Speaking of Dean Baker, and of taxes, what’s your view on his suggestion that we should replace corporate taxes with a government-owned non-voting equity position?
Interesting, novel idea. I haven't studied it, but off the top of my head I can't see anything wrong with it. The current corporate income tax is still a mess. There's an entire cottage industry of very well-paid people who just keep picking away at it, year after year.
It's hard to tax accrued capital gains of private firms. Not impossible, maybe. But difficult, since it would require a government assessment of the gain, much like a real property tax. And rich guys will have the legal firepower to challenge every assessment.
Speaking of Dean Baker, and of taxes, what’s your view on his suggestion that we should replace corporate taxes with a government-owned non-voting equity position?
Interesting, novel idea. I haven't studied it, but off the top of my head I can't see anything wrong with it. The current corporate income tax is still a mess. There's an entire cottage industry of very well-paid people who just keep picking away at it, year after year.
It's hard to tax accrued capital gains of private firms. Not impossible, maybe. But difficult, since it would require a government assessment of the gain, much like a real property tax. And rich guys will have the legal firepower to challenge every assessment.
True, but still worth a try. It's hard to tax capital no matter how you do it.