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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: tejek who wrote (237458)	6/17/2005 5:56:29 PM
From: TimF	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1571835

Clearly, its a good thing for them [the rich] but why is it a good thing for the society as a whole? As long as it isn't at the expense of the less than rich (not just if it causes the less than rich to be poorer but even if it causes their wealth to increase less than it otherwise would have) it increases the total wealth of society. Also the rich people spend and invest money producing economic growth and jobs, which helps out the less than rich, at least over time. That assumes the rich are wealthier as part of a process where real wealth is created. If they stole from the poor, or if they became wealthier by the government printing cash and giving it to them (which would produce inflation and thus harm everyone who isn't getting the cash), than they would be benefiting at the expense of others and it would be bad for the country as a whole. The article said that social mobility is not a significant factor. If it said that, then it is flat out wrong. There is absolutely no evidence that it will reduce the total wealth of a country. In fact, it will take some of the tax burden off the lower classes and free up resources for them. Increasing tax rates does several negative things 1 - It causes more of our national wealth to be controlled by the government. This in turn causes less of it to be used in such a way as to increase the economic potential of the country. It also enables or even causes the government to be more active, thus reducing freedom. 2 - It reduces the incentive to work hard and invest. 3 - It causes the wealthy to invest there money with the aim of avoiding taxes, rather then to invest it in ways that provide the biggest return, reducing return on investment. After all, there is only so many cars and houses that the rich can buy and then the money simply sits in a bank account. It goes in a lot of other places besides banks, but if it is in a bank it gets loaned out again. The rich rarely keep their money under mattresses. Tim