Quote:
Originally Posted by CliffFletcher
The countries that have managed to foster more egalitarian societies - I mean have actually done it, not theorized about socialist utopias on reddit or twitter - have a fairly straightforward model.
* Attract private business with a healthy and educated workforce and moderate corporate tax rates.
* Tax the population working for these business with high income taxes across the board and high sales taxes.
* Use the government revenue generated from those taxes to fund strong public education and healthcare systems.
The key is high taxes across the board. The 1 per cent are too small in number to fund high levels of services. Taxes have to be high at all income levels to raise the kind of money Scandinavian public services cost.
That approach has never been pursued in the Anglosphere because our politics are more divisive, and the left tell people they can have dramatically better lives if only the rich would pay their share. Nobody has the courage or honesty to run on a platform of higher taxes for all. The whole collective ethos of the Northern European approach is missing.
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Cliff is 100% correct in this. I could truly care less if the billionaires leave Canada for some tax haven or corrupt country. Most of their "income" is largely non-taxed as those people are most likely panama paper headliners.
I still remember Boris Johnson (as London Mayor) bragging about having the most billionaires in the world.
The issue is billionaires taking their money AND their business/investment to greener pastures; but, if the country keeps corporate-friendly policies, the rationale for corporate exodus is nearly eliminated.
The nordic model (and many other countries like the Netherlands) promotes private enterprise and jobs while also limiting wealth inequality through personal taxes. It's the truest form of pro-business governance