Become a Patron! Last month I wrote about the curious fact that mutual funds designed to be held in retirement accounts, where their distributions are generally untaxed year-to-year, nonetheless hold federal bonds that are exempt from state income taxation. I suggested that it should be possible to optimize your retirement account holdings by replacing those federal bonds … [Read more...] about Three approaches to cutting federal bonds out of untaxed accounts
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Why even the perfect income tax can’t substitute for a wealth tax
Become a Patron! After they finish hemming and hawing about "constitutional" arguments, opponents of proposals for an American tax on very large fortunes typically make one of two arguments: a more-progressive, better-enforced income and estate tax code could achieve the same revenue goals as a wealth tax, or; a value-added tax, like those used to fund European … [Read more...] about Why even the perfect income tax can’t substitute for a wealth tax
Prosperity, precarity, anxiety, and solidarity
Become a Patron! As we plunge into a second decade of economic and employment growth since the global financial crisis, I've noticed an interesting divide open between different methods of experiencing the present moment. It's interesting because while the divide has political content, it isn't intrinsically partisan, and the divide goes far beyond party … [Read more...] about Prosperity, precarity, anxiety, and solidarity
The wealthy Illinois degenerates were good and right for getting their kids a free education
Become a Patron! Last week, the nonprofit journalism enterprise ProPublica wrote a breathless expose about a number of wealthy Illinois families, and their law firm collaborator, who were able to secure generous financial aid awards for their children to attend certain Illinois public universities. The article served as a brilliant kind of Rorschach test for how readers … [Read more...] about The wealthy Illinois degenerates were good and right for getting their kids a free education
Three bad and one good way to think about public higher education and tuition
Become a Patron! Elizabeth Warren made a splash this week with her plan to both ensure public higher education is tuition-free and forgive up to $50,000 per student of the existing stock of federal student debt. I already offered my hottest takes on Twitter, but I think a lot of the disagreements surrounding public tuition and student debt revolve around fundamentally … [Read more...] about Three bad and one good way to think about public higher education and tuition