[Politics] Gary's Economics

[Simster]

Aren't Trust funds widely used to 'avoid' inheritance tax when there are large amounts of money involved?

Yes. So is gifting money 7 years in advance.

And yet despite this, it remains one of the most effective ways of redistributing wealth.

 

[Titanic]

Yes. So is gifting money 7 years in advance.

And yet despite this, it remains one of the most effective ways of redistributing wealth.

Inheritance tax receipts UK 2024 | Statista

Inheritance tax receipts in the United Kingdom amounted to approximately 7.5 billion British pounds in 2023/24, compared with 7.09 billion pounds in the previous financial year, which was a peak for this provided time period.

www.statista.com

£7bn a year is pretty small beer in todays money though.

 

[GingerBeerMan]

Inheritance tax receipts UK 2024 | Statista

Inheritance tax receipts in the United Kingdom amounted to approximately 7.5 billion British pounds in 2023/24, compared with 7.09 billion pounds in the previous financial year, which was a peak for this provided time period.

www.statista.com

£7bn a year is pretty small beer in todays money though.

I doubt anyone with real wealth pays inheritance tax. You think the queen paid a hefty bill when she popped her clogs? It's another tax that is hard for middle and and upper middle income to avoid, but the super rich can easily avoid.

 

[Pavilionaire]

It was interesting to see him on QT last week. I thought he did OK.

I am a subscriber to his YouTube channel and have watched a lot of his videos. He is absolutely right that nobody talks about wealth inequality, it is a huge issue and should be a central policy for any self-respecting government.

I can totally relate to his arguments. I got on the property ladder when I was 24 when house prices were typically 3-4 x gross annual salary. I was earning £14K p.a. and managed to get a repossession for c. £45K.

Nowadays somebody 24 might be earnings c. £25K but the cheapest properties will be starting at £175K so 7 x their earnings. I found out today that the market price for my first flat is now £350K.

 

[GoldstoneVintage]

I find him rather self-aggrandising - by various accounts he was not nearly as successful in his career as he likes to make out.

Play the ball, not the man.

 

[Uh_huh_him]

"Tax working people less and rich people more"

It's not exactly a new argument.

Not a new argument, but the policy hasn't been tried for 50 years.
Which for people of his age is like talking about the second world war to people of my age.

 

[Uh_huh_him]

I like his argument and am a subscriber to his channel and Patreon.

However - he is a bit of a one trick pony and it can get a bit tedious hear him saying exactly the same thing in every video he puts out.
He desperately needs some supporting experts to help dispel a lot of the noise from people trying to rubbish him.

He often allows opponents to comeback with made up stats on how much tax the rich are already paying (often quoted as 60% of all tax paid by wealthiest 10%) This is factually untrue the real figure is closer to 15%.

 

[beorhthelm]

Inheritance tax receipts UK 2024 | Statista

Inheritance tax receipts in the United Kingdom amounted to approximately 7.5 billion British pounds in 2023/24, compared with 7.09 billion pounds in the previous financial year, which was a peak for this provided time period.

www.statista.com

£7bn a year is pretty small beer in todays money though.

that's today's return. if you had 100% IHT, remove trusts, that would raise an awful lot more.

 

[Uh_huh_him]

I find him rather self-aggrandising - by various accounts he was not nearly as successful in his career as he likes to make out.

Yeah he does labour the Citibank's top trader line a little bit too often.
Reading between the lines it seems he also burnt out and quit.

However none of that takes away from the fact that he successfully bet against UK government policy as well as accepted economic principles, to make millions of pounds profit for Citibank.

The government are still clinging to those principles, which are destined to produce the same results.

 

[pb21]

Seen his name bought up by Musk's Minions, who are absolutely FUMING , so must be doing something right.

 

[highflyer]

sounds very much like mainstream economics, if it's dominated the world for 50 years. which has been to the benefit of most in the western world, not only the rich and powerful. if we want to do things differently, need to examine and accept the consequences of the changes.

'Dominant' model in large parts of the world for sure. But there is a huge diversity in economic thinking in the UK and globally which for me gets lost in the public discourse ('who shall we ask to comment on these economic policies...I know, let's call the IFS... again'). The most successful economies over the last 50 years are probably the 'big state' Scandi's. Others may say South Korea, which used highly protectionist policies in the early stages of their success. China has brought more people out of poverty in the last 50 years than the rest of the world put together. While, for the vast majority of its population, particularly women, 'free market' India is a disaster zone.

So what is 'mainstream' what has been successful, what economic model is best placed to deal with future challenges? None of this is clear to me. But I dont think carrying on the status quo, letting inequality deepen, is going to end well. In fact it's starting to go ever more badly wrong right now.

