[ExI] self driving truck

[Adrian Tymes]

On Mon, Oct 31, 2016 at 9:40 AM, spike <spike66 at att.net> wrote:

> *>…* *On Behalf Of *Adrian Tymes
> *Subject:* Re: [ExI] self driving truck
>
> On Oct 31, 2016 8:01 AM, "spike" <spike66 at att.net> wrote:
>
> >>… Should the Federal government try to institute a tax based on what we
> own, capital flees along with the owners of that capital…
>
> >…By that argument, why does money not flee the state & local?
>
> Because we can’t run off with our house on our backs.
>

So?  That would equally true whether the state or the feds collected
property taxes.  Why is it not okay for the feds to collect it, if states
collect it and that hasn't caused all (or even most) wealth to flee?


> California is an interesting case.  They capped property tax structure in
> the state constitution, then required a 2/3 vote to change that structure.
> They did that back in the 1970s when our current governor was governor (is
> that cool or what?)  Since then, a number of bills have been introduced to
> change the requirement for a 2/3 vote to a simple majority, but they
> anticipated this and wrote it such that any law to change the 2/3 rule to
> anything else requires passage by 2/3 vote.  So… they tried to change the
> 2/3 rule to change the 2/3 rule, and discovered that it too requires 2/3
> majority.  And so on.  You can’t get 2/3 of the senators to agree the sun
> will rise tomorrow.
>

It's 2/3rdles all the way down.


> >…Also, I recall that argument used against higher federal taxes and it
> mostly not coming true.  Wealth goes where it will make more wealth - even
> if the taxes are higher, but not high enough to cancel out that increase…
>
> Ja!  That is a cool feature of capital.  It goes where its reproductive
> capacity is greatest.  So, governments must make their nation, state,
> county or city a great place for capital to breed, and capital will come
> there and breed.
>

Exactly.  It goes where it can expand the most, even if that happens to be
where the taxes are not the lowest in the world.  Sure, taxes factor into
how fast capital can expand, but it is far from the only factor.  All
arguments that it is - that increasing taxes at all, in a high-growth area
that will still be high-growth (relative to other areas accessible to
capital, which tends to exclude Russia, China, and most of the third world)
with the higher taxes - have proven false based on historical evidence.

On that score, I notice a lot of Chinese are buying up homes in the
> neighborhood.  Their government damn sure can tax them on whatever they
> have.  So… Chinese businesswomen make sure they have a safe landing strip
> somewhere else, preferably in California where the property taxes are high
> but controlled.  I see it everywhere around me: expensive neighborhoods
> were many of the houses are apparently not occupied but are not on the
> market.  The yards are maintained to perfection by yard services, the
> curtains drawn and never moved, not a trace of evidence anyone ever goes
> inside.
>
Don't be so sure in every case.  Many of those houses are in fact occupied;
they just, by coincidence, come and go at hours when you aren't watching.
Others are rentals which don't always have a tenant.  Though I do believe
there are quite a few as you describe.


> My theory: those homes are owned by foreigners who are busy making money
> and keeping that in case China decides it is time for the commies to flex
> their muscle and have another great leap forward.  If that happens we can
> envision once-empty neighborhoods crowded with Chinese people with money up
> the kazoo.  This leads to another problem.  Suppose you are a yard service
> working for a freshly-minted Chinese expatriate with money up the kazoo.
> She pays you generously, but you know where that money has been.  Now what?
>
You take the money without any second thoughts.  It, like its owner, has
been liberated from China and has become American in this scenario.  (And
that is if you care where the money has been.  If you are running a yard
service, you probably don't.)
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