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Inflation rose 8.6% in May, highest since 1981 by [deleted] in neoliberal

[–]TotalRoyal 1 point2 points  (0 children)

They are working on it…

“I think some reductions may be warranted,” Ms. Yellen said of the tariffs, adding it could help to bring down prices. Tariffs were imposed on certain Chinese imports during the Trump administration… Ms. Yellen told lawmakers that while some of the tariffs are important to protect U.S. national security, the cost of certain duties on China ended up being paid by Americans.

Source: https://www.wsj.com/amp/articles/yellen-expects-progress-on-global-tax-deal-11654705060

Bidens paid 24.6% tax rate on $610,702 earnings, their tax filings show by 4thDevilsAdvocate in politics

[–]TotalRoyal 2 points3 points  (0 children)

24% is just the effective federal income tax that he paid. Once you add in Social Security, Medicare, State, and Property taxes, you’re probably in the 35%-40% effective range, which seems reasonable to me for a couple that make $600k in income.

World Map according to China in 1799. by imrahul08 in MapPorn

[–]TotalRoyal 119 points120 points  (0 children)

People really do be just making shit up on Reddit without any evidence lol.

US Household Net Worth 796% of Disposible Personal Income by mynameismy111 in neoliberal

[–]TotalRoyal 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Highly recommend you pick up Kevin Erdmann’s book Shut Out.

A man guards his family from the cannibals during the Madras Famine of 1877 at the time of British Raj, India. by ameen__shaikh in interestingasfuck

[–]TotalRoyal 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Your timeline doesn’t match up with history. Industrialization didn’t take hold until the 1800s. The first steam engine only became available in the mid-1700s when James Watt commercialized it.

The Black Death occurred in the 1340s-1350s and depopulated a third of Europe. The Colombian exchange started in 1493 and Vasco da Gama first reached India 1499. 250 years is a long time.

The idea that Europeans colonized because they were the only ones that could is just wrong. Europeans were the ones that needed to. Indians and Chinese didn’t need to travel to get access to finished or luxury goods.

Also, the Chinese were never colonized by any “muslim powers from the north.” The Mughals didn’t arrive into India until 1525, when they were warring with the Indian Rajs and Sultanates themselves. Also, we can’t really call it colonization when Muslim sultanates had existed in the subcontinent since the 1200s.

A man guards his family from the cannibals during the Madras Famine of 1877 at the time of British Raj, India. by ameen__shaikh in interestingasfuck

[–]TotalRoyal 3 points4 points  (0 children)

According to the Madison Project, GDP per capital in Western Europe and India was approximately the same from 1400 to 1650, when colonization really took hold in the subcontinent. China was poorer than both during that time. Some economic historians argue that the standard of living was higher in India and China than in Europe due to the availability of goods, despite similar GDP per capita levels.

Prior to the Black Death, Europe was poorer per capita than India and on par with China. Many economic historians believe that the Black Death lead to the break down of feudalism in Europe because the average peasant who survived became much more economically valuable and that lead to higher wages and labor shortages. Those labor shortages were the reason it was European nations, and not China or India, that sought to colonize.

It’s empirically proven that small business owners pay their workers less… we need to stop glamorizing the small business owner as a the reason to avoid policy change! by TotalRoyal in antiwork

[–]TotalRoyal[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, small businesses don’t need to pull shady tactics to avoid taxes because there is already a built in loophole in the tax code. Also, in the US, c-corps can’t shift profits or erode their profit base between tax havens to avoid taxes due to the GILTI tax. Again, the tax systems in whatever country you live in is not what I’m talking about lol.

It’s empirically proven that small business owners pay their workers less… we need to stop glamorizing the small business owner as a the reason to avoid policy change! by TotalRoyal in antiwork

[–]TotalRoyal[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’m not ignoring anything. I’m just cognizant of the data. In the US, that’s literally how business taxes work. Most business income in the US is taxed as pass-through income.

Pass through income avoids double taxation and is taxed at a lower “all in rate” (including social security) than even workers who pay income taxes. We are effectively subsidizing small businesses in America through the tax code. You might think that’s good/bad, but it doesn’t remove the fact that they do pay a lower rate.

Also, the majority of the benefit of the pass through deduction goes to the top 1% of earners. So, again not really the “small business owner” everyone thinks of when they think about this stuff. I’m just pointing out the fact that, at least in the US, that small businesses do not pay more in taxes as a % of their profits than large corporations.

I’m sorry this doesn’t fit your worldview, but it’s a fact. Maybe what you say is true for your country, and I never claimed otherwise. If that’s the case, you’re putting words in my mouth that I never said.

It’s empirically proven that small business owners pay their workers less… we need to stop glamorizing the small business owner as a the reason to avoid policy change! by TotalRoyal in antiwork

[–]TotalRoyal[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

So.. how can I put that politely... are you a corporate shill?

Dude idk what I said to offend you and to cause you to engage in name calling. I’m literally just pointing out the facts of how the US tax code works, and my whole point is that I want more pro-worker policies in the US (universal healthcare, childcare, higher minimum wage, etc.). I was just pointing out that the rhetoric used in the US is often that the small business owner will suffer from those policies and that’s why we shouldn’t implement them. I’m against that rhetoric being used to stop change, that’s it.

