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开 本: 32开纸 张: 胶版纸包 装: 精装是否套装: 否国际标准书号ISBN: 9780807047187
The’Man Bites Dog’ story of over 1,000 highnet- worth
individuals who rose up to protest the repeal of the estate tax
made headlines everywhere last year. Central to the organization of
what Newsweek tagged the ‘billionaire backlash’ were two
visionaries: Bill Gates, Sr., cochair of the Bill and Melinda Gates
Foundation, the largest foundation on earth, and Chuck Collins,
cofounder of United for a Fair Economy and Responsible Wealth, and
the great-grandson of meat packer Oscar Mayer who gave away his
substantial inheritance at the age of twenty-six.
Gates and Collins argue that individual wealth is a product not
only of hard work and smart choices but of the society that
provides the fertile soil for success. They don’t subscribe to
the’Great Man’ theory of wealth creation but contend that society’s
investments, such as economic development, education, health care,
and property rights protection, all contribute to any individual’s
good fortune. With the repeal proposed by the Bush administration,
we might be facing the future that Teddy Roosevelt feared-where
huge fortunes amassed and untaxed would evolve into a dangerous and
permanent aristocracy. Repeal would drop federal revenues $294
billion in the first 10 years; 27 some $750 billion would be lost
in the second decade, not to mention that the U.S. Treasury
estimates that charitable contributions would drop by $6 billion a
year.
But what about all those modest families that would lose the
farm? Gates and Collins expose the fallacy of this argument,
pointing out that this is largely a myth and that the very same
lobbies and politicians who are crying’cows’ have opposed other
legislation that would actually have helped small farmers. Weaving
in personal narratives, history, and plenty of solid economic
sense, Gates and Collins make a sound and compelling case for tax
reform, not repeal.
The’Man Bites Dog’ story of over 1,000 highnet- worth
individuals who rose up to protest the repeal of the estate tax
made headlines everywhere last year. Central to the organization of
what Newsweek tagged the ‘billionaire backlash’ were two
visionaries: Bill Gates, Sr., cochair of the Bill and Melinda Gates
Foundation, the largest foundation on earth, and Chuck Collins,
cofounder of United for a Fair Economy and Responsible Wealth, and
the great-grandson of meat packer Oscar Mayer who gave away his
substantial inheritance at the age of twenty-six.
Gates and Collins argue that individual wealth is a product not
only of hard work and smart choices but of the society that
provides the fertile soil for success. They don’t subscribe to
the’Great Man’ theory of wealth creation but contend that society’s
investments, such as economic development, education, health care,
and property rights protection, all contribute to any individual’s
good fortune. With the repeal proposed by the Bush administration,
we might be facing the future that Teddy Roosevelt feared-where
huge fortunes amassed and untaxed would evolve into a dangerous and
permanent aristocracy. Repeal would drop federal revenues $294
billion in the first 10 years; 27 some $750 billion would be lost
in the second decade, not to mention that the U.S. Treasury
estimates that charitable contributions would drop by $6 billion a
year.
But what about all those modest families that would lose the
farm? Gates and Collins expose the fallacy of this argument,
pointing out that this is largely a myth and that the very same
lobbies and politicians who are crying’cows’ have opposed other
legislation that would actually have helped small farmers. Weaving
in personal narratives, history, and plenty of solid economic
sense, Gates and Collins make a sound and compelling case for tax
reform, not repeal.
When the wealthy themselves plead for the right to pay higher
taxes, the situation becomes more challenging . . . The skeptics
will say . . . ‘Let the rich get rich! It’s good for us!’ No
society will remain healthy in the long run if it fails to pay
attention to the distribution of income and wealth. It is thus
Gates and Collins, rather than the mean-spirited advocates of
Bushonomics, who are the true American patriots. –Michael Prowse,
Financial Times
”After reading this persuasive volume, you’ll think the whole
case for repealing the ‘death tax’ is unhinged . . .” –Rich
Barlow, Boston Globe
”In their clearheaded primer on estate taxes, Gates and Collins .
. . are doing urgent work. By pushing to repeal the estate tax, the
Bush administration is doing all it can to shift the total tax
burden away from the very wealthy and toward middle- and
lower-income taxpayers. This is not only unjust, it’s nuts.
Inheritance taxes would only fall on the largest estates . . . It
is a concept no less worthy for being old-fashioned.” –E. J.
Dionne Jr., Washington Post
”Bill Gates and Chuck Collins provide a clear rationale for
retaining the estate tax in this helpful and unselfish analysis.”
–Jimmy Carter, winner of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize
”Inheritance taxes are not about raising tax revenue. They are
about ‘What Kind of Nation Do We Want to Be?’ . . . This book gets
our thoughts back on the right issues.”–Lester Thurow, author of
The Future of Capitalism
From the Trade Paperback edition.
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