Daniel AJ Sokolovnewstik@social.heise.de
Oct 21, 2026, 10:31 PM@michael_w_busch Decades? He died in 1937, 2 years later.
What his wealth redistributed? Did poor people fare better?
Replies
bignosebignose@theblower.auOct 21, 2026, 11:27 PM@newstik Note carefully that @michael_w_busch made no mention of “redistribute wealth”.
The high tax on the ultra-wealthy was “to stop him causing so much trouble”. Outsized concentrated private wealth, such as hoarded by Rockerfeller, translates to political power, and that's the problem to stop.
The purpose of taxing the ultra-wealthy is *not* to “redistribute” their wealth. We don't need that, the national government creates money any time it wants to.
Instead, we need progressive taxation (highest on the ultra-wealthy) in order to:
* Reduce inflation: Remove hoarded spending power from the wealthy means they have less power to drive prices up.
* Rein in private minority concentration of political power.
https://democraticleft.dsausa.org/2026/06/08/taxing-the-rich-means-taking-their-power/
- Daniel AJ Sokolovnewstik@social.heise.deOct 22, 2026, 4:14 AM
@bignose @michael_w_busch Ok. If the point was “to stop him causing so much trouble”, we'll never know if it worked, because he died just two years later.
The point about slowing inflation by taxing very high earners exceptionally high isn't clear to me. The more people make, the smaller a share they spend.
If you take 80% away from the top earners, the money is going to someone else, who is going to spend a higher share of it = more demand for products +/ services = higher prices.
- bignosebignose@theblower.auOct 22, 2026, 9:57 AM
@newstik
> The point about slowing inflation by taxing very high earners exceptionally high isn't clear to me.In any country that has sovereignty over its money (USA, Australia, UK, Japan, etc.), the country's government creates money by fiat: they pass a law saying they spend money, and that act credits an account at the central bank. It's a number in a spreadsheet.
By the government then paying for things, that money then can circulate among private entities as our currency. Or, some entity could cease to circulate it for some duration and hoard it, increasing their power to spend compared to the rest of us.
Taxation (by that country) of entities or transactions is the opposite of creating money: It is the country selectively removing money from the economy.
So, an entity paying that tax thereby returns (“revenue”) the money; it is now out of circulation, effectively destroying it. That entity has less spending power, and thus less upward effect on prices.
Oct 22, 2026, 12:15 AM@newstik @michael_w_busch 1935 was also the year of the "New Deal," credited with raising living standards, building infrastructure and creating broad wealth in American society.
Sounds like the high tax was part of a suite of changes that worked out pretty well.