Way to Let Go! (NYT)

those rich guys are not consuming their wealth, so it is still at work in the economy as directed by the market right now

if when they die they were to liquidate their holdings and burn the money, it would serve as well to move the wealth back to everybody.

the Fed would simply print more money and distribute it to the entire economy via reduced bond sales.

if these foundations know better how to spend such sums than the economy does, more power to them, but i doubt it.

it redirects the efforts of the economy from what the market wants to what do-gooders want.

that's certainly their right, but represents the point at which this wealth is taken from the economy and consumed.

do-gooders by and large are not very smart.

there's the rub.


A world that has become accustomed to the acquisition of enormous sums can still be a little stunned at seeing fortunes given away.