What if? It's the basis of many stories. We ask. We ponder. We wonder.
On Tuesdays I throw one out there. What if? It may be speculative. It may stem from something I see. It may be something I pull from the news.
Make of it what you will. If a for instance is not specified, interpret that instance as you wish. And if the idea turns into a story, I'd appreciate a thank you in the acknowledgements 😉
The other day on Bluesky, there was a discussion about how private equity firms have been buying up companies, and in an effort to boost profits, they've necessitated that these companies make inferior products that break easily so consumers need to repurchase more durable goods more frequently. It started as a "why don't things last anymore?" kind of thing.
(If you're on Bluesky, you can follow me--I'm @zizirho.bsky.social. If you'd like to be on Bluesky, I have a couple invite codes. Just message me at mllelizka [at] gmail [dot] com and I'll hook you up.)
As these things do, the discussion got me thinking...
What if there was some sort of limit on massive profits? It would likely have to be a massive tax over a certain margin or something. If you can figure out what it needs to be, perhaps you should run for Congress 😈
You may say I’m a dreamer …but I’m not the only one …
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of massive tax on massive profits. We in India do just the opposite: tax the common people and give nonreturnable bank loans and other benefits to the super rich.
ReplyDeleteA tax on massive profits? We may be facing a partial rewrite of the tax code in the opposite direction, depending on how the Supreme Court rules.
ReplyDeleteI've known that older products are superior for decades. It's sad. Even worse, corporate taxes roll downhill to the consumer.
ReplyDeleteWe also need exploitation regulation also.
ReplyDeleteWhat a brilliant idea!
ReplyDeleteInteresting topic to ponder over. Taxing excess profit is a good idea. But the problem will be how to define "excess"?
ReplyDeleteTaxing huge profits sounds good. But figuring out what's 'too much' might be tricky.
ReplyDeleteGreat food for thought, Liz
"It would likely have to be a massive tax over a certain margin or something"
ReplyDeleteAmerica did this very thing until a few decades ago, and I would strongly favor doing it again. As for how much the tax would be, we are able to decide the amount when it comes to other taxes, so deciding the amount in cases of excessive wealth would hardly be an insurmountable problem.