Wealth inequality in America

[Benton]

(07-26-2017, 06:36 PM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: What'd be the point of working hard or innovating, and making over $1m then? You'd be working for free 3/4ths of the time. More once you figure in state taxes, and the costs of actually going to work (car, insurance, gas, etc.)

"Work 10 hours, get paid for 1" sounds like a terrible idea.

All the country's rich people would just move away to other countries, taking their companies with them. Then we'd be stuck with only poor people, and even less money for education and job training for them, and less jobs on top of that.

Two things.

One, would you want 25% of $1 million + $40 million? Or would you stop at $1 million and say "nay, I don't want $10 million" ?

Two, even when the country had outrageously high taxes on capital gains and the 1%, they didn't pay it. Just like now, there were tax breaks. That was the intent in a lot of the tax breaks that exist today. You might be taxed at 75% over $1 million (or whatever percentage and dollar amount), but you got a break for reinvesting that money.

Now, the country gives people the tax breaks, but the tax rates are much much lower. 

I'm ok with low rates, provided there's no breaks. Or conversely, make the rates high and give breaks to encourage growing the economy. Either way it should leave plenty of money in people's pockets and grow the economy. Right now, though, we've got low rates and lots of breaks... which is why we have such little growth regardless of what party is in power.