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originally posted by: Aazadan
originally posted by: Edumakated
Money in the pockets of the rich does not stay there...
I get your point, but I want to challenge you on this. Most wealth does not trickle down. Lets take a tech startup as that's what I'm most familiar with (though I'm not great on all the terminology). Lets say the first round of funding starts, I think that's called series A? And the company raises $2 million. That will probably hire a team of 5 for a year at a cost of $500,000. The remainder of that $2 million will go towards corporate expenses such as equipment, legal fees, office space, taxes, and so on. Of that $2 million, you're looking at 1/2 that recirculates among the upper tier professional classes (consultants, c level execs, lawyers, etc), 1/4 on equipment that can be liquidated and recovered if the investment goes bad, and only 1/4 of it that trickles down to the labor force.
It's true that the rich are spending money, but most of what they're spending goes to other rich folks.
originally posted by: Edumakated
Why are you just stopping with one or two people in? You don't think the consultants, bankers, and anyone else who is benefiting don't also spend money that trickles down.
The remainder of that $2 million will go towards corporate expenses such as equipment, legal fees, office space, taxes, and so on. Of that $2 million, you're looking at 1/2 that recirculates among the upper tier professional classes (consultants, c level execs, lawyers, etc), 1/4 on equipment that can be liquidated and recovered if the investment goes bad, and only 1/4 of it that trickles down to the labor force.
originally posted by: TheRedneck
Equipment is made by workers, so a good chunk of that trickles down through payrolls.
originally posted by: AnotherPOV
That's their own fault. Don't have kids if you can't afford them. Don't live in a place that you can't afford. Personal responsibility is the answer. Bad choices lead to poverty.
originally posted by: Aazadan
a reply to: TheRedneck
We do have competition, how much varies by the product. But there's also a high barrier to entry in the field so there's few competitors. I'm still learning the business side of things but since we make scientific and medical equipment that has to be supported for X years after purchase by law, that's where part of the markup comes in. The rest of it is pure profit motive. Labor represents very little of the value of what we produce, most of the value is in the IP, patents, licensing, and so on and none of that value will trickle down.
Trickle down theory suggests that a large percentage of wealth (almost all of it actually) trickles down. It does not. Only a small percentage does.
originally posted by: Hypntick
a reply to: Uberdoubter
What you mentioned that money put into the pockets of the rich stays there, is exactly how you stay rich. You don't go blowing cash on extravagances (unless you're in the hundreds of millions range), you don't give a ton to charities (unless it's a tax write off), you don't spread the money around. You invest it, consolidate it, make it work for you so you can spend more time either utilizing that money for a decent lifestyle, or move on to another stream of revenue generation.
Aside from inheritance and the lottery, no one gets rich by accident. Risks are taken, but they are extremely calculated risks. Everything is done with the goal of increasing your wealth and maintaining it.
originally posted by: jjkenobi
originally posted by: AnonymousMoose
originally posted by: Gothmog
originally posted by: AnonymousMoose
originally posted by: Gothmog
originally posted by: Nyiah
originally posted by: DBCowboy
a reply to: CB328
When was the last time all Americans could afford rent and food?
My late grandmother used to joke, before we moved north, that they had more to live on & not starve or go homeless when she was a kid in the Great Depression than families do today.
She was a sarcastic old broad, but she might not have been joking, either. Sometimes truths were just heavily dipped in the sarc & we didn't realize it.
Thats because they knew how to farm , hunt , trap fish.
Forgot the major one - They built their own homes out of chopped down trees.
Folks today ? Not so much
Comparing totally different times and situations
Today , folks do not concentrate on food and shelter. They have to have a Lexus , high priced phones , tats , etc.
Who has money left for unnecessary things like food and a place to live ?
Also today, there is a crippling amount of government regulation...one cannot cut down some trees on there own property without government interference, one cannot build a house without a licensed contractor and permits, one cannot simply go hunt or fish without a license and strict regulation (seasons, bag limits, etc). The people today cannot be as independent as those generations years ago...
What ?
I can cut down any tree that I feel a need to in my woods.
You must not live in California lol
You seriously have to wonder why anyone would choose to live in California.