March 17, 2016

Should not those who live under the thumb of blatant redistribution profiteers have safe access to safe tax havens?

Sir, David Pilling raises a question that needs to be asked more often, especially when inequality is debated “Why would people pay tax if much of the money is simply stolen or distributed to others, and provision of public goods is so inadequate?” “Where states remain at the mercy of their elites”. March 17.

In my country Venezuela, the really poor have not received more than a maximum of 15% of what would have been their per capita share of the nations net oil revenues. The rest if not just wasted, has gone to redistribution profiteers and associates.

And Pilling quotes Senator Alphonso Gaye from Liberia saying: “You need some cash. Your respect in this country depends on your capacity to respond to people’s demands.” Of his salary… how much do you think goes into his responses? 10 percent?

This is why I am hopeful the universal basic income that currently is being studied, for instance in Finland and Canada, could become a reality.

That would help us to get rid of all those odious redistribution profiteers. And with such a redistribution mechanism many would look much more favorably on a pro-equality tax on wealth.

Question: Where would inequality be today if all social redistributive spending had been done by means of a cost effective Universal Basic Income?


@PerKurowski ©