Europeans abandoning wealth tax similar to that being championed by Sanders and Warren

[Axulus]

Some 15 countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a group of economically advanced nations, had wealth taxes in 1995. Now, only four do: Switzerland, Belgium, Norway and Spain.

Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Austria have all abandoned the policy, citing the high cost of implementation and the small revenue it generated.

France, the most recent country to back away from the idea, the wealth tax was estimated to bring in about 3.6 billion euros annually and cost the country about 7 billion euros annually from fraud as well as an eroded tax base caused by taxpayers leaving the country, according to research by Eric Pichet.

In the first 10 years the tax was in effect, Pichet estimates that about 200 billion euros of capital left France or was never invested because entrepreneurs opted to put their money in lower-tax jurisdictions.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...ealth-tax-but-europeans-are-ditching-the-idea

But don't let that stop the economic ignoramouses from supporting the tax here.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

You mean the ignoramuses that voted for
President Tariff?

 

[Harry Bosch]

Some 15 countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a group of economically advanced nations, had wealth taxes in 1995. Now, only four do: Switzerland, Belgium, Norway and Spain.

Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Austria have all abandoned the policy, citing the high cost of implementation and the small revenue it generated.

France, the most recent country to back away from the idea, the wealth tax was estimated to bring in about 3.6 billion euros annually and cost the country about 7 billion euros annually from fraud as well as an eroded tax base caused by taxpayers leaving the country, according to research by Eric Pichet.

In the first 10 years the tax was in effect, Pichet estimates that about 200 billion euros of capital left France or was never invested because entrepreneurs opted to put their money in lower-tax jurisdictions.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...ealth-tax-but-europeans-are-ditching-the-idea

But don't let that stop the economic ignoramouses from supporting the tax here.

I'm not surprised. BTW: Sander's wealth tax is far more extreme than Warren's. Warren wants to tax about 3% of net wealth; Bernie 50%. I think that a severe US wealth tax would be a great thing for Canada!

 

[RVonse]

Some 15 countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a group of economically advanced nations, had wealth taxes in 1995. Now, only four do: Switzerland, Belgium, Norway and Spain.

Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Austria have all abandoned the policy, citing the high cost of implementation and the small revenue it generated.

France, the most recent country to back away from the idea, the wealth tax was estimated to bring in about 3.6 billion euros annually and cost the country about 7 billion euros annually from fraud as well as an eroded tax base caused by taxpayers leaving the country, according to research by Eric Pichet.

In the first 10 years the tax was in effect, Pichet estimates that about 200 billion euros of capital left France or was never invested because entrepreneurs opted to put their money in lower-tax jurisdictions.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...ealth-tax-but-europeans-are-ditching-the-idea

But don't let that stop the economic ignoramouses from supporting the tax here.

How do you think the extreme wealth disparity that has developed in the US should be solved?

And yes, extreme wealth disparity is a serious problem for the US and mostly responsible for the rise of Trump and in populism. Social studies have shown that a population does not mind being poor (like Peru) as long as the situation is deemed to be fair. But when the bottom perceives that it is not fair (as the case now in the US), the pitch forks are going to come out in a very violent way.

Just how would solve this issue Axulus? Or do you want the political system to fall off the rails?

 

[Trausti]

Some 15 countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a group of economically advanced nations, had wealth taxes in 1995. Now, only four do: Switzerland, Belgium, Norway and Spain.

Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Austria have all abandoned the policy, citing the high cost of implementation and the small revenue it generated.

France, the most recent country to back away from the idea, the wealth tax was estimated to bring in about 3.6 billion euros annually and cost the country about 7 billion euros annually from fraud as well as an eroded tax base caused by taxpayers leaving the country, according to research by Eric Pichet.

In the first 10 years the tax was in effect, Pichet estimates that about 200 billion euros of capital left France or was never invested because entrepreneurs opted to put their money in lower-tax jurisdictions.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...ealth-tax-but-europeans-are-ditching-the-idea

But don't let that stop the economic ignoramouses from supporting the tax here.

How do you think the extreme wealth disparity that has developed in the US should be solved?

And yes, extreme wealth disparity is a serious problem for the US and mostly responsible for the rise of Trump and in populism. Social studies have shown that a population does not mind being poor (like Peru) as long as the situation is deemed to be fair. But when the bottom perceives that it is not fair (as the case now in the US), the pitch forks are going to come out in a very violent way.

