re: What about raise taxes on rich with more write offs?

quote:

---

I will always agree that just raising taxes on the rich or anyone hurts the economy.

But what if you raise the rate on the top earners to say 75% but give them a ton of tax breaks/write offs to encourage constant investments and purchases? Couldn't that actually spur economic growth?

---

You don't need to incentivize investment. When people have discretionary surplus, they spend it, bank it, or invest it already. They do not stuff cash in their mattresses.

When banks have money, this is actually a good thing for the lending industry and helps stave off excessive inflation/deflation.

When wealthy people spend money, other businesses benefit and this money circulates through the economy and creates GDP/tax revenues.

When wealthy people invest, jobs and R&D are created, again spurning the economy, but also detracting slightly from GDP/tax revenue. It also pools wealth inside a smaller amount of entities.

It's actually MORE beneficial to have wealthy people spending their discretionary surplus. This actually "spreads the wealth" and reduces wealth pooling.