Topic: How billionaires are really affecting the economy. - page 8. (Read 1192 times)

I have no complaint about billionaires if they:
- Pay (at least) the same tax level as we do.
- Have the same rights and duties as we do (before the law).
- Have the same rules for conducting business as we do.

I'm not glorifying the current billionaires or taking sides with the poor, but I simply want fair competition. Those who earned their way to the top should be respected, not glorified. They can do whatever they want with their money as long as not breaking the law. There are two sides to this, as we need high-performing, risk-taker people with great vision, as well as average people who do common jobs.

The top 1% will fly to other countries that are friendly to them, leaving their home country in a mess.

Not enough money, even before massive immigration.

There is a disparity between the rich and the poor in the world. But nowadays the position of the poor is so low compared to the rich that the poor are now hindered from leading a normal life. A rich person is getting richer and those who were poor are getting poorer. The artificial crisis caused by war has not affected the rich but the poor are fighting for their livelihood. Inflation is now a cut throat for every poor. I doubt how much a rich person is willing to sacrifice for any country? Nothing can be seen in any big donation without the help of the government. A few came forward, but most of the rich try to disappear. The rich continue to try to pile up their wealth by evading taxes where they should pay the most taxes.

There is a lack of accessible methods for the general population to implement those strategies. The wealthy individuals continue to maintain control over the legislature, judiciary, and executive branches, employing various incentives to further elevate their status, despite being elected from within our own ranks to represent us. The reality is that there will always be a lower class, but how can we ensure that the government works in the best interest of everyone?

If I may share my thoughts about how millionaires affect the economy, I would say that they have the biggest negative impact, yes they do create jobs which creates movement in the market thus making it grow but they can also layy off those people that they've given those jobs, one example of this behavior is the Amazon one, I don't remember the specifics buttt iirc, Bezos didn't get his way with one of the states so he closes shop in that state resulting in mass layoffs thus affecting the economy. The biggest solution that I can see based on what OP pointed out is the austere taxation to these rich crooks without any way to get exempted but the lobbying industry makes sure that doesn't happen.

Billionaires generally boost the economy, whether consciously or unwittingly.

While their own spending generates some incremental demand, it is insignificant in the grand scheme of things. For example, one individual can eat more expensive steaks and wear more expensive clothes, but they can only wear so many garments and eat so many steaks.

The major way billionaires aid the economy is by creating a pool of wealth that is invested. The more of their money that is put in US enterprises, the better the US economy; the more that is invested outside, the better the overseas economy. These investments can range from quite active, such as families who own private enterprises, to very passive, where their wealth is managed by professional money managers.

You raised one point that they became rich even after corona. This is hard to understand for me. All manufacturing and work was stopped, sales were reduced. How the wealth increased then ?

The issue of global warming due to glass buildings and increasing pollution resulting from more and more factories owned by the rich maybe is indeed true.

But I don't want to cover up the fact that those rich people have also helped in expanding employment opportunities. Many people depend on their company. And even many ordinary people turn rich when they work in companies that make their financial stability better over time. So I think everything has its positive and negative sides.

That's why those billionaires that are also philanthropists are given recognition for what they're doing not just for giving people jobs. But also for doing something in return for the success that they're getting. I think that it's their part to do their share if they're mostly impacting negatively some space especially in natural resources, carbon emissions and other factors that affect people globally. Nevertheless, it's going to be said that they have no obligation in helping.

You know what, this is what these super rich people are great and that's to exempt themselves from taxation or at least reduce it legally.

You can not stop people from creating wealth through innovation. Many entrepreneurs are taking risks, working hard, and investing in diverse ventures, while others are relaxing and avoiding risk. It will not be right to make policies that will discourage or exploit them. Some of these billionaires started small and grew their businesses to become multinational. People should be given the freedom to identify business opportunities, grow them and benefit from their input.

If you were a billionaire will you support a tax increase? The answer will be no. It is easy to point at these billionaires as the problem,meanwhile, some of them are the solution to our problem. They establish businesses that the government will never engage in. Taxation policies should be fair both for the rich and poor. The government will not tax them so much because they may decide to leave a country and move to another friendly nation.

Private companies engage in social corporate responsibility programs. They assist the government in providing basic amenities or services to the population. But the responsibility of providing education, employment, and health care lies on the government. It is the government that should be held responsible if they fail to provide these essential services.

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I am against these billionaires that engage in sharp practices to exploit the masses. Some of them partner with corrupt government officials to defraud the masses through shady deals and monopolies. This wickedness should be discouraged. But if these billionaires engage in legal businesses that help to create jobs and provide services, they should be allowed to operate in peace because they are the solution and not the problem.

If you see that there are special reasons why the tax rate is still being maintained by the government there, however, indirectly the government is also taking risks for the sake of long-term growth for the economy and society as a whole. Yes. As a result, many investors came in, at least they opened a branch of their company there, on the other hand it was also able to create new jobs, increase economic growth and be seen as globally competitive.


You are right. There are many things that can be pursued and indeed these (taxes) seem irrelevant and question marks arise and if there is a policy change that leads as you stated, it will have an impact towards a more equal future. meaning that with the additional funds, the government has additional budget slots that can be directed to social programs, environmental policies, and economic initiatives and so on.


It's interesting to read the conclusions you convey, whether you, I or someone else may have aspirations to also become billionaires. and one thing that is also common is when you get to that point, don't forget the land. Indeed, getting great wealth also has the opportunity to make significant positive changes, meaning that billionaires don't only focus on increasing the coffers of their wealth because there are still many weak hands who need strong hands to care for society and the world around you. .

