27 thoughts on “Economists examine 200 years of European and American history, seeking instances where taxes on the Riches were increased to reduce inequality. Results: negative.”
Clinton, say what you will, increased the marginal tax rate and then balanced the budget. The price for that was Glass-Steagall. Bush/Cheney gave it all away — during wartime nonetheless.(BTW, remember that $400 token they sent to everybody?) Despite Occupy, Obama didn't have the political capital to get rid of the Bush/Cheney tax cuts.
Yippee. I got $50/yr out of shrub, and for the first year of Obama, I gained $35/mo. Too bad it didn't last. Most of my woes came because of Ahnuld, though..
The headline implies that raising taxes has failed to mitigate inequality. The authors' conclusion is the converse — that societies lack the willingness to raise taxes, even if to do so would alleviate inequality (and also bolsters the argument that famines tend to be avoidable, manufactured occurences and not "acts of god" or whatnot).
Don't get me wrong — it reads that way too. But on first glance I was expecting to have the Keynsian Rug pulled out from under me, and was relieved when that didn't happen.
I just like the guy that is farting on his own accordion stack of money and the sandboy that is watching him. "Oh, sandboy, you'll have your own legs soon!"
Actually, the sandboy will never own his own legs.
I hear you, brother weej. I really wonder how much of our behavior is innate. I mean, I'm still playing in the sink. I dunno if the greedy guys are into that because that's who they are, or that the environment fostered it. I would agree with you that playing in the shop or the sink or the field seems to be more of an engine of an economy than moving around piles of money. Then again, the idea of the LLC in Britain was a game changer, wasn't it? Allowed the non money pushers to do more.
Thinking about semiconductors reminds me of when my HS science class was taken on a tour of the Western Electric plant known as Hawthorne Works, in Cicero IL. (Believe it or not, you Youngs, the phone company―in those dark days, there was only one―made its own equipment, right here in the US&A.) We were shown many electrico-mechanical wonders, fed lunch, and given an integrated circuit of our own to take home. It had maybe 16 pins on it and was probably the wonder of its age.
<img src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f4/Hawthorne,_Illinois_Works_of_the_Western_Electric_Company,_1925.jpg"> Later I learned that that plant was famous for another reason: cost-cutting proto-MBA-types once wondered if they could eke out a few cents extra profit each month by cutting the lighting bill. They experimented at the Hawthorne plant, dimming the lights an imperceptible amount each day, and were astonished to find that production went up.
Why? Because those well-paid union workers, with their health insurance and retirement plans and paid vacations and sick leave, were determined to do a good job, no matter how crappy the conditions. This became known as the |Hawthorne effect|.
Funny how that works.
Okay, story time is over, Grandpa Lot_49 has had his second glass of Scotch and will now take his early nap until "60 Minutes" comes on.
Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung (pronounced [gəˈzɛlʃaft mɪt bəˈʃʁɛŋktɐ ˈhaftʊŋ], abbreviated GmbH [geː ʔɛm beː haː], in Austria also GesmbH or Ges.m.b.H.), which is German for "company with limited liability", is a type of legal entity very common in Germany, Austria, Switzerland (where it is equivalent to a S.à r.l.) and Liechtenstein. The name of the GmbH form emphasizes the fact that the owners (Gesellschafter, also known as members) of the entity are not personally liable for the company's debts.
Nothing inherently sinister about it; I used to have one. Just an attempt to separate your own resources from the company's in the event of lawsuits or financial failure. A corporation has the same goal.
Oh, you must mean | The Idea Factory | . My dad used to drive by it every day on his way to work. He pointed it out to me many times with great reverence. Funny, when this Jersey boy left his home state and went to grad school at CWRU, his advisor ended up being a former (30 years) Bell Labs researcher who moved to Cleveland to accept a professorship. The coincidence got even stranger when I found out the wife of my advisor's favorite research partner worked with my mother at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, in Infectious Diseases.
The corporation is older and was maybe more of a breakthrough in finance and legal, in that it allowed a business to raise money by selling shares to a wide variety of small investors, none of whom would bear personal liability if the corporations screwed up or went broke.
Hmmm….let's see if that GIF animates itself in the comments:
<img src="https://media.boingboing.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/tumblr_oce13w6jZ01qhccbco1_1280.gif">That's odd….
Probably the same graphical artist (the Architecture in Helsinki tune is catchy as well):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXIzyquw-kc
More on his work, but be warned that much of it is JESUS FUCKING CHRIST NSFW OR SANITY!
http://www.griph.net/2009/10/paul-robertson-retro…
I guess I'm just "of a certain age" where I like things involving pixels big enough for me to see.
