The Twin Virtues: Inequality of Outcomes and Equality of Opportunity

[suki]

Interesting article from Paul Summerville. Don't know much about him, but it appears that he's an ex investment banker and a current university professor of economics running for office in Victoria. I found this to be an interesting, but long read. I'm curious to hear the tulip's take on this.

The hand wringing about capitalism as being too hot where the market dominates or too cold where the state dominates misses the truth that ultimately the most sustainable communities, national and global, find the balance between the twin virtues of inequality of outcomes and equality of opportunity.
The challenge is how to tax and regulate the economy in such way as to ensure unequal economic outcomes provide the public revenue to invest in instruments of social justice, namely equality under the law, world class public education, the science of good health available to all citizens, and best in class public transportation.

http://www.excellentfuture.ca/paul-s...eynote-to-join

[photon555]

Re: The Twin Virtues: Inequality of Outcomes and Equality of Opportunity

The best way to tax people (taxing people is how the economy is taxed) is the least intrusive. I believe that to be sales and use taxes and definitely not an income tax. The best way to regulate the economy is not to regulate it. However, I believe that very large concentrations of wealth/power should be destroyed since they create monopolies/crony capitalism/corruption. The best and least intrusive method would be a wealth tax with a high threshold. Also, corporate law should only allow one layer of corporatism. People should not be allowed to hide their wealth behind holding companies, but should experience the consequences of their decisions/actions. The Solyndra bankruptcy debacle is a case in point. The ultimate owners want to write off losses (shaft investors with pennies on the dollar) while holding on to hundreds of millions of dollars in taxable losses to offset profits in their other companies. Bad behavior should be punished with bad consequences, and not being diligent is bad behavior, especially when the lack of diligence destroys other people's wealth. That is the extent of the state's proper role in promoting "social justice", which is really just enforcing laws and regulations equally on every person. Any attempt to create "fairness" by any sort of redistribution scheme must result in actual harm to some by taking their wealth and actual harm to others by creating an attitude of dependency. Wealth taken by the state under the wealth tax would not be redistributed, but would be used to operate legitimate functions of the state.