>>>There's a negative correlation between government spending levels as a percentage of GDP, and economic growth rates. Your implication, that society is better off with high levels of taxation, is not supported by the science
467.
by patmcc 6y ago
Let's talk rough numbers - I'll assume you have a net worth of $15 million. You'd owe 0.5% on $5 million - $25k a year. That would be significant enough to move countries over? Completely upend your life, move kids out of sch
468.
by patmcc 6y ago
Walk me through how you have property rights without the state enforcing then.
469.
by patmcc 6y ago
No, you responded to arguments you thought I made, namely: 1) That a wealth tax is good because you should be making more money than the tax. 2) That a wealth tax is right simply because it's affordable. I didn't make either of th
470.
by patmcc 6y ago
I was responding to a specific point - that a wealth tax means that someone will lose control of their company. That's all I was arguing against with those points.
471.
by patmcc 6y ago
I worded it badly - I mean that the paying of taxes will always lower someone's standard of living, but we should minimize that as much as possible - basically that progressive taxation is clearly the better way.
472.
by patmcc 6y ago
I'm pretty opposed to estate taxes, they tend to penalize sudden deaths really heavily and place unfair stress and complication on widows/widowers. Plus the rates are sometimes high enough that they can lead to asset liquidation,
473.
by patmcc 6y ago
An annual wealth tax of ~0.5% and a floor of ~$10million is very, very different than an inheritance tax of 30%, to the point that they're not even that comparable. So sure, I agree we shouldn't have a high inheritance tax.
474.
by patmcc 6y ago
We can have both carbon taxes AND wealth taxes, of course. Carbon taxes seem to be an excellent way to curb carbon emissions, which is necessary, but they're also regressive, and unlikely to be sufficient to pay for the things we expec
475.
by patmcc 6y ago
Do any wealth taxes being seriously discussed not have floors/exemptions for primary residences/marginal rates/whatever? Why is a wealth tax a bad tax? Why is it worse than income tax or a VAT or anything else we currently
476.
by patmcc 6y ago
The wealth taxes being talked about, broadly, would impact people with wealth of tens of millions of dollars and above. But PG talks about what they would "mean in practice for a startup founder." Already he's made a clever r
477.
by patmcc 6y ago
I'm not saying that people won't leave, I'm sure some will. I'm saying worrying about some people leaving is silly. What disaster befell Sweden because the IKEA founder left?
478.
by patmcc 6y ago
Right, but I'm saying no one would actually sell off their shares to pay the wealth tax (I mean, maybe some would in some years). They'd borrow against the assets, or take dividends, or whatever.
479.
by patmcc 6y ago
Oh, I don't disagree at all! Government spending is currently not how I would allocate things. But somehow I expect that wherever taxes were going, rich people would be displeased with the amount of taxes they were being told to pay.
480.
by patmcc 6y ago
This is simplistic to the point of absurdity, and doesn't model how any sensible wealth tax would be implemented or paid. First, any wealth tax being seriously discussed has a floor and/or has marginal rates, probably starting at

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