Just how would solve this issue Axulus? Or do you want the political system to fall off the rails?

Envy is never a good solution.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

How do you think the extreme wealth disparity that has developed in the US should be solved?

And yes, extreme wealth disparity is a serious problem for the US and mostly responsible for the rise of Trump and in populism. Social studies have shown that a population does not mind being poor (like Peru) as long as the situation is deemed to be fair. But when the bottom perceives that it is not fair (as the case now in the US), the pitch forks are going to come out in a very violent way.

Just how would solve this issue Axulus? Or do you want the political system to fall off the rails?

Envy is never a good solution.

Envy is the basis of capitalism.

 

[RVonse]

How do you think the extreme wealth disparity that has developed in the US should be solved?

And yes, extreme wealth disparity is a serious problem for the US and mostly responsible for the rise of Trump and in populism. Social studies have shown that a population does not mind being poor (like Peru) as long as the situation is deemed to be fair. But when the bottom perceives that it is not fair (as the case now in the US), the pitch forks are going to come out in a very violent way.

Just how would solve this issue Axulus? Or do you want the political system to fall off the rails?

Envy is never a good solution.

Does envy really have anything to do with it?

I believe people are really pissed off because they see a system steered towards a select elite. This would not be because they are envious of what they already have....its because they know it is unfair. Citizens who know that certain individuals are reaping rewards that can not possibly be justified given the amount that was produced by those same individuals. And most citizens also knowing that certain other individuals (like illegal and HB1 immigrants) collect lower than average compensation versus what they actually contribute to the economy. Some people are doing more to bake the cake for much less money and it just isn't fair. For the most part, people are not stupid and they know exactly what is going on.

So its not a envy issue its a basic fairness issue.

 

[Axulus]

Some 15 countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a group of economically advanced nations, had wealth taxes in 1995. Now, only four do: Switzerland, Belgium, Norway and Spain.

Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Austria have all abandoned the policy, citing the high cost of implementation and the small revenue it generated.

France, the most recent country to back away from the idea, the wealth tax was estimated to bring in about 3.6 billion euros annually and cost the country about 7 billion euros annually from fraud as well as an eroded tax base caused by taxpayers leaving the country, according to research by Eric Pichet.

In the first 10 years the tax was in effect, Pichet estimates that about 200 billion euros of capital left France or was never invested because entrepreneurs opted to put their money in lower-tax jurisdictions.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...ealth-tax-but-europeans-are-ditching-the-idea

But don't let that stop the economic ignoramouses from supporting the tax here.

How do you think the extreme wealth disparity that has developed in the US should be solved?

And yes, extreme wealth disparity is a serious problem for the US and mostly responsible for the rise of Trump and in populism. Social studies have shown that a population does not mind being poor (like Peru) as long as the situation is deemed to be fair. But when the bottom perceives that it is not fair (as the case now in the US), the pitch forks are going to come out in a very violent way.

Just how would solve this issue Axulus? Or do you want the political system to fall off the rails?

That's an extremely complicated question that I don't have a good answer to. I always go by the best evidence when anything in particular is proposed, and these kind of wealth taxes have been shown to raise relatively little tax money and have negative consequences to the economy. Also, very little evidence that they are effective in reducing wealth inequality. Whatever the proposal is, I would want it to be backed by evidence that it will accomplish what it sets out to accomplish without significant harm to the economy.

 

[Harry Bosch]

How do you think the extreme wealth disparity that has developed in the US should be solved?

And yes, extreme wealth disparity is a serious problem for the US and mostly responsible for the rise of Trump and in populism. Social studies have shown that a population does not mind being poor (like Peru) as long as the situation is deemed to be fair. But when the bottom perceives that it is not fair (as the case now in the US), the pitch forks are going to come out in a very violent way.

Just how would solve this issue Axulus? Or do you want the political system to fall off the rails?

That's an extremely complicated question that I don't have a good answer to. I always go by the best evidence when anything in particular is proposed, and these kind of wealth taxes have been shown to raise relatively little tax money and have negative consequences to the economy. Also, very little evidence that they are effective in reducing wealth inequality. Whatever the proposal is, I would want it to be backed by evidence that it will accomplish what it sets out to accomplish without significant harm to the economy.

