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A comment on ProPublica's tax story. Parent comment

Re:ProPublica's tax story by dragonwriter on Wednesday June 09, 2021 @12:34AM (#27444244)
> Since billionaires get that way by being better at investing, the theory that poor people inherently put money to better use is not persuasive.

The claim is that poor people’s use is better for society (positive externalities) not for the poor person. That billionaires are better at assuring that any negative impacts of their transactions are externalized, and insuring internalized gains, is clear, but not the point.

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Re:ProPublica's tax story by WalterBright on Wednesday June 09, 2021 @01:52AM (#27444653)
> for society

How do you know this is better than the billionaire providing a service to society that's so valuable, it made him a billionaire?

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Re:ProPublica's tax story by dragonwriter on Wednesday June 09, 2021 @02:24AM (#27444846)
> How do you know this is better

I don’t, and I’m not making the claim that it is.

I’m saying that the fact that billionaires get to be billionaires by a combination of ability and inclination at maximizing their personal benefits from transactions, while true, doesn’t provide even slight counterevidence to the claim it was offered to rebut.

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