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Peter1469
01-27-2019, 08:08 AM
Why America needs more billionaires (https://theweek.com/articles/819262/why-america-needs-more-billionaires)

The attacks against billionaires is short sighted and ignore the importance of the super-rich in the developed world.


So it's the game Ocasio-Cortez claims to hate — "a system that allows billionaires to exist" amid poverty — not the players, at least perhaps if they are charitable. Yet surely a billionaire can represent a "moral outcome" just by being good at business and selling a good or service that people value. Take Gates, for example. Microsoft, the company he co-founded with Paul Allen, helped revolutionize home computing, generated massive wealth for retirement plans everywhere, and created hundreds of thousands of jobs over the decades. (Indeed, the American tech sector, while producing lots of billionaires, also produces jobs with annual compensation twice the U.S. average). Surely, Gates' lifework wasn't a net negative for society until he decided to start the Gates Foundation and fund efforts to boost education and reduce global poverty.


And Gates' story is hardly the exception in the United States. Among the 400 richest Americans — all billionaires, according to Forbes (https://www.forbes.com/forbes-400/#62eb3dcf7e2f) — about 70 percent (https://www.forbes.com/sites/afontevecchia/2014/10/02/the-new-forbes-400-self-made-score-from-silver-spooners-to-boostrappers/) created their own fortunes. That's up from less than half in the 1980s. Indeed, the United States generates (http://www.aei.org/publication/americas-superrich-getting-way-entrepreneurship/) more billionaire entrepreneurs per million residents than all other advanced economies other than Hong Kong and Israel. If one wants to differentiate between the good and bad superrich for the purposes of public policy, are super-entrepreneurs really the same as those billionaires of inherited wealth or, say, sellers of opioids? But it gets more complicated: What if the born rich are dedicated philanthropists and the nouveau-riche like Amazon founder Jeff Bezos are merely serving consumers and creating jobs? Bezos, after all, has not promised to give away his billions. Who are the true characters of moral worth in the AOCverse?

***

This is a moldy argument also used by writer Annie Lowrey in a much-cited article in The Atlantic last year titled "Jeff Bezos' $150 billion fortune is a policy failure (https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2018/08/the-problem-with-bezos-billions/566552/)." Lowrey argued that Amazon is able to succeed because the government "ameliorates the effects of poverty wages with policies like the Earned Income Tax Credit, Medicaid, and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program." But this reasoning ignores the economic and business reality that if you are going to have a private sector, then private firms simply aren't going to hire workers at a wage more than they are worth to the firm. It also ignores the fact that the Earned Income Tax Credit is a government benefit that promotes work and boosts living standards. And if Medicaid benefits corporations at the taxpayer's expense, then it's strange that leftists like Ocasio-Cortez don't view Medicare-for-all — which would let employers completely off the hook for health coverage — as a massive subsidy to business.

donttread
01-27-2019, 09:39 AM
Why America needs more billionaires (https://theweek.com/articles/819262/why-america-needs-more-billionaires)

The attacks against billionaires is short sighted and ignore the importance of the super-rich in the developed world.


More billionaires ? Why hasn't the 30 year upward run of wealth created enough? Of course regular people starting and investing in local businesses would help too but there investments are now pressured into the market.

Peter1469
01-27-2019, 09:41 AM
More billionaires ? Why hasn't the 30 year upward run of wealth created enough? Of course regular people starting and investing in local businesses would help too but there investments are now pressured into the market.
Right. Billionaires hire many more people than non-billionaires.

MisterVeritis
01-27-2019, 12:37 PM
More billionaires ? Why hasn't the 30 year upward run of wealth created enough? Of course regular people starting and investing in local businesses would help too but there investments are now pressured into the market.
People become billionaires by changing your life in positive ways. I want as many as we can get.

Tahuyaman
01-27-2019, 12:45 PM
More billionaires ? Why hasn't the 30 year upward run of wealth created enough? Of course regular people starting and investing in local businesses would help too but there investments are now pressured into the market.

What's wrong with generating as much wealth as possible?

Peter1469
01-27-2019, 12:50 PM
What's wrong with generating as much wealth as possible?

Many people still cling to the myth that is person A makes money person B loses money.

