You missed a very important one, fix the main reason billionaires don’t pay any tax:
Using your unrealised gains (e.g. shares) as collatoral to take out loans should be considered realising those gains and thus subject to capital gains tax
I like this. If you use something as collateral, then it means the lender has assigned some amount of value to that thing and now you have a number that you can apply taxes to.
Why stop there? Why keep the stock market at all? It’s only real purpose is for the rich to play games with their wealth, to distribute wealth towards themselves, etc. People shouldn’t be making a living off of speculative investment at all. Jobs should contribute to society. Owning is not a job.
I’m pretty sure if you got rid of “the stock market” it would immediately be reinvented.
“Hey, I need money to start my CatChat app. If you invest, I’ll give you part of the company”
“Cool.”
“Hmm… I bet I could sell parts of this to the public the same way”
Maybe the worst parts wouldn’t be reinvented right away, but those are the things that need to actually go. High frequency trading, weird nonsense that’s not actually creating value, etc
Yeah, there would be a risk of that happening. But to prevent that, the existing concept of ownership in a company needs to change as well. All companies should be legally required to be 100% employee owned, no other form of ownership allowed.
The switch away from a stock market wouldn’t be simple, and it would probably be quite painful. But absolutely worth it.
And while we’re at it, let’s take into account the total wealth of your stock holdings when you realize gains. There’s no reason poor and middle Americans should pay the same tax on their capital gains as billionaires.
You missed a very important one, fix the main reason billionaires don’t pay any tax:
Using your unrealised gains (e.g. shares) as collatoral to take out loans should be considered realising those gains and thus subject to capital gains tax
I like this. If you use something as collateral, then it means the lender has assigned some amount of value to that thing and now you have a number that you can apply taxes to.
Oh god yes
Why stop there? Why keep the stock market at all? It’s only real purpose is for the rich to play games with their wealth, to distribute wealth towards themselves, etc. People shouldn’t be making a living off of speculative investment at all. Jobs should contribute to society. Owning is not a job.
I’m pretty sure if you got rid of “the stock market” it would immediately be reinvented.
“Hey, I need money to start my CatChat app. If you invest, I’ll give you part of the company”
“Cool.”
“Hmm… I bet I could sell parts of this to the public the same way”
Maybe the worst parts wouldn’t be reinvented right away, but those are the things that need to actually go. High frequency trading, weird nonsense that’s not actually creating value, etc
Yeah, there would be a risk of that happening. But to prevent that, the existing concept of ownership in a company needs to change as well. All companies should be legally required to be 100% employee owned, no other form of ownership allowed.
The switch away from a stock market wouldn’t be simple, and it would probably be quite painful. But absolutely worth it.
Maybe ban the derivative stuff like futures and bonds. No high speed trading, buying stock is like buying a handgun and has a waiting period.
Banking is a racket, make it public.
Insurance is a racket, make it public.
100% tax above 999,999,999 on any and all assets owned by a single entity.
And while we’re at it, let’s take into account the total wealth of your stock holdings when you realize gains. There’s no reason poor and middle Americans should pay the same tax on their capital gains as billionaires.