Total economic meltdown

[tpbury]

When we speak of 'printing money', we are not really talking about the physical notes printed, I thought. This 'folding cash' represents only a fairly small percentage of 'Money', and it must represent much less than it did 25 years ago when I did economics A level (go me!)

 

Think 'printing money' really means issuing bonds etc and it's unlikely we'll revert to wheeeling round barrow loads of notes, though I know this would appeal to certain post Weimar aspirantists.

Having said that, following the total global collapse in society and the inevitable thermo dynamic nuclear war that follows, we may indeed have to revert to tokenistic representations of wealth. Instead of shells, we shall use defunct mobile phones as currency, which is good as I have at least twenty of them which I never recycled!

[saintfully]

won't families just transfers assets before said person pops it.....wont that just get around that plan?

 

That argument works with low/flat tax as well as high tax -whats needed is an efficient set of rules to combat that (limits to how much you can gift etc) and to collect tax - which, funnily enough, is precisely what the IMF are forcing on Greece at the mo to try and curb their mass evasion practices.

 

I suggest that the reason why higher earners are not taxed more efficiently has much more to do with the lack of motivation of the authorities than the motivation of the accountants etc., but then I'm a cynic.

 

Either way, IMHO income tax is not the way to go - people do deserve to keep the lions share of what they earn. But passing millions down to your kids/inheriting loads just ain't patriotic. It destroys the competitiveness of the country. Hence my plea to tax 'land' (which, I agree, cannot simply be space/area) and inherited wealth, much more heavily.

[Lord Duckhunter]

That argument works with low/flat tax as well as high tax -whats needed is an efficient set of rules to combat that (limits to how much you can gift etc) and to collect tax - which, funnily enough, is precisely what the IMF are forcing on Greece at the mo to try and curb their mass evasion practices.

 

I suggest that the reason why higher earners are not taxed more efficiently has much more to do with the lack of motivation of the authorities than the motivation of the accountants etc., but then I'm a cynic.

 

Either way, IMHO income tax is not the way to go - people do deserve to keep the lions share of what they earn. But passing millions down to your kids/inheriting loads just ain't patriotic. It destroys the competitiveness of the country. Hence my plea to tax 'land' (which, I agree, cannot simply be space/area) and inherited wealth, much more heavily.

 

How can you have a Country where the Head of State is inherited, where people sit in the Parliament on the basis of what their father did, yet tax the eyeballs out of ordinary people, who make a few quid and what to pass that down to their kids? Dont forget they have already paid tax on the money that they are passing down to the kids.

 

The problem with our tax system is that it is designed to punish or drive certain behaviours, rather than raise the most revenue. The Laffer curve illustrate's this perfectly. Tax people too highly, whether it is income or land/inherited wealth and people will find ways of avioding it. The rich aviod it, the poor dont pay it, and the poor saps stuck in the middle get stung. It's a joke that the state takes so much of our money to waste. Governments of both clours are obbsessed with wasting our money.

[saintfully]

How can you have a Country where the Head of State is inherited, where people sit in the Parliament on the basis of what their father did, yet tax the eyeballs out of ordinary people, who make a few quid and what to pass that down to their kids? Dont forget they have already paid tax on the money that they are passing down to the kids.

 

The problem with our tax system is that it is designed to punish or drive certain behaviours, rather than raise the most revenue. The Laffer curve illustrate's this perfectly. Tax people too highly, whether it is income or land/inherited wealth and people will find ways of avioding it. The rich aviod it, the poor dont pay it, and the poor saps stuck in the middle get stung. It's a joke that the state takes so much of our money to waste. Governments of both clours are obbsessed with wasting our money.

 

Erm, don't know where you got the idea that I'm pro-monarchy? If it were down to me I'd confiscate all their loot and make the young ones live off their military wages.

 

Apart from that, I don't know where to start.... how about the Laffer Curve which has been totally discredited - even the guy who invented it says its hopelessly inadequate.

 

As for using the tax system to drive behaviour - all our laws try and do precisely the same thing and people try to avoid those too - if people break them we arrest them. If they need strengthening because antisocial people find a loophole, then we make a new, better law. It's not rocket science.

 

Are you tired?