Secondly, I'd believe that incentives aren't that different when the payout - 15million or 10million out of 30million that are more or less taxed. This form of payout is like winning the lottery - people don't really look at the actual payout, the only important thing being that it is "really high". The incentive won't be that different for that businessman - he wasn't anyway hoping for a specific sum.
The incentive for earning that much money will either be rid of work for the rest of one's life - and 10 million bucks are enough for that -, social status - if it is measured by money earned, since everybody is paying the same taxes and social status is relative, it won't matter much -, or power through having lots of money - as a democrat (not the political party, but the idea that everybody should have an equal say in the direction society takes) that kind of uneven power distribution is inherently bad.
About wealth tax - I want it too :) But the problems of extreme wealth appear as soon as it is formed ; in a political system where money and lobbying exist, wealth once formed is able to distort policies to preserve itself. Un roi sans divertissement est un homme plein de misères
Then what is your tax rate on the top .01%?
It's hard to react to your proposals without an understanding of what you mean at the top levels. Thank you.
Maybe this is a great time for France, or other European countries, who have more socialisti views than the US, to set an example for the rest of the world, and return to those marginal rates of 70% or above. If these higher marginal tax rates spur economic growth, pragmatists such as myself will immediately jump on board, and raise marginal taxes in our countries. With the French elections upon us, it should be a great time to put that idea before the people; and the following years will clearly show the results of those policies.
I love it when one country can learn from another, and can only encourage you in France to lead the way on this economic experiment. <seriously, no snark> it is a great opportunity to prove the philosophy, is it not?
If these higher marginal tax rates spur economic growth, pragmatists such as myself will immediately jump on board, and raise marginal taxes in our countries.
wc, you know perfectly well that "spurring economic growth" as sole criterion of choice of policy is one of the things most of us here reject. The point of progressive taxation is not to spur economic growth but to reduce inequality and increase social cohesiveness.
but I think it would be horrible to not dedicate ourselves to improving the lot of mankind worldwide. and historically that has not happened without growth, and I don't think it will in future. I view dedicating oneself to no growth, which I know is literally the goal of what a thought were a few (no pun intended) on the site, will condemn many in the world to a perpetual life of poverty and misery.
Can you point to a period in history where economic growth has been zero, and people have come out of poverty around the world?
More to the point, in the last two decades the more recent points of growth have been achieved without increase in welfare for most, in the industrialized world. The way our society is set up, growth only goes to the pockets of a small class. If we want to increase the general welfare of the population, growth in our current system has shown to be unproductive. Un roi sans divertissement est un homme plein de misères
