That wealth transfer is the direct result of blowing bubbles, which is enabled by wealth transfer, which enables the blowing of more bubbles.
It turns out that we don't just need a minimum wage. We need a maximum wage (written for a US context but works well almost everywhere):
They glory in income inequality and wish it to expand instead of contract. Enough of that. They are destroyers of the American Dream.
But people who seek to shrink income inequality — to insure life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all and not just some — must now focus as much on the maximum wage as the minimum wage.
So, be it proposed:
“That any enterprise receiving taxpayer funds shall not compensate that enterprise’s highest paid person in an amount greater than twenty-five times what the lowest compensated person receives.”
Hear hear. But I have one minor complaint. I actually think it should apply to all enterprises, not merely ones that take taxpayer funds. Although the most odious of them do, in fact, take taxpayer funds, in the USA if not also in Canada. Actually, all enterprises benefit from our collective investments: in our roads, in our sewer systems, ...
5 comments:
Last I read, Costco has a maximum pay set up.
A maximum wage might be kind of necessary, but it's like closing the barn door after the horses have gotten out.
Also, like all 'good' taxation ideas, this one leaves a nice big loophole open for those with enough wealth to take advantage of it. Instead of hiring a CEO, why not contract the tasks out to another company? Or if that's too obvious, form a new company for each set of lower-paid tasks, and contract with that wholly-owned subsidiary.
Even if you don't do that, as long as the company's stock price is increasing, you can pay the CEO in stock options, and they can make capital gains on the market rather than receive direct compensation.
True. It's more the spirit of the thing I was cheering. What we need is actually some kind of system to implement a total wealth cap on individuals and perhaps even a size/capitalization limit on corporations and investment vehicles.
This is a great idea - - it's reminiscent of the spirit of the Tobin Tax. Feasible, plausible, possible except for the blow-back from the greed class. Still, it's great to have it in the wind . . . thanks, Mandos. Has any Canadian political party spoken about this idea?
The elephant in the room is why does everyone balk at increasing taxation of the wealthiest? The obscene amounts of wealth concentrated in the hands of 1 to 5% of the population is a direct consequence of immense tax cuts introduced in the last two decades.
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