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 costs, pandemic recovery, climate investment, generosity of foreign aid,” the billionaire said Friday in a question and answer session “Ask me anything” on Reddit. “It simply came to our notice then. I did not agree with some proposals that seem to go too far. ”
The co-founder of Microsoft Corp. called taxes an “important” issue, but did not mention any tax proposals during the exchange.
His comments follow a series of wealth taxes proposed at state and national level. Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren proposed the Ultra Millionaire Tax Act this month, which will apply a 2% annual tax on households and trusts valued at between $ 50 billion and $ 1 billion. All net worth of more than $ 1 billion would be taxed at 3%, costing the rich 100 Americans about $ 78 billion, according to an analysis by Bloomberg. It is unlikely that the bill will go far in a narrowly divided Congress.
Read: Bill Gates criticizes Warren’s tax plan
Gates is the third richest person in the world, with a fortune of 138 billion dollars, according to the publication Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Earlier, he called for increased taxes on the rich to combat growing inequalities, including blog post at the end of 2019, which suggests closing the gaps and raising the capital gains tax so that it is equal to the rate of income from work. He said on the Reddit forum that raising property taxes can be an effective tool for increasing income and avoiding dynastic wealth.
During the forum, he expressed doubts about the introduction of a universal basic income, an idea that gained some support during the pandemic and was promoted by Andrew Yang during his long presidency.
“We’re getting richer as we innovate, but I wonder if we’re rich enough to discourage people who are able to work,” Gates said. “Over time we have been more generous and we will be more generous. The discussion on this topic is very interesting, but it comes down to numbers. ”
Other topics covered include:
- Cryptographic exploitation:
- “I have a lot of problems with anonymous money transfers compared to assigned systems where you can challenge and reverse transactions and make sure fees are paid. Electricity consumption is just a problem. We need digital money, but without this expense. “
- Misinformation, misinformation and fake news:
- “Some false information is more interesting than the truth, so digital channels seem to magnify echo cameras with bad deeds. We haven’t seen as much creativity in how we solve this as we need. ”
- Climate denial:
- “The damage in the past has been huge. Now the oil companies have stopped financing these things, so I think the denial of the climate will decrease. There are problems with how we strive to reduce emissions, but I hope that all young people agree that this is a critical goal. ”
- If nothing is done about climate change, “it gets worse over time and natural ecosystems disappear. Migration away from non-deliverable areas around the equator will be massive. We will not be able to support a large population if it heats up a lot. ”
- When net zero emissions are reached by 2050:
- “There is more public support for taking big steps to avoid a climate disaster than ever before. It is inspired to see governments and companies around the world setting ambitious targets for reducing emissions. The power of the world to invent makes me optimistic. ”
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