Tahuyaman
01-27-2019, 12:59 PM
Many people still cling to the myth that is person A makes money person B loses money.


We can all benefit from the successes of others. There's not finite amount of wealth which can be generated. Generally people who create massive sums of wealth inspire others to do the same.


There will always be those who see this happen and are envious, jealous and resentful.

CCitizen
01-27-2019, 03:34 PM
Why America needs more billionaires (https://theweek.com/articles/819262/why-america-needs-more-billionaires)
The attacks against billionaires is short sighted and ignore the importance of the super-rich in the developed world.
Perhaps I do not have any education in Economic Science -- thus I can not comment on Economic aspect of situation.

But in my opinion, a Society has a moral responsibility to care for people who need help. Even a Moderate Disability can be a Great Challenge. I have been diagnosed with Autism and Depression in about 1992.

donttread
01-27-2019, 04:47 PM
Right. Billionaires hire many more people than non-billionaires.

Would they create more jobs than say 1,000 millionarres with fair tax deferment rules?

donttread
01-27-2019, 04:54 PM
A little digging reveals that if billionaires improve the economy we should currently have the greatest national and world economy of all time? Do we?

MisterVeritis
01-27-2019, 05:26 PM
A little digging reveals that if billionaires improve the economy we should currently have the greatest national and world economy of all time? Do we?
It is pretty darned good. Are you awake?

Peter1469
01-27-2019, 06:57 PM
Would they create more jobs than say 1,000 millionarres with fair tax deferment rules?

Are you thinking 1:1000?

Peter1469
01-27-2019, 06:58 PM
A little digging reveals that if billionaires improve the economy we should currently have the greatest national and world economy of all time? Do we?
We are near the top if not the top.

donttread
01-29-2019, 08:44 PM
It is pretty darned good. Are you awake?


Not that good. Did you see the stock market reports for the 4th quarter. Of course the stock market is driven by emotion more than reality. But it is an economic measure I would think you would consider a good predictor.

Captdon
01-29-2019, 09:03 PM
More billionaires ? Why hasn't the 30 year upward run of wealth created enough? Of course regular people starting and investing in local businesses would help too but there investments are now pressured into the market.

Being jealous won't do you any good.

Captdon
01-29-2019, 09:04 PM
What's wrong with generating as much wealth as possible?

He can't do it.

Captdon
01-29-2019, 09:06 PM
Perhaps I do not have any education in Economic Science -- thus I can not comment on Economic aspect of situation.

But in my opinion, a Society has a moral responsibility to care for people who need help. Even a Moderate Disability can be a Great Challenge. I have been diagnosed with Autism and Depression in about 1992.

I've been mostly deaf and legally blind in one eye all my life. Is there a prize?

Captdon
01-29-2019, 09:07 PM
A little digging reveals that if billionaires improve the economy we should currently have the greatest national and world economy of all time? Do we?

Yes, we do.

Captdon
01-29-2019, 09:09 PM
Not that good. Did you see the stock market reports for the 4th quarter. Of course the stock market is driven by emotion more than reality. But it is an economic measure I would think you would consider a good predictor.

If we go down the whole world goes down. How does that makes us less than the greatest economy?

MisterVeritis
01-29-2019, 09:35 PM
Not that good. Did you see the stock market reports for the 4th quarter. Of course the stock market is driven by emotion more than reality. But it is an economic measure I would think you would consider a good predictor.
You pay attention to many wrong things. How comfortable are you? Do you have enough good food to eat? Do you have enough entertainment options? Can you learn anything you want to learn? Are you alive and generally well?

Dr. Who
01-29-2019, 10:42 PM
Many people still cling to the myth that is person A makes money person B loses money.
To an extent it is true. Major corporations buy up smaller businesses, giving people less choice and higher prices because of the lack of competition. Look at health insurance as an example. The declining number of carriers is causing the cost of healthcare insurance to rise. This is not coincidental. Maximizing profits is the only thing that matters, so big corporations go on buying sprees to eliminate their competition. At some point there is little competition and they simply collude on pricing. At that level of the stratosphere it all becomes very incestuous. They share board members. CEOs move from one fortune 500 company to another. They share preferred shareholders - those billionaires that you are referring to.