US billionaires call for modernization of capitalism, starting by raising taxes on themselves



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Washington is divided on the issue.

Several Democrats, including presidential candidates and Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, are campaigning to raise taxes for the rich. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a self-proclaimed Socialist Democrat, called for a tax rate of up to 70%. The plan, presented in a 60-minute interview with Anderson Cooper on CBS, does not fail to repel US companies. Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan called it a "terrible idea".

The issue of inequality fueled a revival of the debate between the two economic systems. President Donald Trump and some Republicans warned of the consequences if the Democrats and, consequently, the ideologies of the left won the presidential election next year. In his State of the Union address last month, Trump said: "We are alarmed by the new calls to adopt socialism in our country" and by "we renew our determination that America is never a socialist country ".

By rewriting the tax code in 2017, the GOP lowered tax rates, which advocates believe would have a positive impact on the economy and translate into higher GDP to pay for them. Most personal taxes have declined, as have those of American corporations.

Lee Cooperman, who signed Buffett's Giving Pledge and Gates, criticized the left's progressive fiscal policies. Earlier this year, Amazon canceled its plans to open its so-called QG2 in the middle of the opposition around $ 3 billion in incentives offered by the city and state promised to Amazon.

"What we have is a group of Democratic Party candidates who are from left to right, which, in my opinion, is very counterproductive and destructive," said Cooperman, who signed The Giving Pledge, meaning that he agreed to donate most of his wealth to charitable causes.

Cooperman said that he would be willing to pay higher taxes if they were spent wisely.

Other billionaires also said that they would be well paid to pay more. Among those publicly publicly priced higher: Bill Gross, co-founder of Pimco, Mark Cuban and Howard Schultz, founder of Starbucks, which, according to Forbes, has a net worth of $ 3.7 billion. Schultz said he was considering buying out the White House as an independent to tackle the "crisis of capitalism in this country".

Even with higher taxes, Dimon, Dalio and others hardly support socialism. Dalio made it clear that his education initiatives required reform, not the rejection of capitalism through the window. In his 2019 letter to shareholders, published in conjunction with the bank's 2018 annual report, Dimon said: "Socialism inevitably leads to stagnation, corruption and often worse."

"It would be a disaster for our country as much as in other countries where it has been tried," said Dimon. "I am not a defender of unregulated, unglazed, free capitalism for all. (Few people I know are.) But we should not forget that true freedom and free enterprise (capitalism) are, at some point, inexorably linked. "

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