The 6 Pack Economist

I know that it makes people feel so much better when they can go after the rich corporate fat cats.  Of course it all turns to tears when they realize the rich fat cat was the one who was paying their salaries.  Even microsoft is threatening to move jobs overseas.

When are people going to learn that if you eat the golden goose it won’t lay any more eggs.  But it makes a bunch of short-sighted people feel better.  Everyone who works for corporations please raise your hand.  Ok that is just about everyone who still has a job.  And everyone who works at a school raise your hands too.  The corporations give educational institutions a lot of money.  So in a way you too work for the corporations.

I believe that corporate income taxes are simply counter productive.  The reason being is simple, when you have corporation the corporation has to employ people.  When people are employed by a private company then the state does not need to pay them to not come after the government with pitchforks. 

Employment for the average person has a lot of advantages both for the person but also for the government.  When a person is working they are less likely commit crime, protest in the street, and in general are just so much less annoying for the government.  After all if someone is home all day watching TV, surfing the internet, or just hanging around they so much more likely to start causing trouble.  This just requires more police, fireman, and morgue employees.

Employment is not just good for the government either it is also good for the person doing the work.  Let us assume the person doing the work at least believes that what they are doing is meaningful to someone (which is one the failures of communism more on this in a later post).  So the person has a job that they believe is doing some type of good, they don’t have wake up in the morning thinking they have the greatest job in the world for this to work either.  Said person has a purpose to their life.  They feel that they have some form of control.  In addition they have a strong separation between free time and work time.  This is very important as someone who either works all the time is burden to themselves, and a person who plays all the time is burden to everyone else.

Now that we have established that employment of people is a good thing we can also establish that we need something to employ them.  Well that is where corporations come into play.  Unlike small businesses (which are just smaller corporations), corporations have to employ a lot of low skilled specialists, in addition the usual skilled specialists.  These types of low skilled specialists must be drawn from the local population.  These are positions like mail room clerks,  janitors, the random copy and printer lady, computer helpdesk people (these are little more skilled), and we can’t forget the random hottie that always ends up at the front desk to greet people.  We all know that she is not going to be climbing the corporate ladder, maybe the corporate pole, but not the ladder.

See all these positions must be filled by the local population of the corporate office.  And when the government makes it very hard to do business and make a profit the corporation will move its offices.  There are plenty of countries in the world who would be more than happy to have these corporations put their shell headquarters in their country. 

Given all the bonuses I have outlined about the employment opportunities of keeping corporations happy why piss them off with higher taxes?  Because some left wing nut bags who can’t see the end result of their own jealously leads them to?

Eating the rich has always been sort of a sport for most of human history. Unfortunately eating rich people is like eating your seed stock or slaughtering your birthing age cows. Sure the seeds make great bread and the cows make for a really succulent steak sandwich, you will starve later.

If you don’t believe me, when was the last time you worked for a poor person? Ok all of you social workers sit down those people don’t actually pay you. As much as I don’t really like mega-rich people, especially those that did nothing to get it besides win the vagina lottery. They are a necessary evil. They are the only ones that have enough disposable income to invest it into non-consumption based spending. In other words expanding supply by investment.

During a recession or depression (depending on your own personal employment status) there seems to be an excess supply of goods (and services) and a non-existent supply of money. This is only a short term situation. Soon the excess supply will be sold when the price is lowered enough and new goods will need to be produced. Unfortunately the people who owned the original production facilities were turned from rich producers to a rather succulent casserole by those less fortunate.

Unfortunately we normally do not see farther than our own noses when it comes to economics. Part of this is natural, after-all when faced with starvation we look to find food first. But if we eat next year’s food crop to eat for today we will only starve worse later. The more we as a people continue to take from those of us who are successful and give it to those that are not successful the more we eat our seed crop. I should also state that in reality rarely to the less successful actually see a bounty from those that are successful. Usually what happens is the money is transferred from the successful to the politically connected successful.
People have to remember that we are not rich or poor based on the money in our check accounts or stock portfolio but in our relationship to everyone else. And I don’t mean some squishy love crap I mean that if everyone else has the same as you then you are all poor.

And I prefer my “rich people” with a little butter and a nice merlot reduction.

So the billionaires got screwed too with their own little pryamid scheme. 

I don’t know what to say but I thought this was funny when I heard it.  Then again I find it funny when people have stuff fall on them so maybe my sense of humor is not for everyone.  Personally I figured all of these socialites were toasting their champagne and caviar to this guy, while he robbed them.

Life is a pryamid scheme.  We all pay or work for someone who in turns takes a piece of our money or work and pays the guy above.  Hopefully in the process you get a product you need or want. 

Heres to being at the top of pryamid when it collapses.

p.s.  Amway is advertising on TV.  NO F****** way.

I love to hear this.  It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy because someone doesn’t get it.  It’s like watching someone turn the screw the wrong way.  Of course there are far too many people who refuse to turn the screw the other way and I just get frustrated and walk away.

Tax the Rich is actually counter productive.  The first thing is that what the government considers rich is not really rich.  It’s well off but your still only about 4 months from poverty.  I was shocked to learn that I was considered rich.  I was like “wow my used car is actually a Bentley”.  Who knew?

Second point is that the truly rich are ones writing the tax laws.  They will ensure that they have a way out.  As the taxes go up for them and the incentive to hide income goes up so does the use of these income hiding techniques.  In the end they pay just about the same they paid before the taxes went up.  But the not-really rich get hammered.  The extra 500 bucks we have to pay does not pay to get a really good account who can hide your money.

Third the government gets little blip of extra income and quickly spend it.  The worst thing for a government to have is a lot of money.  It’s like extra heroin or crack.  It only feeds the addiction.  They will budget it and depend on it next year.

My final point is never try to screw someone who can screw you worse.  The truly rich can get the hell out of the way the on rushing train of taxes.  They can move to the Caribbean.  The not-really rich get hammered and start cutting costs.  Which means your job.

So your taxes are higher but you lost your job so maybe they are not higher. At least you feel good about sticking it to the rich guy.  I am sure he feels bad while sipping on his margarita. 

Just accept that the truly rich have more then you.  What you should be trying to figure out instead is how to get to where they are and not how to take it way from them.