[krisdol]

I also come from a previously communist country and I disagree. The world isn't so black and white. Progressive taxation is not equivalent to a centrally planned economic system. I've had state owned utilities and privately owned utilities, and I absolutely prefer the one that is subsidized by taxes and answers to voters. There's a huge difference between that and having state-chosen academia in Moscow decide how much electricity our city requires. Taxes on wealth and propert subsidize that.

I don't care how much money someone makes off a search engine company, but taxation should incentivize affordable housing and discourage the creation of wealthier landlords. Rent is not valuable entrepreneurship. Controlling the township's electric or water company is not valuable entrepreneurship. At least the state answers to the citizens it services, and has less of an incentive to be driven by profit. Let's have higher taxes in order to create a social safety net and pool of opportunity for the rest of the people.

[bobby_9x]

The US already has the one of the highest corporate tax rate in the world and the wealthy pay the majority of taxes. There is no inequality here.

We shouldn't de-incentivize prosperity. We need to create more tax payers, not less (or the whole system will collapse). Larger safety-nets will not create this incentive.

If it did, we would see many more startup and technology companies in nordic countries.

Instead, we see companies neutered by the intense regulations and taxes. Ikea, the biggest company in Sweden,is a non-profit in another country. Why is this?

Actually succeeding with a startup in those countries is nearly impossible. Starting a company is pretty much the only real way to truly become rich (if you are poor) and you will be systematically removing this power.

There is a good radiolab episode of exactly this in Peru.

Education is the key to a citizen with advantages with money. With freely available education, for instance, you can pay leas in taxes.

The problem is that most people would rather not sacrifice fun times now for a good life later. With freedom comes also comes the freedom to make poor life choices, and a certain percentage of people will alwayw make poor choices.

I'm not even saying there should be no safety net, just that there needs to be a careful balance.

[hfourm]

Yet the rate is a fraction of what it was 30+ years ago. While the wealthy may pay the "majority" of taxes, I thought it was common knowledge that the uber wealthy pay proportionately less of their income in taxes then the lower and middle class -- which is inequality defined.

I mainly just don't believe in vagina lotteries

[bobby_9x]

"Yet the rate is a fraction of what it was 30+ years ago"

...yet the US is now the most prosperous nation on earth and our poor still have cell phones, a basic roof over their heads, and aren't eating rocks in the dirt.

A 90% marginal tax rate (like it was 30+ years ago) won't be all rainbows and kittens. It will be a very, very different US. 'Startup' probably won't even be a word any longer if this happened.

"I thought it was common knowledge that the uber wealthy pay proportionately less of their income in taxes then the lower and middle class"

More misinformation. The lower classes pay almost no income/state/federal taxes. I was unemployed for a year back in 2010, and I actually got money back when I filed my taxes based on my low income...and I never had any taxes deducted from my unemployment.

The 'uber wealthy' pay more in taxes than they will ever use in their lifetime..and probably 10,000 or more people's lifetime.

Not to mention they pay people in the form of income, which is then paid back to the government in the form of taxes. They are indirectly paying a ton more in taxes. The poor and middle class do no such thing.

Instead of focusing on how much more money we can appropriate from the wealthy, we should first be making politicians and governments accountable for the money we are paying into the system now. Without this accountability, we will continue to run out of money.

Detroit local government is a great example of this. Rampant corruption keeps causing a budget crises and the city council act like petulant children when asked for even the slightest bit of accountability.

"I mainly just don't believe in vagina lotteries"

There are many unfair "vagina lotteries". Should we open up NBA teams to people that don't have natural abilities or make them play with a handicap?

I will never be able to play for the NBA because I'm not tall enough. Should the NBA pay their "fair share" by being forced to allow me to play? Do those players really deserve all that money?

If I worked my entire life to build a business, so my kids can have a nice life..I shouldn't be punished.

I will be curious to see how many people in silicon valley can afford their same lifestyle when their inflated wages are cut by 40% and rent and expenses stay the same.

[hfourm]

"...yet the US is now the most prosperous nation on earth and our poor still have cell phones, a basic roof over their heads, and aren't eating rocks in the dirt."

Lot of reasons for this, don't need to go into it. People have written books on it, and I am assuming you aren't directly correlating it with the tax rate.

"The 'uber wealthy' pay more in taxes than they will ever use in their lifetime..and probably 10,000 or more people's lifetime."

This isn't true, yea maybe they won't pull or have the need for a social security check, but their businesses and investments rely on public infrastructure, education, and the federal military protecting their international assets and trade rights MUCH more then the average joe. This is compounded by the fact that our corrupt system of government you so aptly pointed out, has allowed the policy making to overwhelming favor the established crony capitalists.

"Instead of focusing on how much more money we can appropriate from the wealthy, we should first be making politicians and governments accountable for the money we are paying into the system now. Without this accountability, we will continue to run out of money."

You are totally right, we should be figuring out how to be less wasteful -- and there is also plenty of legislation that creates unnecessary waste and bureaucracy. I think this is beyond a discussion about taxes though, and more about restructuring our government in a bipartisan effort -- which starts with who we elect. I think you can separate the two arguments. But yea, totally agree. One thing to keep in mind though, all large human organizations become less efficient and wasteful -- so this is not just a government problem. See HP.

Lastly, I don't think that the NBA analogy really works here. Just because someone is born with athletic ability doesn't automatically make them draft ready. They spend 10-15 years honing their skills, spending time with world class coaches, and working hard to get to the NBA. Someone born into obscene wealth usually comes with years of investment management and financial teams built around the family to maintain that wealth -- with a high potential for the child to be very disconnected from reality and never have that same urge to work that the NBA player had. See the affluenza case for example. I am not suggesting we should punish someones children by any means for your own success, but there is a difference between providing your kids a nice life and supporting modern day princes and kings.

Obviously this last bit is more of a generalization, but I hope it shows the fault in your NBA analogy. Otherwise I do agree with the sentiment that yes, there are natural vagina lotteries, but being smarter or more athletic is a net positive for a society -- whereas being born into inordinate amounts of wealth could actually end up being a negative over the long term when your ruling class is further removed and further concentrated from the average.

[kalleboo]

> Stockholm is the second most prolific tech hub in the world on a per capita basis, behind Silicon Valley.

> The Nordic region represents 2pc of global GDP but has accounted for almost 10pc of the world’s billion-dollar exits over the last decade, with more than half of these coming from Sweden,

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/mediatechnol...