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

To: Brumar89 who wrote (603768)	3/16/2011 4:38:05 PM
From: TimF	1 Recommendation Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1572460

Estate Tax Bootleggers Arnold Kling Tim Carney and Dick Patten write, It's no surprise then that the life insurance industry, which stands to gain an estimated 10 percent of its revenues from estate tax policies, is leading the charge to ensure that the estate tax roars back to life. ...Warren Buffet, a major estate tax advocate, makes substantial profits through Berkshire Hathaway's holdings in multiple life-insurance companies. The bootleggers and baptists model of regulatory influence strikes again. econlog.econlib.org Jim Ancona writes: geckonomist: What makes you think Buffet would pay significant estate tax on his holdings? The point of the post is that there are lots of mechanisms to avoid the estate tax (e.g. life insurance), and no doubt Buffet has the best estate planning money can buy. The estate tax primarily affects people of moderate wealth who don't have the knowledge or resources to effectively avoid it, not the Buffets who can avoid (and profit) from it. econlog.econlib.org Peter Finch writes: @Jim, I've often wondered whether the estate tax was better described as a $3000 tax on small estates, with the revenue going to the planner industry, than as a large tax on large estates, with the revenue going to the government. econlog.econlib.org J Mann writes: On the gripping hand, however, why is it even remotely logical that a $10 million life insurance policy goes untaxed, but a $10 million estate gets a bite taken out? What possible business is it of the government's how some random rich provides for her heirs? econlog.econlib.org