I don't know where the stock market is going, but I will say this, that if it continues higher, this will do more to stimulate the economy than anything we've been talking about today or anything anybody else was talking about.
Alan GreenspanRead
That's the problem with very high taxes - they don't redistribute wealth; they redistribute people.
Interpretation
What this quote means
High taxes can drive people away rather than effectively redistributing wealth.
This quote highlights a critical perspective on the impact of high taxation on society. It suggests that rather than achieving a more equitable distribution of wealth, excessive taxes can lead to individuals relocating to places with lower taxes, thereby undermining the intended goals of wealth redistribution and potentially harming local economies. The implication is that high taxes may be counterproductive, as they do not bring about the social change desired by their proponents, but rather result in a loss of human capital and economic vitality.
Themes
TaxesWealth RedistributionEconomicsCapital FlightGovernment Policy
In practice
Example use cases
During a speech on fiscal policy, one might use this quote to illustrate the unintended consequences of high taxation.
Similar quotes
It is a [disputed] question, whether the circulation of paper, rather than of specie [gold and silver coin], is a good or an evil I believe it to be one of those cases where mercantile clamor will bear down reason, until it is corrected by ruin.
Thomas JeffersonRead
At the current $5.15 an hour, the federal minimum wage has become a poverty wage. A full-time worker with one child lives below the official poverty line.
Bernie SandersRead
The strongest argument for free enterprise is that it prevents anybody from having too much power. Whether that person is a government official, a trade union official, or a business executive. If forces them to put up or shut up. They either have to deliver the goods, produce something that people are willing to pay for, are willing to buy, or else they have to go into a different business.
Milton FriedmanRead
The widely accepted assertion that, only if you let markets be will everyone be paid correctly and thus fairly, according to his worth, is a myth. Only when we part with this myth and grasp the political nature of the market and the collective nature of individual productivity will we be able to build a more just society in which historical legacies and collective actions, and not just individual talents and efforts, are properly taken into account in deciding how to reward people.
Ha-Joon ChangRead
Having a decent share of the national wealth for the middle class is not bad for growth. It is actually useful both for equity and efficiency reasons.
Thomas PikettyRead