April 9, 2019 – WHEN WILL THIS HAPPEN IN THE PHILIPPINES? “American billionaires call for upgrades to capitalism, starting with higher taxes on themselves” They sound like trade unionists!!!? Warren Buffett (Berkshire Hathaway CEO), Jamie Dimon (J P Morgan Chase CEO), Ray Dalio (Bridgewater hedge fund founder), Bill Gates (Microsoft founder) and a list of others say that capitalism in its current form simply doesn’t work for the rest of the United States, called attention to the growing income gap, and proposed some remedies. [Read more.]

Some of their remedies involve higher taxes for the wealthy that would not disrupt productivity, public-private partnerships, productive government spending. And, yes, they have given or have pledged to give millions for public education, philanthropic foundations.

Ray Dalio – [Capitalism] doesn’t need to be destroyed, capitalism does need to present an equal opportunity, which he said he received through public education.

The wealth of the top 1 percent of the population is now more than that of the bottom 90 percent of the population combined. [G]rowing inequality and lack of investment in public education [is] “an existential risk for the U.S.”

Jamie Dimon – He outlined a list of problems plaguing the majority of Americans and said among the remedies could be higher taxes on the 1 percent.

“If that happens, the wealthy should remember that if we improve our society and our economy, then they, in effect, are among the main winners”.

Warren Buffett has repeatedly said the wealthy should be taxed more. He and Bill and Melinda Gates have asked hundreds of wealthy Americans to pledge at least 50 percent of their wealth to charity in the so-called “the Giving Pledge.” There are now 190 people signed on, including Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Netflix CEO Reed Hastings.

“The wealthy are definitely undertaxed relative to the general population”.

Bill Gates has also called for higher taxes. “[T]he government should require people in my position to pay significantly higher taxes.”

Disney heiress Abigail Disney has pointed to ballooning CEO pay as part of the problem. Along with roughly 200 other New York millionaires, she asked state lawmakers to introduce a “millionaires tax” on those making more than $5 million to help fund affordable housing, infrastructure and other initiatives.
“If your CEO salary is at the 700, 600, 500 times your median workers’ pay, there is nobody on Earth, xxx worth 500 times his median workers’ pay”.

[Read the full article from CNBC here.]