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Who: Kimball Corson. Text and Photos not disclaimed or that are obviously not mine are copyright (c) Kimball Corson 2004-2016
Port: Lake Pleasant, AZ
09 April 2018 | Pago Pago, American Samoa
An Informed Atheist Re-Addresses Christianity
10 March 2018 | Pago Pago, American Samoa
A Progressive Reform Program for America
10 March 2018 | Pago Pago, American Samoa
Supply Side and Libertarians Are Wrong and Not Supported by the Data
10 March 2018 | Pago Pago, American Samoa
How Income Inequality Injures People and the Economy
22 August 2017 | Pago Pago, American Samoa
A Democratic Reform Program for America
22 August 2017 | Pago Pago, American Samoa
The Supply Side Libertarians Are Wrong and Not Supported by the Data
22 August 2017 | Pago Pago, American Samoa
The Rise of Economic Ignorance
22 August 2017 | Pago Pago, American Samoa
The Rise of Corporate Dominance and the Rise of Income Inequality (Part VI)
22 August 2017 | Pago Pago, American Samoa
The Rise of Corporate Dominance and the Rise of Income Inequality (Part V)
22 August 2017 | Pago Pago, American Samoa
The Rise of Corporate Dominance and the Rise of Income Inequality (Part IV)
22 August 2017 | Pago Pago, American Samoa
The Rise of Corporate Dominance and the Rise of Income Inequality (Part III)
22 August 2017 | Pago Pago, American Samoa
The Rise of Corporate Dominance and the Rise of Income Inequality (Part II)
22 August 2017 | Pago Pago, American Samoa
The Rise of Corporate Dominance and the Rise of Income Inequality (Part I)
22 August 2017 | Pago Pago, American Samoa
Racial Hatred Is Confused
22 August 2017 | Pago Pago, American Samoa
What To Do About North Korea
22 August 2017 | Pago Pago, American Samoa
On Neoliberalism
22 August 2017 | Pago Pago, American Samoa
Ban Hate Marches and Assemblies
22 August 2017 | Pago Pago, American Samoa
On Miss Piggy and Mr. Pork
22 August 2017 | Pago Pago, American Samoa
The Demise of the Democratic Party
09 August 2017 | Pago Pago, American Samoa
On Elitism

Economic Rents Account for most of the Growing Wealth of the Rich

23 December 2014 | Pago Pago, American Samoa
Kimball Corson
Economic rent is unearned income. The rental value of land (with the current cost of depreciation for improvements backed out) is the class example. Another is capital gains. Yet another is interest and fees earned by franchised banks on new loans of newly created money. Finally, there is economic rent in the form of monopoly returns on monopolies in the economy. Land rents, capital gains, bank interest income and monopoly rent account for most of the economic rent in the economy. The capitalized value of these rents account for most of the growth in wealth in the United States.

Contrary to the impression Picketty creates in his book "Capital in the Twenty-First Century," wealth grows mostly, not from the accumulation of earned income, but instead from accumulated economic rents. Accumulated land rents (including on resources extracted from land), capital gains and rents from banking account for most wealth growth in America -- not the accumulated savings of hard earned income. This should come as a shock to most Americans. It is not what they believe, with their Horatio Alger stories and what they sometimes see among their friends who have gotten ahead. Economic rents are the main source of wealth.

Growth in the stock and value of capital goods does not come close to explaining the growth in wealth in this country. That too comes as shock to Americans, even though we see wealth growing like crazy while physical capital and the economy is not growing much. Getting something for doing next to nothing is how wealth grows in America and many other countries as well. Accumulating economic rents is the name of the wealth game. Most in the US simply don't understand that, yet if they looked for a moment at our stalled economy and our capital stock that is also not growing, a question in their minds should at least develop.

Now there is is some wealth growth due to accrued earned income, but it is just not that much or as much as we think. It is mostly what we see, but that is only because our perspective on those who are really wealthy is so foreshortened. We have a worms eye view on the process.

So how can we remedy the growing disparity reflected in the skewing distribution of wealth? That is not too difficult. Piketty came close. Much could be remedied here by highly progressive inheritance taxes with high effective rates, a tax of say 95 percent on capital gains, a Georgian land tax system and a confiscatory tax on identified monopoly rents. The system would not be perfect, but it would surely come close if well implemented.
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Vessel Name: Altaira
Vessel Make/Model: A Fair Weather Mariner 39 is a fast (PHRF 132), heavily ballasted (43%), high-aspect (6:1), stiff, comfortable, offshore performance cruiser by Bob Perry that goes to wind well (30 deg w/ good headway) and is also good up and down the Beaufort scale.
Hailing Port: Lake Pleasant, AZ
Crew: Kimball Corson. Text and Photos not disclaimed or that are obviously not mine are copyright (c) Kimball Corson 2004-2016
About:
Kimball Corson: I am a 75 year old solo sailor, by choice. However, I did take on a personable, but high maintenance female kitten, now a full grown cat, named KiKiPoo when she is sweet, or KatKatPo after she has just killed something like a bird or bat. [...]
Extra:
Although I was a lawyer and practiced law with good success for thirty years, creating significant new law, I never really believed in the law, the politics of law or in the over reaching self-interest of most lawyers I met. Too much exposure to Nietzsche and other good and seriously thoughtful [...]
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Profile

Who: Kimball Corson. Text and Photos not disclaimed or that are obviously not mine are copyright (c) Kimball Corson 2004-2016
Port: Lake Pleasant, AZ