Well, isn't Rvonse stating that he'd rather have everyone at the same level (presumably because that is "fair") and have everyone be poor (similar to Peru)? Personally, I'd rather live in a country where initiative and risk taking is rewarded.

 

[Angra Mainyu]

How do you think the extreme wealth disparity that has developed in the US should be solved?

And yes, extreme wealth disparity is a serious problem for the US and mostly responsible for the rise of Trump and in populism. Social studies have shown that a population does not mind being poor (like Peru) as long as the situation is deemed to be fair. But when the bottom perceives that it is not fair (as the case now in the US), the pitch forks are going to come out in a very violent way.

Just how would solve this issue Axulus? Or do you want the political system to fall off the rails?

That's an extremely complicated question that I don't have a good answer to. I always go by the best evidence when anything in particular is proposed, and these kind of wealth taxes have been shown to raise relatively little tax money and have negative consequences to the economy. Also, very little evidence that they are effective in reducing wealth inequality. Whatever the proposal is, I would want it to be backed by evidence that it will accomplish what it sets out to accomplish without significant harm to the economy.

Well, isn't Rvonse stating that he'd rather have everyone at the same level (presumably because that is "fair") and have everyone be poor (similar to Peru)? Personally, I'd rather live in a country where initiative and risk taking is rewarded.

Peru seems to be doing pretty well (relatively speaking, but look where they were in the past), growing at a sustained and very fast rate for iirc almost 2 decades, mostly with pro-market policies. There is plenty of economic inequality, though, and surely not everyone is poor.

 

[DBT]

How do you think the extreme wealth disparity that has developed in the US should be solved?

And yes, extreme wealth disparity is a serious problem for the US and mostly responsible for the rise of Trump and in populism. Social studies have shown that a population does not mind being poor (like Peru) as long as the situation is deemed to be fair. But when the bottom perceives that it is not fair (as the case now in the US), the pitch forks are going to come out in a very violent way.

Just how would solve this issue Axulus? Or do you want the political system to fall off the rails?

Envy is never a good solution.

Envy is the basis of capitalism.

It's an issue that goes way beyond mere envy.

 

[RVonse]

How do you think the extreme wealth disparity that has developed in the US should be solved?

And yes, extreme wealth disparity is a serious problem for the US and mostly responsible for the rise of Trump and in populism. Social studies have shown that a population does not mind being poor (like Peru) as long as the situation is deemed to be fair. But when the bottom perceives that it is not fair (as the case now in the US), the pitch forks are going to come out in a very violent way.

Just how would solve this issue Axulus? Or do you want the political system to fall off the rails?

That's an extremely complicated question that I don't have a good answer to. I always go by the best evidence when anything in particular is proposed, and these kind of wealth taxes have been shown to raise relatively little tax money and have negative consequences to the economy. Also, very little evidence that they are effective in reducing wealth inequality. Whatever the proposal is, I would want it to be backed by evidence that it will accomplish what it sets out to accomplish without significant harm to the economy.

Well, isn't Rvonse stating that he'd rather have everyone at the same level (presumably because that is "fair") and have everyone be poor (similar to Peru)? Personally, I'd rather live in a country where initiative and risk taking is rewarded.

No. Not at all. I'd rather live in a peaceful society with personal liberty where ambition is rewarded and the largest section of the population prospers. For example, how it used to be in the US around 50 years ago.

 

[ZiprHead]

Are countries abandoning the wealth tax because it didn't work or because conservative politicians have taken over those nation's governments and are now doing the business for the wealthy?

 

[barbos]

I'm not surprised. BTW: Sander's wealth tax is far more extreme than Warren's. Warren wants to tax about 3% of net wealth; Bernie 50%. I think that a severe US wealth tax would be a great thing for Canada!

Where do you get this 50% from? 50% is no different from 100%, hence is stupid.

 

[Worldtraveller]

Are countries abandoning the wealth tax because it didn't work or because conservative politicians have taken over those nation's governments and are now doing the business for the wealthy?

This is the question I came to ask. I'd like to see some kind of evidence showing why it "doesn't work", with numbers, and comparisons of other systems where it wasn't implemented.

If you just follow the news in the US, you'd think universal health care doesn't work either, and the GOP is constantly working to prove that. You'd also think that raising taxes on the rich "doesn't help" either, but again, the data would show you wrong. So show us the actual data.

