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by emdowling 1613 days ago
Raising money is one thing. Spending it is another. So much energy is spent on policies to do the former, and seeimingly very little on how to do the latter far more efficiently. This policy proposal makes for a fantastic soundbite, but how will the additional revenue be allocated in a way that actually leads to better outcomes?

Simply increasing the top of the funnel is not going to make all the downstream inefficiencies and inequalities go away.
2 comments
thazework 1613 days ago
The answer is direct cash transfers to people living in extreme poverty with few strings attached.

https://apolitical.co/solution-articles/en/brazil-lifts-mill...

http://blog.gdi.manchester.ac.uk/just-give-money-to-the-poor...

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kadoban 1613 days ago
Well, if we can't solve every problem in one fell swoop, I guess we should just give up.
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emdowling 1613 days ago
That’s not at all what I’m saying. I’m not saying we shouldn’t raise taxes for the ultra-wealthy, just that we should also spend time on solving the structural issues that prevent efficient and effective allocation of capital, both new and existing.
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kadoban 1613 days ago
Sorry, false alarm. That's my bad, rereading I don't get the sense I originally did, I'll attempt to read with a more generous mindset in the future.

I completely agree. IMO part of the problem is there's a bunch of theories on how to improve the situation, but economics is so... difficult(?) that any proposal can be argued against, especially in the realm of politics. I don't really know how to fix that. I think we just need to try some things to be honest, run some experiments.

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