The Income Rich Take One For The Team. Thanks!

Re:The Income Rich Take One For The Team. Thanks! by sliverstorm on Wednesday January 02, 2013 @03:30AM (#4995822)

So what you're saying is Musk, had he been short 10-20 million of that $180, would have been completely unable to pull off Space X and Tesla?

I'm not sure how you figure. Were you perhaps under the impression that Space X and Tesla were funded solely by Musk? Considering Tesla's operating expenses last year cleared $400M and they are currently in debt, I am fairly certain Tesla is not funded solely by Musk's pocket book.

Anyway, so what if investments are taxed more heavily? So long as all types of investments are taxed equally, you will still have plenty of people investing in new business ventures.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:The Income Rich Take One For The Team. Thanks! by jacoblyles on Wednesday January 02, 2013 @03:37AM (#4995835)

Musk famously borrowed money to pay his rent after plowing all his capital into his businesses:

http://pandodaily.com/2012/07/12/space-age-risks-and-profoun...

I'm sure he would have found a way to make do with 1% less capital. But what if rates had been 9% higher, as they will be going forward? What if rates were 28% higher, as they would be if cap gains were treated as ordinary income? At some point, either Space X or Tesla would have never been made.

The tragedy is that we will never know the future Space Xs that are never built.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:The Income Rich Take One For The Team. Thanks! by davorak on Wednesday January 02, 2013 @04:07AM (#4995890)

So far I have only seen you mention the costs of the now increased taxes. What are the costs that would be payed if the taxes had not been increased?

[ Parent | on HN ]