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Milton Friedman - Redistribution of Wealth

LibertyPen1 HN recommenders · 2011–2017
1.6M views · commentary · evergreen · Uploaded 2010-02-12

A short clip of Milton Friedman clearing up misconceptions about redistribution of wealth and inheritance tax, arguing that a heavy inheritance tax encourages wasteful behavior.

HN cites it in debates on wealth taxes, inheritance and inequality as Friedman's argument against redistribution.

Microeconomics & behavioral economicsLabor, work & inequality

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5 comments from Hacker News

@olalonde2011 · in “American society is more unequal than those in most other OECD countries”

Inequality of outcome is a small price to pay for liberty. Milton Friedman has some interesting thoughts on the subject: Friedman and Sowell on Equality [LINK] Milton Friedman - Redistribution of Wealth [VIDEO]

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@bko2016 · in “Thinking about wealth taxes”

Milton Friedman makes a good argument against the distribution of wealth that addresses your concern directly. Definitely worth a watch. [VIDEO]

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@JanezStupar2016 · in “To Cut Down Poverty, Cut Down the Cost of Living”

I am not going to engage in this discussion anymore as you have convinced me that you are arguing in bad faith. p.s.: for readers - see what Milton Friedman had to say on the very topic, to a person that seems very much on the same level as some of the contributors to this thread: [VIDEO]

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@bko2017 · in “Ask HN: What if there is no inheritance?”

Milton Friedman on a 100% inheritance tax: [VIDEO] The argument is basically that it would encourage very wasteful behavior. If you think about it, people often work to make the lives of their children better off to a large extent. My grandfather who lives in a poor country living on a pension still sends me $100 he saved up periodically despite the fact that I'm wealthier than him by many factors. Without the ability to pass on wealth to future generations, empires would not be built in some cases, end of life would include many wasteful lavish purchases and the black market for wealth transfer services would balloon

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@conanbatt2017 · in “To Understand Rising Inequality, Consider Janitors”

The idea of inheritance taxes are that once you are dead, you don't care about paying taxes. However, leaving wealth for your children is a huge economic incentive. As Friedman puts it: "People go to an irrational length to provide their kids a better life than they will ever get". If you could effectively put 100% tax on inheritance(which you can't in practice), it means your utility of leaving wealth around becomes 0. Now you want to spend that wealth as much as possible, and it turns into consumption. You would sell and spend everything you have for lavish expenses, which means a reduction in capital investment, which means slower economic growth. [VIDEO]

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