Jeremiah

Someone else commented by saying that we could solve all these problems without inconveniencing either the boomers or the young by just increasing taxes on a few ultra-rich people.

The ultra-rich could reasonably say that they didn't create this problem and it's unfair to tax them for it.

But so could the boomers and the young.

So whose fair share is it?

2.

Comments about housing policy James, enriched jam-sham is his blog, writes here, quote,

Probably most of this is true, but there is one point I would take issue with concerning the idea of sitting on assets not being used for market labour.

This kind of does seem like an issue or something.

And I agree one should not expropriate too many assets from boomers in order to impoverish them or anything, but if there is a group of people with a large number of assets not being employed productively, there is an issue there, right?

I think this belief is downstream of a lot of leftist anxiety about the super wealthy, though of course in general they are employing those assets productively.

More of an issue if those with fewer assets are being taxed in order to provide what is owed, in some abstract sense, to those who are already not employing assets productively.

Were I old, I think it totally would be reasonable to say, you can live in a five bedroom house, but since you're just a married couple these days, probably it's better if you get by with a three bedroom, and probably it doesn't need to be so central to the city unless you can afford it.

We are going to raise taxes higher, and to means test social security payments to some extent.

Phased in over time?

Or is that going too far in my demagoguery?

End quote.

Scott writes, I answered that I agree there's an argument for forced house downsizing, but I also think we're the types of people who the right calls rootless cosmopolitans and that people with more attachments might not be so amenable.

My grandparents-in-law built significant parts of their house with their own hands and lived in it for around 50 years.

They planted saplings in the garden and lived to see them become trees.

They know the neighbours and probably knew the neighbours' parents before them.