Chapter 5
In the Same Boat: On the Road with Bill Gates
In
this chapter, we follow Bill Gates Sr as he lobbies to preserve the estate tax.
He was rather interestingly positioned to argue for this tax as his son was one
of the wealthiest individuals to ever live. He presents his argument to a group
of politicians who are initially skeptical of Bill Gates Sr and his
proposition.
His
argument for the tax is based on the notion that we need to pay back “society”
for “societies investments”. He uses the example of the opportunities presented
to an individual in a developed country like the United States versus someone
in a relatively underdeveloped area and the advantage provided by location. He
does this by referring to Uncle Sam as the ultimate angel investor as the
foundations laid by the government provides fundamental building blocks for entrepreneurship
and innovative thinking. Therefore, this tax is a logical repayment for this
indirect “debt” or sense of gratitude towards the administration for laying the
necessary foundations.
Surprisingly, this point of view changed the view of a fair number of the initially skeptical politicians. It is also interesting to see the sheer advantages and disadvantages that decades of regulation and government projects yield and how they shape the destiny of the populations they are intended to benefit.
Very interesting point of view. I never thought about Uncle Sam as being the ultimate angel investor. To be honest I don't fully agree with this because Uncle Sam doesn't always invest in things that produce the highest net benefit to society... So I wouldn't call him "ultimate".
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting to me that this chapter presented a detailed account of essentially the same topic as my chapter on the estate tax. Bill Gates Sr does have a point in that everyone's initial platform here in the US in what society and Uncle Sam has provided already, without which individuals would not be successful. I also think it's interesting how simply reframing a concept can change so many people's minds, especially on Capitol Hill.
ReplyDeleteI really agree with how Gates believes that taxes serve as a way to pay back society for "societies investments." Like most people, I never enjoy having to pay taxes but I also agree with how necessary they are and I think this blog summed that up nicely.
ReplyDelete-Christian
Interesting that Gates Sr. would argue for an estate tax considering his son's position. I understand the concept of paying back society but estate tax rates are ridiculous. For a $2M estate in 2019, the owner would have to pay around $750K in taxes, or nearly half of the entire estate. In other words, if your parents worked all their lives and saved for a large estate such as the one in the previous sentence, then almost half of it would be taken. Those numbers alone seem ridiculous enough to disqualify the tax as it is at the moment.
ReplyDelete