Comments by "Mark Welch" (@markwelch3564) on "Economics is not alchemy" video.

We could tax billionaires. Why tolerate people who are the first to claim the best perks and benefits of society, but are the last to reach into their pockets when it comes to paying the bills that keep society running?
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@loc4725 sure, deficit spending to invest, and taxes on the wealthy has never worked, as long as you ignore things like the American New Deal, that did exactly that, and it worked...
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@loc4725 there's something in common between Stalin style dictatorship and corporate multinationals - vast power in the hands of a small number of people Overcentralisation is the issue, whether done by authoritarian coup or corporate buyout
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@adenwellsmith6908 why don't people who don't want to contribute to the society they live in do the honorable thing and leave?
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@adenwellsmith6908 consent is a good principle, but nuanced. For things like taxes, I am happy for it to be implied concent rather than explicit
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@adenwellsmith6908 tax is not sex 🙄 For tax, the implied consent is being in society. If you dislike society enough, you can go elsewhere. If you think relocating is too much effort, then you've made your choice I do agree that journalism in this country has a lot of room for improvement though!
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@loc4725 not sure where you got that idea from! LVT is definitely an option I'd like to see explored
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@loc4725 it comes down to a choice - who makes the investment descisions for society? A government with a democratic mandate, or private wealth? We have observed what private wealth does when investing, and with extremely rare exception they invest to consolidate and strengthen their personal wealth and power If we don't want an oligarchy, we need to tax wealth that is only being used to maximise rent seeking, and invest it to make society prosperous instead. All options should be considered, except for continuing as we are, because this clearly isn't working!
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@loc4725 but the New Deal stimulated the economy because it was redistributive Putting purchasing power in the hands of more people was fundamental to it's success. If they just built lots of bridges without paying those bridge builders well, it wouldn't have been a success
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@loc4725 but we have historic examples that show it can be done, if actively managed with coordinated policy If unqualified people make a mess of economic policy, where skilled people have succeeded, that shows we need capable people, not that it is impossible to do such policies
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@loc4725 or we could both listen more to etremely qualified economists. I'd recommend Mariana Mazzucato and Joseph Stiglitz. I am sure there are others too
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@ianross5019 that sounds like a slow and sluggish nightmare. Reacting to crises would be impossible! Being an MP is meant to be an active job - you learn about your brief and use that knowledge to drive policy. If we elect MPs that skive off from learning, that's on us
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