 

[Guinness Boy]

I still maintain that clobbering people with inheritance tax is likely to be the most effective way of doing what he suggests.

Income tax has done far too much of the heavy lifting down the years and doesn't penalise those who benefit from unearned wealth, VAT is brutally unfair on the poor and too many wealthy people can easily avoid other taxes with a decent accountant. But there is no way you can hide when gaining from inheritance.

I'm still only half way through and heading off to Falmer soon so will probably watch the rest tomorrow. However, I think IHT is one of those things where if you propose it as the solution to his question number 1 you never get buy in for number 2.

Put simply it would be deeply, deeply unpopular. The right wing would class it instantly as 'death tax' and we've seen the reaction of farmers to changes to it for them. Now imagine that being every middle class parent with a property they wanted to pass on to their kids. Not just Nigel in his yellow trousers and "Farmer" Dyson out there but a sea of SUVs, Bromptons and people tutting.

 

[London Irish]

"Tax working people less and rich people more"

It's not exactly a new argument.

It isn't but people are scared to make it these days because of how much the Establishment smashed Corbyn by lying about him all the time. So it's a good thing Gary is once again putting all our corrupt politicians on the defensive again

 

[beorhthelm]

'Dominant' model in large parts of the world for sure. But there is a huge diversity in economic thinking in the UK and globally which for me gets lost in the public discourse ('who shall we ask to comment on these economic policies...I know, let's call the IFS... again'). The most successful economies over the last 50 years are probably the 'big state' Scandi's. Others may say South Korea, which used highly protectionist policies in the early stages of their success. China has brought more people out of poverty in the last 50 years than the rest of the world put together. While, for the vast majority of its population, particularly women, 'free market' India is a disaster zone.

So what is 'mainstream' what has been successful, what economic model is best placed to deal with future challenges? None of this is clear to me. But I dont think carrying on the status quo, letting inequality deepen, is going to end well. In fact it's starting to go ever more badly wrong right now.

well now asking a different question, should we continue with mainstream economics. maybe, i dont think we have honest debate about what we want, where we are. just shouting about inequality vs slaves to the neoliberal consensus.

btw China got where they are by buying into the western mainstream economic model, with some tweaks, fudges and fibs. which has done very well. their previous model, involving seizing anything remotely resembling wealth was an utter failure. a lesson there.

 

[Alex BH]

I don’t understand why this geezer is getting all this exposure seemingly out of nowhere. I mean I like some of what he says, but I don’t like this look how working class I am I wear hoodies everywhere and don’t sit in chairs properly thing. The geezer must be absolutely loaded so what the heck is that all about. I’m very suspicious of him.

 

[There'll never be another]

A lot of people get rich by working hard and making sacrifices. Must keep the incentive in place to work and make money. Benefits the economy and tax receipts. A rising tide lifts all the boats.

 

[Valencia Seagull]

well now asking a different question, should we continue with mainstream economics. maybe, i dont think we have honest debate about what we want, where we are. just shouting about inequality vs slaves to the neoliberal consensus.

btw China got where they are by buying into the western mainstream economic model, with some tweaks, fudges and fibs. which has done very well. their previous model, involving seizing anything remotely resembling wealth was an utter failure. a lesson there.

Please don’t think I’m trying to have a dig / I’m not. Truly.

A you articulate what you mean by the neoliberal consensus? In really simple terms?

 

[GoldstoneVintage]

A lot of people get rich by working hard and making sacrifices. Must keep the incentive in place to work and make money. Benefits the economy and tax receipts. A rising tide lifts all the boats.

These aren't the people we're talking about. The super rich are a different league and being taxed fairly would not impact their lifestyle one iota, so no danger of losing any incentive to make money.

 

[DJ NOBO]

Yeah he pops up a lot when I go down YouTube rabbit holes. His ideas are interesting, but sometimes I find it lacks any economic substance or offers much in the way of solutions.

His solution is taxing the extremely wealthy a lot more.

I’d like to see his ideas come under more scrutiny to see if they have much value.
up until recently he’s had a bit of a free pass, perhaps due to his unusual career progression.
His analysis of the economy in Friday’s YT episode made a lot of sense. I’ve been thinking about it a lot.
His book is also good. There is a bit at the very end about “Gary won” that really made me laugh.

 

[Wozza]

I don’t understand why this geezer is getting all this exposure seemingly out of nowhere. I mean I like some of what he says, but I don’t like this look how working class I am I wear hoodies everywhere and don’t sit in chairs properly thing. The geezer must be absolutely loaded so what the heck is that all about. I’m very suspicious of him.

He’s telling a different story, so looking different helps.

BTW, Musk is the most loaded man on the planet. Dresses down. I’m very suspicious of him too.