Some thoughts from Warren Buffet

[edward]

Apparently there are a few here who think Buffet must have some sinister ulterior motive. The man has pledged half of his fortune to charity. That is enough to convince me that he is sincere.

I mispoke in the above post. Buffet has pledged to give 99 percent of his Berkshire Hathaway stock to charitable foundations. The lions share so far has gone to the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation.

 

[turbo]

I mispoke in the above post. Buffet has pledged to give 99 percent of his Berkshire Hathaway stock to charitable foundations. The lions share so far has gone to the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation.

And the Gates' have shown a propensity to help the poorest of us (sub-Saharan Africans, specifically) to break free of disease and starvation.

 

[russ_watters]

Is there any metric under which Buffet is not portrayed by the right as a self-serving creep or a Marxist commie? At some point, we have to accept people at face value, absent evidence to the contrary. Maybe Buffet is a wildly successful businessman who wants to use his money to support humanitarian causes... Is that so implausible that people can make up conspiracy theories about him and be believed?

No, it isn't implausible and I believe it is true - but that doesn't mean what he's saying is good advice and isn't misleading (whether intentionally or unintentionally). The two just don't have anything to do with each other.

At the same time, it is illogical to use argument from authority to anoint him The Expert on tax policy just because he's rich and would seem at face value to have an opinion that works against his interests.

So accumulating tax credits that he will never use is a good reason to slam him?

You misunderstood: he won't use all the tax credits because they will more than zero-out his taxable income for the rest of his life. In other words, once he starts giving away his money to charity, he'll never have to pay another dime in federal income taxes.

 

[turbo]

In other words, once he starts giving away his money to charity, he'll never have to pay another dime in federal income taxes.

If that is indeed the case, great! I'd love to see his fortune shielded from taxation as he donates it to charitable causes.

Our government gives money to foreign aid causes. That money is drawn from taxation on us citizens after we have already paid payroll taxes, and innumerable other hidden taxes on the items that we buy. Our tax code is laden with give-aways and "deductions" that exempt whole classes of business from taxation, and we normal wage-earners have to pay for those favors.

I think that is great that Buffet will manage to keep the tax-collectors' hands off his fortune as he gives it away.

 

[russ_watters]

Methinks you're arguing against your point, turbo...

 

[russ_watters]

"Moreover, I would not be inclined to accept - without evidence - that gini coefficient actually does correlate with happiness, stability, and innovation. "

The marginal utility of money is logarithmic (or declines even more steeply if there is risk aversion - see "http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.188.6520&rank=1"" and its citations), and IIRC from an article which I don't have at hand, the corner of the graph is roughly between $5K to $10K per year for an individual - after that, increasing income has less and less impact on happiness.

To illustrate: if a policy results in 1 person with an income of $1M losing $100K and 1 person with an income of $10K gaining $1112, then there is a net gain in overall utility even though $98,888K has disappeared. This reduction in income disparity also lowers the Gini coefficient. If person with an income of $1M loses $100K and 1000 $10K earners get $100 each, then the absolute gain in utility would be greater than if the person with $1M income had increased their income to $20B.

"If..." That argument assumes that placing a constraint on one person's income will necessarily raise another's.

 

[WhoWee]

And the Gates' have shown a propensity to help the poorest of us (sub-Saharan Africans, specifically) to break free of disease and starvation.

If this is your point (this thread and the other one about keeping tax collectors away) - I have to agree with you that individuals can prioritize and target specific problems with less waste and greater effectiveness than Government.

 

[mheslep]

Although the Koch brothers do give to charity they don't come close to the what Gates and Buffet have pledged.

Nobody in the US comes close to having the wealth that Gates and Buffet do.

Their Libertarian motives are very apparent.

So its not philanthropy, but expressed political beliefs that convince you about their sincerity? Meanwhile, I doubt MIT attempts to pidgeon hole the Koch brother's political beliefs:
http://www.forbes.com/2008/03/06/bi...ivingitaway_slide_19.html?thisSpeed=undefined

When they pledge half of their fortune to charity let me know. I won't hold my breath.

Buffet has taken awhile to get there; he is 80.

 

[russ_watters]

If he gave away (or had it taxed away) his money before amassing it, he never could have made so much in the first place!

 

[WhoWee]

If he gave away (or had it taxed away) his money before amassing it, he never could have made so much in the first place!

There is no doubt about that point.

Again, look at his list of holdings - Buffet/Berkshire Hathaway is by far the most successful of all M&A/Holding firms. The tax strategies are very complex - but a necessary component of structuring a deal.
http://www.berkshirehathaway.com/subs/sublinks.html

 

[drankin]

Just an opinion piece from fox: http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2011...buffett-just-write-government-check/?test=lit

 

[Willowz]

At least these people aren't self serving objectivists.
"[URL
France's richest say: Tax us more[/URL]

Some of France's wealthiest people have called on the government to tackle its deficit by raising taxes - on the rich.

Sixteen executives, including Europe's richest woman, the L'Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt, offered in an open letter to pay a "special contribution" in a spirit of "solidarity".

The move follows a call by US billionaire investor Warren Buffett for higher taxes on the American ultra-rich.

 

[Willowz]

These and other blessings are showered upon us by legislators in Washington who feel compelled to protect us, much as if we were spotted owls or some other endangered species.

Ahh yes, whatever would happen if the rich went on strike. Oh ho!