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Culture War Roundup for the week of December 4, 2023

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As an investor who deals in highly productive capital (as opposed to less productive cash, houses or bonds), your father would be among the people who benefit the most from a wealth tax.

Your example makes no sense. If you can buy an investment in capital it doesn't produce static returns like "$100k/year in profits." If it does, its purchase price will go up significantly and approach the cost of buying an equivalently risky bond. What a more realistic scenario of investing in a new company would look like:

Year 1: Invest $1 Million. Pay $10% taxes on that. Y/Y Profit: $-50k. Pay $100k in taxes. Now we have to sell 10% of the company (to who is an important question I might add). Year 2: Your stock still has paper worth 900k. Y/y profit: 0k Pat 90k in taxes. Sell equity again. Year 3: $Paper stock worth $810k. Y/Y Profit 100k. Your Share, 81k, Your taxes. 81K. Finally breaking even.

It's not difficult to find companies with a P/E of 10.

My wealth tax was 1%/y yours is 10%/y. A 10% wealth tax is obviously confiscatory and destroys the economy.