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California is chasing wealth that has feet

293 points · 870 comments · idbnstra

  1. binlog · · focus · HN ↗
    Wealth taxes are a symptom of a broken tax system. If you let someone get to hundreds of billions in net worth and then realize they haven’t been appropriately paying back into the system, it’s already too late. Like the article says they can simply say “no” in a variety of ways, from fighting in court to simply leaving.
    1. jdm2212 · · focus · HN ↗
      Larry Page owns about 5% of Alphabet, which is worth $4T, so he has $200B give or take. Which part of that do you think reflects a "broken tax system"? Companies should get kneecapped if their market cap gets too high? Founders shouldn't be allowed to keep even a single digit percent of the company?
      1. ForHackernews · · focus · HN ↗
        > Companies should get kneecapped if their market cap gets too high?

        Yes. They should be broken up because competition is good for consumers and society. If we had functional anti-trust enforcement Google would not have a near-monopoly on search ads where they own both the ad inventory and the marketplace where you have to buy those placements.

        1. jdm2212 · · focus · HN ↗
          Then you'd have two (or three, or four) companies that Larry owns 5% each of that are collectively worth $4T.
          1. ForHackernews · · focus · HN ↗
            That's fine, I don't care as long as they are legitimately competing and not colluding to the detriment of consumers/employees/citizens.
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