 

[Jason Harvestdancer]

How do you think the extreme wealth disparity that has developed in the US should be solved?

And yes, extreme wealth disparity is a serious problem for the US and mostly responsible for the rise of Trump and in populism. Social studies have shown that a population does not mind being poor (like Peru) as long as the situation is deemed to be fair. But when the bottom perceives that it is not fair (as the case now in the US), the pitch forks are going to come out in a very violent way.

Just how would solve this issue Axulus? Or do you want the political system to fall off the rails?

Envy is never a good solution.

Envy is the basis of capitalism.

Envy is not the same thing as Jealousy or Greed.

 

[Treedbear]

How do you think the extreme wealth disparity that has developed in the US should be solved?

And yes, extreme wealth disparity is a serious problem for the US and mostly responsible for the rise of Trump and in populism. Social studies have shown that a population does not mind being poor (like Peru) as long as the situation is deemed to be fair. But when the bottom perceives that it is not fair (as the case now in the US), the pitch forks are going to come out in a very violent way.

Just how would solve this issue Axulus? Or do you want the political system to fall off the rails?

That's an extremely complicated question that I don't have a good answer to. I always go by the best evidence when anything in particular is proposed, and these kind of wealth taxes have been shown to raise relatively little tax money and have negative consequences to the economy. Also, very little evidence that they are effective in reducing wealth inequality. Whatever the proposal is, I would want it to be backed by evidence that it will accomplish what it sets out to accomplish without significant harm to the economy.

Well, isn't Rvonse stating that he'd rather have everyone at the same level (presumably because that is "fair") and have everyone be poor (similar to Peru)? Personally, I'd rather live in a country where initiative and risk taking is rewarded.

That's what state lotteries and Indian casinos are for.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Well, isn't Rvonse stating that he'd rather have everyone at the same level (presumably because that is "fair") and have everyone be poor (similar to Peru)? Personally, I'd rather live in a country where initiative and risk taking is rewarded.

No. Not at all. I'd rather live in a peaceful society with personal liberty where ambition is rewarded and the largest section of the population prospers. For example, how it used to be in the US around 50 years ago.

Closer to 60 years ago now, and the economy has transformed a bit now. Are you looking to go back to vacuum tube computers?

 

[Bomb#20]

How do you think the extreme wealth disparity that has developed in the US should be solved?

And yes, extreme wealth disparity is a serious problem for the US and mostly responsible for the rise of Trump and in populism. Social studies have shown that a population does not mind being poor (like Peru) as long as the situation is deemed to be fair. But when the bottom perceives that it is not fair (as the case now in the US), the pitch forks are going to come out in a very violent way.

Just how would solve this issue Axulus? Or do you want the political system to fall off the rails?

"Distribution of family income - Gini index measures the degree of inequality in the distribution of family income in a country. The more nearly equal a country's income distribution, the lower its Gini index, e.g., a Scandinavian country with an index of 25. The more unequal a country's income distribution, the higher its Gini index, e.g., a Sub-Saharan country with an index of 50. If income were distributed with perfect equality the index would be zero; if income were distributed with perfect inequality, the index would be 100.

1 LESOTHO 63.2
...
38 PERU 45.3
39 UNITED STATES 45.0
...
155 KOSOVO 23.2"

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2172rank.html?

 

[RVonse]

Well, isn't Rvonse stating that he'd rather have everyone at the same level (presumably because that is "fair") and have everyone be poor (similar to Peru)? Personally, I'd rather live in a country where initiative and risk taking is rewarded.

No. Not at all. I'd rather live in a peaceful society with personal liberty where ambition is rewarded and the largest section of the population prospers. For example, how it used to be in the US around 50 years ago.

Closer to 60 years ago now, and the economy has transformed a bit now. Are you looking to go back to vacuum tube computers?

What do vacuum tubes have to do with the gini index?

There are a couple of things we could learn from Germany I believe . Besides having an advanced manufacturing economy, the Germans are heavily unionized and those union leaders actually sit on the corporate boards. Current GM CEO (Marry Barra) makes over 30 times what her workers do. Yet the CEO of Volkswagon (a larger company than GM) makes about 6 times. Is that because of feminism Jimmy?