Quote:
Originally Posted by CharlieDontSurf
a 26 year old graduate is still gonna try and make a startup company that turns into a multi-million dollar business whether the taxes rates are 1998 level or 2004 level.
Same for the 34 year old successful business owner
Same for the 42 year old multi-millionaire.
While I am by no means a supporter of tax the rich, quite the opposite in fact, this is an extremely valid point.
It was raised, but not explored in detail, by Robert Wright in
The Moral Animal. Human beings are evolutionarily driven to obtain status, as high status males tend to have more progeny and high status females tend to attract males who invest larger degrees of parental investment. The net result is people will always try to do better than their neighbors.
The strong counterpoint to this line of reasoning is that people who know and accept their low status simply will work as little as possible when their necessities of living are met.
But let's be realistic, while I have issues with "progressive" taxation, it's not going to stop entrepreneurs.