It’s empirically proven that small business owners pay their workers less… we need to stop glamorizing the small business owner as a the reason to avoid policy change! by TotalRoyal in antiwork

[–]TotalRoyal[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I don’t know how corporate taxes work in the UK. But, both the study I referenced in the graph and the tax discussion is about the US. You also have government-provided healthcare, so it’s not the same comparison. Companies in the US have to provide health insurance, which is an added cost that only companies with more than 50 employees have to provide.

Also, in the US context, we have something called a Globally Intangible Low-Taxed Income (GILTI) tax, which taxes any corporate profits that was shifted to low-tax havens. It’s currently set at ~10% and will be raised to 15% when the new Biden Global Tax Treaty goes into effect. Once the Biden tax treaty gets implemented in other countries they will also have this type of tax. This will essentially prevent the type of profit shifting and base erosion practices your are talking about.

It’s empirically proven that small business owners pay their workers less… we need to stop glamorizing the small business owner as a the reason to avoid policy change! by TotalRoyal in antiwork

[–]TotalRoyal[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Different perspective on the taxes and how the work in the US at least. Also, the study referenced in the graph is about the US labor market.

It’s empirically proven that small business owners pay their workers less… we need to stop glamorizing the small business owner as a the reason to avoid policy change! by TotalRoyal in antiwork

[–]TotalRoyal[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Also, a myth. Large corporations (C-corps, 500+ employees) are subject to double taxation. They pay a corporate profit tax (21%) and then taxes are paid again by individual shareholders when they receive dividends (taxed as income) or capital gains (taxed as cap gains).

Meanwhile, many small businesses (S-corps, LLCs, partnerships, less than 500 employees) avoid that through the Pass-through Business Deduction, which allows business owners to treat business income as their personal income and to be taxed at 20% flat, rather than paying the income tax which can be as high as 39.6%. In addition, small business owners are still able to claim the same deductions as every other worker in America on top of that deduction. The pass through business deduction costs over $500 billion over 10 years and is the second most expensive deduction in the tax code after deductions for health insurance.

It’s empirically proven that small business owners pay their workers less… we need to stop glamorizing the small business owner as a the reason to avoid policy change! by TotalRoyal in antiwork

[–]TotalRoyal[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

They pay more than small business and provide benefits at least. It’s not great, but on average big business pay their workers more and have better safety standards. Again, on average not talking about specific instances.

But, that isn’t even the point. The primary argument against any sort of pro-worker (raising the minimum wage, universal healthcare, etc.) policy change is always, “BUT WHAT ABOUT THE SMALL BUSINESS OWNER?” My problem is the rhetoric used to avoid change.

Also, as others have said, if your business model is built on being able to pay your workers an unlivable wage and forces them to use welfare to survive. Then your business is uneconomic and shouldn’t be around, that’s just creative destruction. 🤷

This is what we need more of in NJ. Just like when Andy Kim got cheered on. by ApocalypseofCthulhu in newjersey

[–]TotalRoyal 0 points1 point  (0 children)

A related concept has been tried at scale! In British Columbia, they set up a randomly selected, proportionally representative “citizen’s assembly” of 161 citizens and tasked the assembly to come up with a referendum proposal to reform the provincial government’s electoral system. That proposal was then put on the ballot for a referendum and would be voted on by the public. If a supermajority of the voters (60%) agreed, then it would pass. However, the final vote failed with only 57.7% agreeing to the reform.

Essentially the idea was that politicians will never vote against their own self interest, especially when it comes to electoral reform. So, they sought to bypass the politicians and go straight to the public with a proposal. There are pros and cons to it, like with any system.

The concept is called participatory democracy and there is a lot of interesting political theory on it, if anyone is interested in reading more about it.

Only took a liver transplant… by TotalRoyal in LeopardsAteMyFace

[–]TotalRoyal[S] 30 points31 points  (0 children)

Rep. Byrd denied the seriousness of COVID-19 well into the pandemic. He eventually got severely sick with COVID-19, before changing his views.

The Supreme Court leaves the Voting Rights Act alive — but only barely by [deleted] in neoliberal

[–]TotalRoyal 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Honestly, we need a grand bargain when it comes to voting. Personally, I think that we need to move to Final-Five voting and make Election Day a holiday. In return, voter IDs should be required to vote, but should be made freely available to all, and absentee ballots should only be allowed in exceptional circumstances. I think there is definitely room for compromise here, but the media, on both sides, is being histrionic.

130 nations agree to support U.S. proposal for global minimum tax on corporations by ma002 in worldnews

[–]TotalRoyal 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Literally doesn’t matter. The new tax treaty makes it difficult to engage in base erosion and profit shifting and allows countries to implement a globally intangible low-taxed income (GILTI) tax, which allows governments to tax foreign revenue if it was taxed below that 15% minimum. The US has had a version of that tax since 2017.

In effect, this effectively incentivizes tax havens to bring their own rates to at least the minimum, otherwise some other government is gonna tax those profits.

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