Is it even possible to justify this?

[UVACoug]

http://www.reuters.com/article/comme...94H0AX20130518

I don't really know the political makeup of this board, but I'm guessing there are at least a few people that are to the left of center on most issues. Can anyone here defend taxing the rich in excess of 100% of their income?

[Guest]

So what the french are saying is "get out rich people, we don't want you here." Yet another reason to not like the French. And I'm not even rich.

[wuapinmon]

I think V.I. Lenin made a decent case for it.

[creekster]

I think V.I. Lenin made a decent case for it.

Lenin is dead.

[calicoug]

http://www.reuters.com/article/comme...94H0AX20130518

I don't really know the political makeup of this board, but I'm guessing there are at least a few people that are to the left of center on most issues. Can anyone here defend taxing the rich in excess of 100% of their income?

I'm skeptical this is true, but if it is- clearly you can't justify it.

Liberals and conservatives may split on the precise location of the revenue maximizing point on the Laffer Curve, but I think we can all safely agree it is (substantially) below 100%.

[UVACoug]

I'm skeptical this is true, but if it is- clearly you can't justify it.

Liberals and conservatives may split on the precise location of the revenue maximizing point on the Laffer Curve, but I think we can all safely agree it is (substantially) below 100%.

Do you think Reuters just made it up? It is a relief to know that even liberals such as yourself see the insanity of this.

[Uncle Ted]

http://www.reuters.com/article/comme...94H0AX20130518

I don't really know the political makeup of this board, but I'm guessing there are at least a few people that are to the left of center on most issues. Can anyone here defend taxing the rich in excess of 100% of their income?

In totally unrelated news, France's economy is heading deep into the sh*t'er...

PARIS: President Francois Hollande holds a key press conference on Thursday, a day after his first anniversary in office was marred by news that holland France had fallen back into recession amid plummeting economic indicators.


The Socialist leader, who is the most unpopular post-War president according to opinion polls, had pledged to turn back double-digit unemployment in Europe's second-largest economy this year, but that now seems highly unlikely.

He faces mounting pressure to reshuffle his cabinet due to criticism over uncoordinated economic policy and a need to deepen and accelerate economic reforms, issues which he could address in the keenly-awaited press meet.


National statistics agency INSEE said Wednesday that the French economy slid into recession -- two consecutive quarters of contraction -- in the first three months of the year with the economy shrinking by 0.2 percent.


The eurozone meanwhile posted its sixth straight quarter of economic contraction while the German economy -- the bloc's economic powerhouse -- expanded by 0.1 percent in that quarter.


"On all fronts it's disaster: France is in recession, the purchasing power has fallen for the first time in 30 years and unemployment is spiralling," Le Figaro newspaper said in a scathing editorial entitled "The price of inertia."


In March, the number of unemployed French jobseekers reached a 16-year high, hitting 3.2 million or 10.6 percent.
[...]

http://articles.economictimes.indiat...ncois-hollande

[calicoug]

Do you think Reuters just made it up? It is a relief to know that even liberals such as yourself see the insanity of this.

Reuters didn't do the study. Reuters is reporting about a study done by a French newspaper relying on Finance Ministry data- and the Reuters piece doesn't provide any link to the Finance Ministry data or to the French newspaper which did the study.

Like I said, I'm skeptical. I don't know anything about Les Echos (the French paper) and I suspect you don't either. So all we really have here is a story by Reuters that says someone else did a story that said something happened. I'm sure Reuters didn't make up its story, but that's not particularly useful information.

Either way, it looks like the French courts also agree that exceeding 100% would be illegal under French law.

[statman]

Reuters didn't do the study. Reuters is reporting about a study done by a French newspaper relying on Finance Ministry data- and the Reuters piece doesn't provide any link to the Finance Ministry data or to the French newspaper which did the study.

Like I said, I'm skeptical. I don't know anything about Les Echos (the French paper) and I suspect you don't either. So all we really have here is a story by Reuters that says someone else did a story that said something happened. I'm sure Reuters didn't make up its story, but that's not particularly useful information.

Either way, it looks like the French courts also agree that exceeding 100% would be illegal under French law.

A tax in excess of 100% of annual income can occur this year because of a one-time tax on financial assets. The top tax bracket is 75% and if you own enough in financial assets, your tax could be in excess of 25% of your income this year. It's not that hard to figure out...

[ERCougar]

A tax in excess of 100% of annual income can occur this year because of a one-time tax on financial assets. The top tax bracket is 75% and if you own enough in financial assets, your tax could be in excess of 25% of your income this year. It's not that hard to figure out...

It's also not hard to figure out that the French court also struck down the proposed top tax bracket of 75% as unconstitutional.
Reading is hard!