Scott Alexander summarizes and responds to reader comments on his article about billionaire wealth, addressing various economic and ethical perspectives. Longer summary

This post summarizes and responds to reader comments on Scott Alexander's previous article about billionaire wealth and replaceability. It covers topics like natural monopolies, the role of luck vs. talent in business success, risk-taking by entrepreneurs, the political power of billionaires, and ways to test the replaceability of inventors and innovations. Scott engages with various perspectives while adding his own thoughts and clarifications on these complex economic and ethical issues. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander examines the justification for billionaire wealth, introducing the concept of replaceability to challenge the standard neoliberal defense. Longer summary

Scott Alexander explores the concept of billionaire wealth and its justification, starting with the neoliberal defense that entrepreneurs create value and deserve a portion of it. He then introduces a counterargument based on replaceability: if an entrepreneur hadn't existed, someone else would likely have filled that economic niche eventually. This leads to the conclusion that while innovators deserve compensation for accelerating progress, they may not deserve the entire surplus value created by their innovations. The post discusses how this perspective complicates the moral and economic arguments around billionaire wealth and taxation, without providing a clear solution. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander reviews Paul Fussell's 1983 book 'Class', which analyzes America's informal class structure and its impact on behavior and preferences. Longer summary

Scott Alexander reviews Paul Fussell's 1983 book 'Class', which examines the American class system. The book argues that America has a complex, informal class structure, dividing society into upper, middle, and working classes with various subclasses. Fussell describes the characteristics, preferences, and behaviors of each class in detail, often with a mix of seriousness and humor. The review highlights how some of Fussell's observations may still be relevant today, while others have aged poorly due to societal changes since the 1980s. Scott also discusses the book's unusual final chapter, which introduces a 'Class X' of people who supposedly transcend class distinctions. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander reviews analyses of various UBI plans, finding most unrealistic, then speculates on alternative approaches to implement UBI successfully. Longer summary

Scott Alexander discusses various Universal Basic Income (UBI) plans analyzed by Tumblr user squareallworthy. Most plans fail due to unrealistic funding schemes or insufficient amounts to lift people out of poverty. Scott then speculates on potential UBI implementations, suggesting a targeted approach focusing on poverty elimination through increased taxes on the wealthy. He also proposes a gradual implementation strategy tied to GDP growth, starting with a small amount and increasing over time. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander shares and comments on key passages from Piketty's 'Capital in the Twenty-First Century', discussing historical economic trends and their modern implications. Longer summary

This post is a collection of passages highlighted by Scott Alexander in his reading of Thomas Piketty's 'Capital in the Twenty-First Century'. Scott provides commentary on various economic and historical insights from the book, including the failure of past economic predictions, the role of inheritance in society, the history of taxation and public debt, and how wealth inequality has changed over time. He draws parallels between Piketty's observations and rationalist thinking, and reflects on how these historical economic trends relate to modern society and politics. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander responds to criticisms of his tax bill posts, maintains that wealth distribution is more important than growth, and argues the bill likely won't benefit the poor as much as current spending. Longer summary

Scott Alexander discusses his thoughts on the recent tax bill, responding to criticisms of his previous posts. He admits he was wrong about there being no case for the bill and about CEO statements on using tax cuts. However, he maintains that economic growth is less important than wealth distribution, using an analogy about an effective altruist in a small town. He argues that in societies with high inequality, redistribution can be more beneficial than growth. Scott compares the potential benefits of the tax cut to other uses of government funds, concluding that it likely won't benefit the poor as much as maintaining current spending. He acknowledges some potential errors in his calculations but believes his overall point stands. Shorter summary

Scott examines why the rich appear to influence politics despite theoretical barriers, proposing that moral philosophies may emerge to solve wealthy coordination problems. Longer summary

This post explores the paradox of how the rich seem to influence politics despite the free-rider problem that should theoretically prevent such coordination. Scott starts by explaining why it's not in an individual rich person's self-interest to donate to political causes, even if the outcome would benefit them. He then proposes two possible explanations: either the rich influence politics through 'soft power', or they participate due to sincere moral beliefs that happen to align with their financial interests. The latter explanation leads to a fascinating hypothesis about how moral philosophies might 'spring up' to solve coordination problems among the wealthy. Scott concludes by noting the implications of this idea, including its potential application to other conspiracy theories and why the poor don't seem to coordinate as effectively. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander critiques Ezra Klein's argument that white Americans have benefited from compound interest on wealth stolen from African Americans, citing evidence that wealth rarely persists across generations. Longer summary

Scott Alexander critiques an article by Ezra Klein on Vox about compound interest and reparations. Klein argues that white Americans have benefited from centuries of compound interest on wealth stolen from African Americans. Scott challenges this view with two main arguments. First, he points out that former slave-owning states are now among the poorest in the US. Second, he cites research showing that wealth rarely persists across more than a few generations. Scott discusses studies on social mobility and a Cherokee land lottery to support his point that family wealth tends to regress to the mean over time. He concludes by criticizing Vox for oversimplifying a complex issue and ignoring important research in economics and sociology. Shorter summary