Photographer: Jason Alden / Bloomberg
Photographer: Jason Alden / Bloomberg
Bill Gates is in favor of raising taxes, but says some proposals seem to go too far.
The government “needs to do more – health care costs, recovery from pandemics, climate investment, generosity in foreign aid,” the billionaire said on Friday during a Ask Me Anything Q&A session on Reddit. ‘So I called for higher taxes. I do not agree with some suggestions that seem to go too far. ‘
The co-founder of Microsoft Corp. calls taxes an ‘important’ issue, but does not mention any tax proposals during the exchange.
His comments follow a series proposed wealth tax at state and national level. Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren this month introduced the millionaire tax law, which would impose a 2% annual levy on households and trusts of between $ 50 million and $ 1 billion. According to a Bloomberg analysis, all net worth of more than $ 1 billion would be taxed at 3%, which would cost the 100 richest Americans about $ 78 billion. The bill is unlikely to go far in a narrowly divided Congress.
Read: Bill Gates criticizes Warren’s wealth tax plan
Gates is the third richest person in the world with a fortune of $ 138 billion Bloomberg Billionaires Index. He had earlier called for raising levies on the rich to tackle rising inequality, including a blog post at the end of 2019 that proposed closing loopholes and raising the capital gains tax so that it is equal to the rate on labor income. He said on the Reddit forum that increased estate taxes could be an effective tool to increase income and avoid dynastic prosperity.
During the forum, he also expressed doubts about the introduction of a universal basic income, an idea that received support during the pandemic and that promoted Andrew during his long presidential election.
“We get richer as we innovate, but I ask if we are rich enough to discourage capable people from working,” Gates said. “Over time, we have been more generous and will be more generous. The discussion on this is very interesting, but it comes down to numbers. ”
Other topics covered include:
- Crypto mining:
- ‘I have a lot of problems with anonymous money transfers compared to assigned systems where you can dispute and reverse transactions and make sure taxes are paid. The use of electricity is just one thing. We do need digital money, but without the overhead. ”
- Misinformation, misinformation and fake news:
- ‘Some fake information is more interesting than the truth, so digital channels seem to magnify echo chambers with bad facts. I have not yet seen as much creativity in how we solve it as we need to. ”
- Denial of climate:
- “The damage in the past was great. Now the oil companies have stopped financing these things, so I think climate denial will decrease. There are issues about how we should reduce emissions, but I hope all young people agree that this is a critical goal. ”
- If nothing is done about climate change, “it will get worse over time and natural ecosystems will disappear. The migration of the uninhabitable areas around the equator will be large. We will not be able to sustain a large population if it gets much warmer. ‘
- Achieving net zero emissions by 2050:
- ‘There is more public support for taking major steps to avoid a climate catastrophe than ever before. It is inspiring to see that governments and companies around the world are setting ambitious targets to reduce emissions. The world’s power to find out makes me optimistic. ”
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