Friday, April 18, 2008

The Solution to all the World's Ils: Eliminate the Capital Gains Tax

Introduction: A while back I proposed that resolving the issues of alternative energy could be done by eliminating the capital gains tax on any alternative energy product. I have since analyzed that proposal a bit and I have come to some conclusions. The first conclusion is that the capital gains tax is among my most hated taxes. There is nothing worse than punishing investment and that is what the capital gains tax is. Thus, I want to extend the elimination of the capital gains tax to solve any of the world's ills. That is, any product or service that solves any ill will have their capital gains tax eliminated.

So, let's start with global warming...what's that you say...you don't believe in global warming. So what, I don't believe in the capital gains tax. We may all be wrong about global warming, however I am not wrong in the corrossive power of the capital gains tax. If someone believes that global warming will melt us all in half a century, then I want to give that person all the room to develop a product to resolve the issue. I say let the free market decide the reality of global warming. If it is nothing more than a myth, the free market will bear that out. If it is real, then entrepeneurs will use the incentive of no capital gains tax to solve it.

How about substance abuse addiction? No problem, any substance abuse clinic no longer has to pay capital gains taxes. This will spawn new and innovative treatments. It will drive down the cost of treatment, and it will spawn many new clinics in some of the most impoverished neighborhoods.

Here is an innovative and provocative one. How about we eliminate the capital gains tax on any drug or treatment for any disease. Yeah, that covers a lot but how many new drugs will we see come on the market if capital gains taxes are eliminated? Think about how many new cancer drugs, ADD, high blood pressure, etc. It is frankly beyond quantifiable how many lives would be saved by the incentive given of eliminating the capital gains tax on any drug or treatment.

I welcome any suggestion for any ill that can be cured by the elimination of the capital gains tax. That's because in my opinion the capital gains tax is among the biggest obstacle to solving problems in this country. So, if you can think of a problem, I bet cutting the capital gains tax will go a long way toward solving it.

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