- Capitalism and Alternatives -

Just take a cut

Posted by: Gee ( si ) on January 19, 19100 at 11:46:23:

In Reply to: Oh ye of little faith. posted by MDG on January 18, 19100 at 21:21:37:

: Why not round trip? Oh, you mean all the rich dudes will flee to Switzerland, etc. Maybe, but I'm guessing there's more reasons for the wealthy to stay in the U.S. besides money. Stability, for example.

So your hold on them is their families, their love of their hometowns etc - bit like a kidnappers ransom?

: Oh ye of little faith, are you really that cynical? Just in case you're right, we'll take the extra tax dollars generated by the max wage and give it to government health researchers -- civil servants who definitely are not in it for the money.

We saw below why the 'extra' dollars wont be there, you're probably right about civil 'servants' though - they're after power and they mean to get it.

: That may happen too, and that may be a downside. I never said the maximum wage would not have downsides, but I believe the upsides outweigh them.

I'm afraid you'd have no cash to play with if people stopped making it.

: No MDG - its a silly thing.

: Love?

Eh?

:and how little those earnings will become when they see that they can no longer choose what to do with it - so why bother earning it (and no, zero sum fans, this does *not* leave more for others)

; I put the max wage at $5 million as an incentive for people to work hard to get rich, if that's what they want. With a max wage in effect, it might be that much harder for people to make $5 million, especially if it's coupled with a higher minimum wage.

You don't seem to see what you're saying - making it harder for everyone is not going to make them more productive now is it?

: Hmmm, you might be right there, Gee. Again, I think we need some think tank eggheads to prognosticate on the long term effects of the max wage, including taking into account decreased production that you posit. If it turns out -- after careful study -- it's a bad idea, I'll renounce it faster than a pro-choice Republican in a South Carolina primary.

I think you'd find it is a bad idea. If people wanted tax money for goodies then the best thing to do is to completely unleash earning power and just steal a cut, rather than regulate everything.

:: I wasnt rude.

: You disagreed with me! That's what I meant by "don't be rude." Ah well, I suppose I need thicker skin.

Oops! Sorry.



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