Re:The Rich Can't Get Richer Forever
by mysterydip on Sunday September 01, 2019 @02:32PM
(#20853862)
Don't some investments benefit society? For example: Invest in real estate that turns into housing or businesses that weren't there before, or investing into businesses so they have the money to grow to a larger building or hire more people to meet demand.
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Re:The Rich Can't Get Richer Forever
by fzeroracer on Sunday September 01, 2019 @03:01PM
(#20854051)
Well, sure. It's easy to say some investments benefit society, but most of the time they are solely for the benefit of the wealthy.
One just needs to look at the land stratification California has been going through to understand why. Most of the issues they face are a result of the wealthy doing everything in their power to prevent land from being upzoned or rebuilt because that devalues their property or ruins their view.
In this case there's no growth happening despite a desperate need for growth because the wealthy don't want it.
A land value tax would fix this - the more land appreciates in value, the more property tax the owner would pay to the public coffers. California would also have to repeal proposition 13 which limits property tax increases. Proposition 13 is one of the biggest giveaways to the wealthy in the history of US tax policy.