Socialists have long thought that profits are overcharging. as Karl Marx called it: " Surplus Value". The idea being that if you eliminate all profit the cost of goods drops. This idea does not work. Under socialism there is no incentive to be efficient or to keep up with changing conditions and respond to them quickly." So the prices of goods might well be higher.
In "Basic Economics," Thomas Sowell says "The hope for profits and the threat of losses is what forces a business owner in a capitalist economy to produce at the lowest cost and sell what the customers are most willing to pay for" and "most of the great fortunes in American history were amassed when entrepreneurs were able to reduce costs and charge lower prices and to increase their volume sales to mass markets."
Capitalists do not view profits as evil or greed based. Their opponents (Marxists, fascists, socialists, radical liberals) do!
So lets say you want to raise capital gains tax rates, even if it reduced revenues, as a matter of fairness. It's only fair to make everyone poorer if you believe profits are inherently evil?
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People are in for a rude awakening. Whether you grow a little food in your backyard garden, or try to feed a nation with stone aged technology---you won't be better off by bringing down the wealthy. When wealth is produced, the spin-offs make it to every corner of the globe. Sometimes it's something as humble as a pre-printed t-sirt of whatever team lost the superbowl given to a Yanomamo. Or, a recycled computer acquired by a St. Louis Projects dweller. Very, very few people understand how difficult it actually is to feed a family off the land.
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