Physicists determine the sign of the charge of the electron. Results: negative.
https://www.xkcd.com/567/
Clinton, say what you will, increased the marginal tax rate and then balanced the budget. The price for that was Glass-Steagall. Bush/Cheney gave it all away — during wartime nonetheless.(BTW, remember that $400 token they sent to everybody?) Despite Occupy, Obama didn't have the political capital to get rid of the Bush/Cheney tax cuts.
Yippee. I got $50/yr out of shrub, and for the first year of Obama, I gained $35/mo. Too bad it didn't last. Most of my woes came because of Ahnuld, though..
I got mine with the message "tax relief for americian families". I gave it to Howard Dean.
I reckon I bought new jeans, t-shirts and underwear, food, beer, and books.
Yeah– beer and a Tivo.
The headline implies that raising taxes has failed to mitigate inequality. The authors' conclusion is the converse — that societies lack the willingness to raise taxes, even if to do so would alleviate inequality (and also bolsters the argument that famines tend to be avoidable, manufactured occurences and not "acts of god" or whatnot).
Hmmm…what I meant to say was that the study shows societies tend not to raise taxes on the wealthy to alleviate inequality. Oh well.
Don't get me wrong — it reads that way too. But on first glance I was expecting to have the Keynsian Rug pulled out from under me, and was relieved when that didn't happen.
Now go enjoy your scotch.
Please. I doubt you have the capacity to comprehend how humble I really am.
And the economists looked forward 100 years and saw no likely change in inequality.
I just like the guy that is farting on his own accordion stack of money and the sandboy that is watching him. "Oh, sandboy, you'll have your own legs soon!"
Actually, the sandboy will never own his own legs.
now that's funny
Stick with the ol' reliable Analytical Engine.
I hear you, brother weej. I really wonder how much of our behavior is innate. I mean, I'm still playing in the sink. I dunno if the greedy guys are into that because that's who they are, or that the environment fostered it. I would agree with you that playing in the shop or the sink or the field seems to be more of an engine of an economy than moving around piles of money. Then again, the idea of the LLC in Britain was a game changer, wasn't it? Allowed the non money pushers to do more.
Thinking about semiconductors reminds me of when my HS science class was taken on a tour of the Western Electric plant known as Hawthorne Works, in Cicero IL. (Believe it or not, you Youngs, the phone company―in those dark days, there was only one―made its own equipment, right here in the US&A.) We were shown many electrico-mechanical wonders, fed lunch, and given an integrated circuit of our own to take home. It had maybe 16 pins on it and was probably the wonder of its age.
<img src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f4/Hawthorne,_Illinois_Works_of_the_Western_Electric_Company,_1925.jpg"> Later I learned that that plant was famous for another reason: cost-cutting proto-MBA-types once wondered if they could eke out a few cents extra profit each month by cutting the lighting bill. They experimented at the Hawthorne plant, dimming the lights an imperceptible amount each day, and were astonished to find that production went up.
Why? Because those well-paid union workers, with their health insurance and retirement plans and paid vacations and sick leave, were determined to do a good job, no matter how crappy the conditions. This became known as the |Hawthorne effect|.
Funny how that works.
Okay, story time is over, Grandpa Lot_49 has had his second glass of Scotch and will now take his early nap until "60 Minutes" comes on.
Limited liability company?
We don't need to see much farther than last week's news about the Epi-peen and Heather Bresch to see what unfettered capitalism does to society.
yeah, wasn't it the Brits who did that first? GmbH?
We don't care- we don't have to- we're the Phone Company.
Nothing inherently sinister about it; I used to have one. Just an attempt to separate your own resources from the company's in the event of lawsuits or financial failure. A corporation has the same goal.
Didn't say it was sinister (nor rectus). Was pointing it out as a financial/legal innovation that helped innovation.
Oh, you must mean | The Idea Factory | . My dad used to drive by it every day on his way to work. He pointed it out to me many times with great reverence. Funny, when this Jersey boy left his home state and went to grad school at CWRU, his advisor ended up being a former (30 years) Bell Labs researcher who moved to Cleveland to accept a professorship. The coincidence got even stranger when I found out the wife of my advisor's favorite research partner worked with my mother at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, in Infectious Diseases.
The corporation is older and was maybe more of a breakthrough in finance and legal, in that it allowed a business to raise money by selling shares to a wide variety of small investors, none of whom would bear personal liability if the corporations screwed up or went broke.