Taxes and Billionaires and the rest of us
The larger question is this: Do we try to balance budget deficits just by cutting antipoverty initiatives, college scholarships and other investments in young people and our future? Or do we also seek tax increases from those best able to afford them?And when Congressional Republicans claim that the reason for their recalcitrance in budget negotiations is concern for the welfare of ordinary Americans, look more closely. Do we really want to close down the American government and risk another global financial crisis to protect the tax bills of billionaires?
Those are the final two paragraphs of Taxes and Billionaires, Nicholas Kirstof's New York Times column this morning. Kirstof is not an economist, and tax policy is not his usual subject, but he provides a column that puts things in clear and understandable English. I urge you to read and pass on his column.
Carried Interest is currently taxed at the Capital Gains rate of 15%. John Paulson is a hedge fund manager who made almost $5 billion last year. Hedge fund managers receive bonuses of 20% or more of the profits they
