Hit the Buffers

Hi

Money, wealth, tax, what a web we weave in order to deceive.

As usual, before my morning walk, I listened to BBC Radio 4, news, discussion and finally “Thought for the Day.” 

Obama is calling in aid the Sage of Omaha.  Warren Buffett thinks it is wrong that he, one of the richest people in the world, should pay a smaller proportion of his income in tax than his secretary pays.

Morally, I am sure that both Mr Buffett and his secretary meticulously pay every cent of the taxes they are required to pay.  Him and Her and Me and You probably try to do the same.

Politically,  whether Warren should pay an increased proportion, or his secretary a decreased proportion, is a question for informed** debate and democratic political decision.  (** “Informed” that is a subject for another day.)

At an economic level, the money, that Buffett does not give to Obama as taxes or as a gift, is not like the grain stored in the biblical rich man’s barn, discussed in Thought for the Day.

That grain in that barn is wealth that is idle, useless, doing nothing.  It is not feeding the rich man, his family or his cattle, let alone the poor man at his gate.  Mr Buffett’s spare cash is not idle; he invests in railways and other things that create jobs and wealth in the community.

Cash, money, apart from a few coins down the back of the sofa, or wedges of notes under the mattress, cannot by definition be idle, useless or be doing nothing.

Him has some money from time to time.  Assuming there are enough biscuits for me and Him and Her and Co., where should that money go?  Him could:

1. Invest it directly. 
2. Leave it with HSBC to invest.
3. Give it to politicians in Whitehall or Washington.

My Scottie ancestry and many years experience have made me a very wary Skeptic in the Pub.   http://skeptic.org.uk

Where would you put your money? 

Paws4Now