Warren's plan sounds far too complicated and it will end up causing a lot of retaliation from trading partners. Wouldn't it be so much simpler to just let the American dollar depreciate 5 or 10% more?
Unbelievable- I don't remember ole WB proposing socialist/protectionist ideas like this while he was building his fortune. If he's proposing something like this, it's because he feels that it won't hurt BRK's constituent companies. Similar to his objection to repealing the death tax. Find out how much his insurance concerns make selling term life to older people. It's used to cover the huge death tax that these estates are subject to. And guess what, he's already committed to giving most of his fortune to charity...no 55% tax on his billions going to the govt. Listen, he's a brilliant guy and the greatest investor of all time. Let's not forget that he's got an agenda, and he's not the benevolent, absent-minded professor that he'd like you to think he is. He's a calculating businessman, and as of late, his interests don't exactly link up with most investors.
Isn't that what makes him great though? He built his empire on his ability to flex his mindset to fit the fiscal times. Plus, anyone that is donating 100% of their estate when they die can never be called "not benevolent".
You've missed the point, but I will concede that giving away 55bil to charity is a magnificent act- and to give it to another foundation because he didn't feel that he had the capacity to administer the money is truly a selfless act devoid of ego. My point was, that when he goes on CNBC and tells people with a straight face that he's paying 22% of his income in taxes and his secretary is paying 31%, he's not being totally truthful. The secretary is paying regular income, and Buffet is paying mainly capital gains. When he tells us that he feels that the govt. needs the money they get from the death tax, he doesn't tell you that his insurance companies make a ton of $ selling policies to people so they can pay this tax. He didn't 'flex his mindset' whatever that means- he's seen a huge increase in BRK's stock price since 1982 when....taxes started coming down. Now that he's made it, he feels like taxes are too low....could that be an attempt to slow down competition?
Working Paper No. 538 The Buffett Plan for Reducing the Trade Deficit by Dimitri B. Papadimitriou The Levy Economics Institute Greg Hannsgen The Levy Economics Institute and Gennaro Zezza The Levy Economics Institute and the University of Cassino July 2008 The authors thank Wynne Godley for helpful comments on an earlier draft. They also gratefully acknowledge the support of the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. The Levy Economics Institute Working Paper Collection presents research in progress by Levy Institute scholars and conference participants. The purpose of the series is to disseminate ideas to and elicit comments from academics and professionals. The Levy Economics Institute of Bard College, founded in 1986, is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, independently funded research organization devoted to public service. Through scholarship and economic research it generates viable, effective public policy responses to important economic problems that profoundly affect the quality of life in the United States and abroad. The Levy Economics Institute P.O. Box 5000 Annandale-on-Hudson, NY 12504-5000 http://www.levy.org Copyright © The Levy Economics Institute 2008 All rights reserved.