The rich are really something. They whine and complain about "redistribution" when much of their wealth is due to policies of redistribution.
Tax cuts for the wealthy, combined with tax increases (payroll tax, etc) and spending cuts (fiscally the same as tax increases) on the Middle Class and poor equate to redistribution to the rich. They directly benefit from this. Government is either directly "crediting" them with more money (financial wealth) or, affording them the possibility of accumulating more real assets; assets that used to belong to the public.
Over reliance on monetary policy is a gift to the rich, too. It enriches banks and financial entities, which are primarily owned or controlled by the wealthy and it also raises their wealth, generally, by boosting the value of their financial assets. Most Middle Class and poor people own very few financial assets and they certainly don't own or control banks.
They also benefit from economic "rent." That's where they "game" the system to take control of public assets (land, infrastructure, etc), in order to charge "rents" for the use of these assets. However, these are assets that the public bought, built and paid for...many times over. Then there is their control and/or monopolization of natural resources. That's huge.
Finally, worker productivity has skyrocketed in recent years, but real wages have remained stagnant as a result of DIRECT GOVERNMENT POLICIES AGAINST UNIONS AND LABOR'S SHARE. Meanwhile, the rich have been allowed to keep a greater portion of the profits GENERATED FROM WORKER PRODUCTIVITY.
This is not just redistribution, it is theft. Pure and simple. And it's all government sanctioned.
So...rich people...shut the fuck up.
7 comments:
Don't forget collecting rent!
Right!
Nice post, Mike
...Can't wait til you post on Tsipras' sell out to the "creditors". :)
You can add to the list the redistribution through direct government subsidies to finance, aerospace, agribusiness, car manufacturers, energy, etc, and the redistribution through the indirect government subsidies of tax avoidance, tax havens, low pay (which the state picks up via increased benefits), protectionism and "free trade" agreements. According to the prevailing wisdom, this is all necessary because only the rich create jobs and "no poor man ever offered me a job".
Malmo...
:) and :)
Ah, I see you have mentioned rent...
The other thing with this is what the government DOSEN'T do that improves rich people's power e.g. allowing concentrated media ownership, turning a blind eye to fraud and violations of law.
Oh, and wars and the whole MIC.
The prison system.
All good stuff, Random.
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