yequalsx

77 ms·

601.
by yequalsx 12y ago
The government isn't "printing money" in the sense that this phrase commonly denotes. The government is selling Treasury securities on the open market. The rate of interest right now is quite low and has been for the past 7
602.
by yequalsx 12y ago
It seems to me your adjusted for inflation price is talking about currency inflation and not the deflation in tech prices. $1500 is quite a bit of money for such tech in my opinion. This is especially so in light of Google's legendar
603.
by yequalsx 12y ago
There are lots of profitable companies that hire low skilled workers at minimum wage. Given this fact it is not possible that your first sentence is true. Perhaps you meant something different.
604.
by yequalsx 12y ago
If you agree that sharing both positive and negative stories is needed then what is the point of your post? I didn't claim to provide any evidence. I merely stated that I thought the GPs post was overly negative until it hit me that
605.
by yequalsx 12y ago
At first I was thinking you are doing an excessive amount of fear mongering but then I read this sentence "I bet that at least one of your fellow students will wind up in a psychiatric hospital." I knew two students in my Ph.D. pr
606.
by yequalsx 12y ago
Social Security and Medicare are not entitlement programs. They are insurance programs that are largely acutuarily sound. They should not be considered government expenditures as they are funded by the users of the insurance programs.
607.
by yequalsx 12y ago
More than anything this statistic speaks to the overwhelming military superiority of the U.S. military. The number of deaths for the U.S. military is quite small in relation to the numbers involved and the length of time of the occupation.
608.
by yequalsx 12y ago
This is a very simplistic view. It is also, strictly speaking, incorrect. You can't possibly argue that poor people consume more in absolute terms thus you must mean as a percent of wealth. But this is not a good measure. A person
609.
by yequalsx 12y ago
Here is a source that gives tax revenue as a percent of GDP. This includes all forms of tax. Given that the very wealthy increase their wealth primarily through capital gains and not through income and the capital gains tax is quite low i
610.
by yequalsx 12y ago
In general I agree with you but with one caveat. Right now the very rich pay the lowest percent of their wealth in taxes in many decades. Taxation is the means by which society is able to make its desires known. I would agree wholehearte
611.
by yequalsx 12y ago
Few people agree that taxation is the same as theft. You appear to be someone who does have this view. That is fine but it is not a commonly held belief and generally is subject to derision and down voting. This should not come as a shoc
612.
by yequalsx 12y ago
The out of the goodness of my heart ignores the inefficiency of such a system. Government funded programs are much more efficient at ensuring a clean environment, good roads, universal education, universal healthcare, etc. Also it ignores
613.
by yequalsx 12y ago
It did not start with Obama and by all accounts it was not stopped, slowed or in any way diminished by him. I think the backlash is from people who thought he'd be different and embrace a different mindset than the one he apparently h
614.
by yequalsx 12y ago
Given that you use the word "stealing" to refer to a govrernment's collection of taxes we probably won't agree on this issue. Taxes in the U.S. are at mult-decade lows. At least as of 2012. Taxation was around 15 - 16
615.
by yequalsx 12y ago
Yes, I still need a laptop and I bought one. I bought a Macbook Pro and I'm very unlikely to ever go back to the MS ecosystem. Perhaps this is why Macs are increasing in sales and PCs aren't.
616.
by yequalsx 12y ago
I'm not confused about the difference between what an irrational number is and the cardinality of the real numbers and it's various subsets. It all depends on one's philosophy and existence. When you say, "only countabl
617.
by yequalsx 12y ago
I don't believe I'm assuming anything. I asked specific questions. The answers to those questions are relevant to what the OP wrote. Your last sentence does not make sense to me. The universe is not a number and therefore is n
618.
by yequalsx 12y ago
Suppose you get into your car and start driving. You drive for 1 hour and travel 70 miles. At the end of 1 hour your car is at rest since you've reached your destination. Now let x be a number less than or equal to 70. Was there a p
619.
by yequalsx 12y ago
I don't see why your first paragraph is true. Can you elaborate why we should expect mathematics to have 'fewer rough edges' in your parlance if mathematics was deep in the manner of Wigner? I don't see why this has to
620.
by yequalsx 12y ago
I think it is definitely not true that "<i>Everything else in mathematics is just convenient representations of Gödel numberings to say what is equal and how much things aren't</i>" It is true that it appears
621.
by yequalsx 12y ago
I completely misjudged what your main point was going to be when I read your first paragraph. I read everything you wrote and this is one of the best posts I've seen anywhere. Very well written and thought out. Thank you for giving
622.
by yequalsx 12y ago
In Canada the estate pays the tax not the beneficiaries. In Canada the estate is considered a sale. "The deceased is considered to have sold all of his or her capital property for fair market value immediately prior to death. This inc
623.
by yequalsx 12y ago
It was stated that $5 million puts one in the upper echelons of society. This is a true statement. It is also true that a calamity can wipe out that amount of money. I do not believe the issues are related in that I don't think it ma
624.
by yequalsx 12y ago
I suppose you think your grandmother ought to have been able to keep the millions while having society pay for her care. Does that seem fair to you? The estate tax issue is not in any way related to the issue of health care for the elderly
625.
by yequalsx 12y ago
There is no such thing as a double tax as you put it. All money is double, triple, quadrupled so on and so forth taxed. The principle for fairness behind taxation is that whenever you get money (or wealth) there is a tax. Regardless of w
626.
by yequalsx 12y ago
You seem to be considering only the U.S. government. The Scandinavian countries have done quite well in combating poverty. While the U.S. government has not eradicated poverty it was government programs that ensured that people were fed a
627.
by yequalsx 12y ago
Regarding your last paragraph. It's a problem if too much money is given to causes that don't really benefit society as a whole. There is also the fact that there are no instances of philanthropy ever being at a high enough amou
628.
by yequalsx 12y ago
The problem with relying, even partially, on philanthropy to correct some of the imbalances of capitalism is that one encounters the free rider problem. There is also the issue where a very wealthy person has as their philanthropic cause s
629.
by yequalsx 12y ago
The NSA, CIA, TSA, DOD, DEA, the drug war, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the 'war' on terror. Also, taxation is at multi-decade lows.
630.
by yequalsx 12y ago
Yeah, that's simply not believable.

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