Fallacy Of Redistribution Has Grave Economic Impact
Fallacy Of Redistribution Has Grave Economic Impact - By THOMAS SOWELL
"You can only confiscate the wealth that exists at a given moment. You cannot confiscate future wealth - and that future wealth is less likely to be produced when people see that it is going to be confiscated."
Because of this, those who preach 'redistribution of wealth' must continue to gain power, to confiscate more wealth for redistribution, until they are in total control and there is equal misery for all (except the ruling elite).
"Among the most valuable assets in any nation are the knowledge, skills and productive experience that economists call 'human capital.'
When successful people with much human capital leave the country [...] lasting damage can be done to the economy they leave behind.
Fidel Castro's confiscatory policies drove successful Cubans to flee to Florida [...] But poverty-stricken refugees rose to prosperity again in Florida, while the wealth they left behind in Cuba did not prevent the people there from being poverty stricken under Castro."
"If the redistributionists were serious, what they would want to distribute is the ability to fish, or to be productive in other ways. Knowledge is one of the few things that can be distributed to people without reducing the amount held by others.
That would better serve the interests of the poor, but it would not serve the interests of politicians who want to exercise power, and to get the votes of people who are dependent on them."
"You can only confiscate the wealth that exists at a given moment. You cannot confiscate future wealth - and that future wealth is less likely to be produced when people see that it is going to be confiscated."
Because of this, those who preach 'redistribution of wealth' must continue to gain power, to confiscate more wealth for redistribution, until they are in total control and there is equal misery for all (except the ruling elite).
"Among the most valuable assets in any nation are the knowledge, skills and productive experience that economists call 'human capital.'
When successful people with much human capital leave the country [...] lasting damage can be done to the economy they leave behind.
Fidel Castro's confiscatory policies drove successful Cubans to flee to Florida [...] But poverty-stricken refugees rose to prosperity again in Florida, while the wealth they left behind in Cuba did not prevent the people there from being poverty stricken under Castro."
"If the redistributionists were serious, what they would want to distribute is the ability to fish, or to be productive in other ways. Knowledge is one of the few things that can be distributed to people without reducing the amount held by others.
That would better serve the interests of the poor, but it would not serve the interests of politicians who want to exercise power, and to get the votes of people who are dependent on them."