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Posted by Traces 7/2/2025

Spain and Brazil push global action to tax the super-rich and curb inequality(news.un.org)
131 points | 222 commentspage 2
solstice 7/2/2025|
Trevor Noah had a good take on the absurdity of stocks and unrealised gains with their Schrödinger's-cat-like qualities: https://youtu.be/Gqlbn2nPO-A?t=84
msgodel 7/4/2025||
Yes Spain and Brazil are both countries we should try to emulate. Absolutely great places to live, especially if you're young. Bright futures.
thisIsAtest25 7/2/2025||
How are they going to do this? If they increase the tax burden on people's salaries, they'll start working informally (I live in Brazil and currently see that people look for various ways to escape income tax, whether by opening a company or choosing not to register formally (and they're not rich, but the state considers them rich, even earning ~$32k per year)). If they force companies to pay, the tax burden will be diluted into products/services, falling on the poorest. The right path is to reduce the size of the state - these policies will only make life worse for the poor. In a world with scarce resources, this problem has no solution.
tsimionescu 7/2/2025|
The state is the solution to this type of problem. Reducing the size of the state only serves to take resources away from democratic control and into the hands of private entities.
thisIsAtest25 7/2/2025|||
In a perfect world without greed and corruption, I would agree with you. However, I live in Brazil, where the state is constitutionally mandated to provide all basic necessities (healthcare, education, etc.) and we have one of the highest tax rates in the world. Additionally, corruption here is absurd.

Despite having enormous budgets, the services the state provides are inadequate. Many people choose to sacrifice an additional portion of their income (on top of what they already pay in taxes) to access these services privately. Even with extensive social policies and taxes on virtually everything you do — salary, consumption, transfers, inheritance, literally everything — quality of life remains poor. High tax rates actually breaks development.

We must be cautious about supporting policies that tax the wealthy more heavily, because when the state considers someone earning $2,000 per month to be 'rich'—which already happens, as evidenced by the current income tax brackets (IRPF)—these measures won't improve anyone's life.

alpaccount 7/2/2025||
Absolutely spot on:

> Many people choose to sacrifice an additional portion of their income (on top of what they already pay in taxes) to access these services privately.

In Brazil you pay taxes which are supposed to grant you health care, education, safety. None of that happens, so you pay (again) for private school, healthcare, insurance and so on. Anyone that lives/lived there knows this.

alpaccount 7/2/2025||||
The state is anything but the solution in the Brazilian scenery. Full of incompetent/ignorant people who only have ambitions of further enriching themselves.

The brightest minds leave the country or aren't able to reach its full potential.

We're talking about a country where the government has repeatedly been found of the largest corruptions schemes in human history.

logicchains 7/2/2025|||
> Reducing the size of the state only serves to take resources away from democratic control and into the hands of private entities.

The state is just private individuals with a monopoly on violence. The incredible degree of corruption in Brazil wouldn't exist if people working for the state didn't have any special privileges.

mathiaspoint 7/2/2025||
Crazy so many people jump to follow political ideas from Brazil given its track record with inequality.
owenizzhr 7/2/2025||
Yeah, socialism always works. Look how well the retribution of wealth did for the Soviet Union, Cuba, China, even Russia today. Socialism isn't the answer. If you take away the individual rewards of success you are awarded with "SUCK-N-EXCESS,"

Look at some successful societies: Japan, New Zealand, Germany. Not socialist. Success was rewarded and societies benefited.

RweInNd2Dy4Us 7/2/2025||
Absolutely? Wealthy Must Be Accountable Regardless Super Rich Lifestyle, Generosity Spreads Hopefully With Help!!! Mankind Needs Sensible Solutions Rich Or Poorer, Taxes Finance Programs For All People Needy?
ozgrakkurt 7/2/2025||
Why is it bad to tax based on wealth and not on income?
newsclues 7/2/2025||
A billionaire is 1000x wealth of a millionaire.

A millionaire is 1000x the wealth as someone with a thousand bucks.

As someone closer to a net worth closer to $1000, it sure is funny watching the rich millionaires complain about the rich billionaires.

I bet the millionaires don't think the wealth transfers and confiscation they support for the billionaires, will ever be applied to them.

s_dev 7/2/2025||
>A millionaire is 100x the wealth as someone with a thousand bucks.

Run your math again through a calculator.

newsclues 7/2/2025||
not hitting a key on the keyboard isn't an error in calculating.

Did you not understand the point being communicated?

s_dev 7/2/2025|||
>not hitting a key on the keyboard isn't an error in calculating.

It really is an error in calculating. That's the great thing about math, it doesn't care how you 'feel' or what you 'wanted to express'.

You need to update your comment and the error will be gone and not try to argue semantics.

guappa 7/2/2025||
> A millionaire is 100x the wealth as someone with a thousand bucks.

You're off by an order of magnitude.

newsclues 7/2/2025||
no, it was a typing error
mg794613 7/2/2025||
We can see a lot of knee-jerk responses from people with Stockholm syndrome.

- No, the rich won't run away.

- No, the rich are not carrying the country.

- No, caring for another or a lesser fortunate, isn't communism.

It's weird I have to say it, but some really need to hear it.

HamsterDan 7/2/2025|
If the rich won't run away, then Spain and Brazil don't need global action. They could just jack up taxes on the rich in their own countries. And since you've now pinky sworn that the rich will stay and pay the extra taxes, it won't have any adverse effects domestically.
ffsm8 7/2/2025|
Trump ain't gonna stand for that. No chance in hell this isn't getting derailed
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