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A simple leftist view to solve complex problems
Letter to the Editor
Re: The solution is here if we dare to use it, by Gerry Warner, e-KNOW, August 13.
Warner writes, “If you really want to see a better world, end poverty, stop war, save the environment, improve the lives of seniors, lower the infant mortality rate, distribute wealth more fairly, slow climate change, reduce homelessness, lower drug addiction…Tax the rich.”
This is, of course, a simple leftist view to solve complex problems. Sorry Gerry, the rich in Canada and the USA already pay more than their fair share of taxes.
From “Top 20% pay 61% of Canada’s income taxes, ‘more than their share’: study”’ in the National Post, October 27, 2022, “…the 20% of Canadian families with an income of more than $227,486 actually pay 61.4% of income taxes and 53% of the country’s total taxes. That would include taxes such as payroll tax, sales tax and property tax.
“High-income families already pay a disproportionately large share of all Canadian taxes,” it says.”
In the United States, from the IRS, “The latest government data show that in 2018, the top one per cent of income earners—those who earned more than $540,000—earned 21% of all U.S. income while paying 40% of all federal income taxes. The top 10% earned 48% of the income and paid 71% of federal income taxes.”
Warner also writes, “Do Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos or Bill Gates need any more money?” It’s not a question of need. All these men earned their money by providing goods and/or services that people paid for through voluntary transactions because they believed these goods and/or services were worth their hard-earned money.
And let’s not forget the thousands of jobs that the companies these men own provide. What does Warner think will happen with a wealth tax? Companies will simply pass that tax on to consumers or move their companies and the jobs they provide to other provinces, states or countries. As an example, look what happened in France.
Between 2000 and 2012 their wealth tax drove 42,000 millionaires to move to other countries. This terrible idea destroyed so much of the country’s tax base that it had to be repealed.
Warner writes, “Think of the obscene “wages” being paid to entertainers and sports superstars, Hundreds of millions for shooting a puck or throwing a ball. I’m not a mathematician but I think a wealth tax would bring in billions.” Regardless of whether Warner thinks these people should be paid these “obscene wages,” they earn this money because the free market has determined there are people willing to pay the costs to watch athletes and entertainers ply their trade.
Once again, people have freely determined that they are willing to spend their hard-earned money to watch an athlete or an entertainer. For example, a Row 1 box seat ticket to watch the Boston Red Sox play in Yankee Stadium this past July 18 cost $258. The fact that someone will pay that cost is one of the reasons the New York Yankees can pay Aaron Judge $40 million a season.
Rich people and corporations are not stupid and they would find any and all legal means to avoid the wealth tax. Do not forget the French example.
Warner is right. He is not a mathematician or obviously, an economist. He never thinks of the unintended consequences of a wealth tax.
Grant Giles,
Victoria
