Hacker News new | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submit login

You're proposing unnecessary complexity to solve a phantom problem. The wealthiest person in the world just sells a few billion worth of stock each year to fund his lifestyle/other companies. He pays the rate for the top capital gains bracket. It isn't that complicated. More brackets would normalize the wealth distribution.

Some of the wealthy do take out loans against assets, but these loans involve risk. Investments are not guaranteed to beat an interest rate, or banks would just buy the investment, instead of loaning out the money at the interest rate. Especially for the ultra wealthy, those assets are typically heavy in one or two companies (the companies they founded, for example). And even if they can beat the interest rate on average, they still are continually liquidating the asset over the course of the loan, incurring the income tax. They certainly aren't beating the income tax rate + interest rate, if you fix the brackets.

Nowadays, the Fed has almost taken an assured position that it will print enough money to rescue the market no matter what happens/melt your cash, but that's a separate issue. Address the inflationary monetary policy; don't create a huge wealth tax band-aid when a simpler solution exists.




Consider applying for YC's Spring batch! Applications are open till Feb 11.

Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: