Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submit | believ3's commentslogin

While the piece is internally consistent based on its own "physics of geometric growth," a critical analysis reveals several logical and practical "holes" that the simulation might be glossing over.

1. The "Closed System" Fallacy The simulation treats the economy as a closed loop. In the model, if you tax a billionaire at 77%, that wealth is perfectly recycled into a universal dividend.

The Hole: In a globalized economy, capital is highly mobile. The article briefly mentions "vampires" fleeing to South Dakota, but it doesn't account for capital fleeing to Singapore, Dubai, or Switzerland. If the 77% tax causes a massive capital flight, the "Aggregate Wealth" doesn't just decline by 60% (as the model predicts)—the tax base itself evaporates, leaving no dividend to redistribute.

2. The Efficiency of the "Public Buffer Trust" Green argues for a direct, frictionless transfer to bypass bureaucracy.

The Hole: He assumes a "ledger" can replace an army of administrators. However, managing a $78 trillion transfer (the Boomer wealth) requires immense legal oversight. Who determines the "unimproved value" of land for the Land Value Tax (Pillar 2)? Who audits the distinction between "Active" and "Passive" investments (Pillar 3)? These require subjective human judgment, which inevitably reintroduces the "bureaucratic friction" and political lobbying he seeks to eliminate.

3. The "Active vs. Passive" False Dichotomy The article proposes taxing passive index funds higher than active stock picking because active picking "adds information" to the market.

The Hole: This assumes active management is a net social good, but it often involves high-frequency trading or rent-seeking behaviors that don't necessarily build "productive enterprises." Conversely, passive investing provides the stable, low-cost liquidity that allows those productive enterprises to stay funded. Penalizing the "average Joe" for using an index fund (societal luck) while rewarding a hedge fund manager (skill) could inadvertently punish the very "Normie" class the author wants to protect.

4. The "Static" Nature of Human Behavior The simulation assumes agents will continue to work, build, and compound even if they know 77% of their life's work will be seized at death.

The Hole: This ignores the substitution effect. If the "cost" of passing wealth to children becomes too high, individuals may shift from "compounding" to "conspicuous consumption" during their lifetimes. If the top quintile stops investing and starts spending on ephemeral luxuries (yachts, parties, private jets), the long-term capital stock of the nation collapses, potentially destroying the "compounding engine" the author relies on.

5. Asset Liquidity and "The Great Fire Sale" The article mentions that 77% is the "critical rate" to push the bottom quintile above escape velocity.

The Hole: Most "wealth" at the top isn't cash; it's illiquid ownership in companies (like SpaceX or xAI, mentioned in the sidebar). Forcing a 77% estate tax means the government (or the heirs) must sell massive blocks of private companies every time a founder dies. This could lead to:

Market Crashes: Constant downward pressure on stock prices.

Foreign Acquisition: If American heirs can't afford to keep the shares, they are sold to sovereign wealth funds of other nations.


This is ridiculous...


HSBC = The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation ... of China Do you get it now? http:// isn't a bug -- it's by design.


Surely you know HSBC is a British bank? It was founded in 1865 when Hong Kong was under the control of the British and is headquartered in London.


Congrats! Two comments after trying the app out:

1) The thunder sounds loop too quickly; can you find sources that are longer perhaps (like 15+ mins)? 2) Can you try to source more unique thunder sounds?

Thank you!


For sure..very helpful feedback. Will find better thunders


Any plans to integrate with native Apple Notes app?


what kind of integration you expect? export?


I don't get it. Google Docs rolled out Markdown support in the front-end UI, but there's ZERO support via the Google Docs API. It feels like there is NO way to programmatically do the "Paste from Markdown" operation that's supported in the UI.

Am I missing something?


"accross" is misspelled on your front page


"Support Respons" is also misspelled in your product screenshot


Thanks for spotting those! We'll fix it asap


For those in the US, stay safe tomorrow!

Bonus: https://app.suno.ai/song/0d7698d3-4890-46c3-afcc-8cca893fd56...


The old Nest DropCam cameras are about to go EOL next month in April 2024. It's too bad that hardware isn't supported by this project.


Please inform the developers of the characteristics of your cameras. Perhaps they simply don't have them.


Yeah, it seems like the only "general solution" to this problem is to measure the number of "human work hours" that went into the production of a specific type of "content".

Content would then be labeled as "AI generated" if the "human work hours" was less than X hours (like 0.5 hours).

Whereas content would not be labelled as "AI generated" if the "human work hours" was greater than or equal to X hours (like 0.5 hours).

That would likely require sharing with YouTube not just the final work product, but rather all the iterative work product that led to the creation of the final work product (i.e., earlier drafts). When YouTube could calculate the number of "human work hours" based on the incremental creation/edit histories when analyzing all the drafts.

This is a very hard problem and unlikely to actually be solved in this way.


A percentage would be better.

>That would likely require sharing with YouTube not just the final work product, but rather all the iterative work product that led to the creation of the final work product (i.e., earlier drafts).

Not necessarily. YouTube generally trusts the word of the creator. If I upload a video and check the box that says "there is no swearing in this video" then YouTube more or less takes my word for it. They try to do some detection, but it has always been spotty.

I think YouTube would just ask the creator to label the video and that's it. If somebody is found to be in violation too many times then their account gets actioned.


So your solution is proof of work?


Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: