NY Times Op-Ed: Tax Wealth, Not Income

[reusrename]

17. Good thinking.

If you think about it a little bit, a person who owns a dog has more of a legal obligation to protect society from that dog than a billionaire does to protect society from his billions. We know the billions are inherently more dangerous than a dog, but we don't treat it that way. We need leash laws and poop laws for wealth. Personal responsibility and all that. Basically, you register your wealth like you would your dog.

I hadn't thought about the second question before. At first blush there seem to be advantages to using actual value. I know it gets trickey, but so is rent control. This definitely needs more discussion.

I work in aviation, and I think most people view the FAA as a beaurocratic nightmare. I think it's a remarkable system. The natural tension between profits and safety cannot be greater than it is in this industry, yet flying remains safe and reasonably affordable. It would be great to have something similar for the financial sector.

The aviation industry operates on an honor system. Pilots, mechanics, instructors, inspectors, basically everybody, certifies their own work. If the financial industry had a similar system in place it solve most of our problems.