| ▲ | stopping 2 hours ago | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
If the top 10% of people suddenly had their wealth double overnight, it would have absolutely disastrous effects for the lower 90% of people. Prices for scarce goods (e.g. housing) would increase dramatically. The price increase dampens the overall demand for housing since a large fraction of the 90% are now priced out. The wealthy homeowners have an incentive to maintain that scarcity, and freely use their resources to preserve the status quo by preventing desperately-needed housing from being built. Those with wealth will tend to steer the economic system more towards their own interests in a runaway feedback loop, often in ways which create no overall net welfare for society. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ▲ | WalterBright 2 hours ago | parent [-] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
> If the top 10% of people suddenly had their wealth double overnight Since that doesn't happen, there's not much point in worrying about the consequences. Here's why it doesn't happen: The value of something is determined by what someone else is willing to pay for it. There would be nothing to sustain a wealth doubling, because there wouldn't be anyone willing to pay for it. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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