I think most people forget one of the biggest contributions that Billionaires bring to the economy, namely : Job creation

You mentioned that they only contribute 3% to the taxes of a country, but how much is 3% of say 5 Billion Dollars... for only 1 person. How many services can be paid by that contribution and how many government salaries can be paid by that. 

They also create a lot of jobs in the private sector and those people also pay taxes and that money is also being used to fund projects in the public sector. 

I think someone has been sleeping here for the last 200 years, because most of the postulates come from another world, the world before the industrial revolution and the then prevailing idea of ​​"toxic wealth", which can only grow as a result of lowering the standard of living of others (in times when the only force producing goods was the power of human hands). Currently, in the era of capitalism, after the industrial revolution and at the beginning of the AI ​​revolution it is recognized that the cake is constantly growing, and therefore the fact that someone has a larger piece does not affect that someone has a smaller piece. If someone is a billionaire, it does not mean that they exploited people, nor does it mean that they will eat a billion loaves of bread a day so that others have nothing to eat.

everyone is the blacksmith of his fate, everyone can set up his own business. If he doesn't and prefers to "get exploited by billionaires", that's his choice. Millions of people dream of being "exploited" by Google on Mountain View. The times of pharaohs, kings and goods derived solely from human hands are over.

Forgive me for my harshness in my post, but it annoys me when someone rationalizes their poverty with the wealth of others, because it's easier that way. It's easier to cry because someone has a lot than to try to get something yourself.
it's easier to cry for higher taxes for the rich than to start your own business and risk your life savings and your family's savings to start it up.

As soon as I saw the main points I thought that the article on which you base your post is garbage, and, indeed, I see that it is written by a company (charity) whose business is based on defending the fact that there are many poor people. In those points they always make the same trap and it is a change in the definition of the poor, that 100 years ago they were starving and many millions died of hunger and cold, while today they are fat. With that alone you can see how biased the article is.

You only have to look at countries like China or Mexico and see the obesity problem they have. There are other countries where there is not and there is a problem similar to the previous definition but that is not what the biased article talks about, which has not lacked the diatribe against the rich.

Millions of people are being forced deeper into poverty as the ultra-rich increase their wealth. People in the US and around the world struggle to pay the high costs of food, gas, and other necessities, yet over the past two years, the richest 1% have secured nearly twice as much wealth as the rest of the world combined. How is this possible?
Most people believe billionaires are there to help the economy, this is a total NO in most cases. Their very billions are earned because of cheap labor, and cheap labor is available because of poverty. More poverty creates more billionaires. They are rich because they utilze the opportunities coming from developing and poor nations.

In short, billionaires are bad for the economy. How bad? Check out these top four ways:


1. Extreme wealth and poverty are rising simultaneously for the first time in decades
Now more than ever, workers are struggling to pay their bills, buy their groceries, and support their families because inflation is skyrocketing across the world. Corporations are raising the prices on goods, not because they have to, but because it increases the payouts for their shareholders. This lines the pockets of the ultra-wealthy while forcing more people into poverty.

Last year, 95 food and energy corporations doubled their company profits. Instead of investing that money in their employees, they paid $257 billion to their already rich shareholders. In the backdrop of this outrageous corporate greed, 1.7 billion workers live in countries where inflation now outpaces wages.

2. American billionaires are 33% richer than they were at the start of the pandemic
In 2020, the US experienced the worst economic growth since World War II. Much of the country felt this burden, especially marginalized groups, but the top 1% did not struggle. Instead, they became significantly richer.

This is possible because, for decades, the system has been rigged in favor of the rich. Labor laws, CEO compensation, the privatization of public assets, and much more are skewed toward making the rich richer. This leaves little protection and support for the average person, putting them in a vulnerable position.

3. Billionaires are contributing a million times more carbon to the atmosphere than the average person
People across the globe are facing dangerous climate change events, such as severe hurricanes, flash floods, and wildfires because billionaires are making climate change rapidly worse. In fact, 125 of the world’s richest billionaires invest so much money in polluting industries that they are responsible for emitting an average of 3 million carbon tons a year. The more they invest in fossil fuels, the more they protect the use of them, no matter how much the rest of the world suffers in response.

4. The super-rich are taxed at a dangerously low rate
Billionaires paid a low tax rate of 3% while most people with less money, like nurses and teachers, paid far more. If multi-millionaires paid a 2-3% wealth tax rate and billionaires paid a 5% wealth tax rate globally, it would raise $1.7 trillion a year. This money could be used for underfunded social programs, environmental policies, and economic programs. This would reduce the stress of necessities like the cost of childcare and healthcare.

With this tax rate, 2 billion people could be lifted out of poverty. We need to reduce inequality to end poverty and injustice. Increasing taxation up to 5% for the richest people in the world would be a strong step toward equality


Reference: https://www.oxfamamerica.org/explore/stories/top-5-ways-billionaires-are-bad-for-the-economy/

CONCLUSION
Everyone want to become a billionaire and it's a good thing to become one but what will be your impart to your community, nation or the world if you become a billionaire today. People like Warren Buffett, Chuck Feeney, Oprah Winfrey and many more can not be forgotten for their impart on the society. Only few billionaires are ready to help. To solve the issue posted on the economy by the billionaires, the followings can be done

👉👉Reducing the rising levels of global inequality and more billionaire-busting policies should be created.

👉👉Wide-ranging increases in taxation of the super-rich, and we call on world governments to tax multi-millionaires and billionaires

👉👉Creation of total education, full employment and health care facilities for the masses.