Public trust in government remains low, as it has for much of the 21st century. Only two-in-ten Americans say they trust the government in Washington to do what is right “just about always” (2%) or “most of the time” (19%).
A median of 62% of adults across the 14 countries surveyed this summer generally believe most people can be trusted.
Trust is essential for community, wellbeing, and effective cooperation. How does trust vary between different societies and locations and what matters for levels of trust?
勇氣是當你為了比你更高一層的存續而犧牲你自己的福祉
原文譯自Nassim Nicholas Taleb文章: The Logic of Risk Taking
我們的本性也許慣於對尾部風險”說不”。因為不用冒尾部風險就能賺錢的方法不計其數。不用複雜科技 — 這會導致脆弱和具未知尾部風險機率 — 就能解決問題(譬如說餵飽世界)的方法也不計其數。
昨天的一個消息讓生醫界發出不少聲音：健保署核定自費醫材的收費上限[01]。一開始聽到時相當難過，甚至感到生氣，心中不免開罵血汗、鬼島。政府用一顆石頭想止住特定貪婪者讓民眾受惠[05]，卻不免波及到生醫界。背後究竟發生了怎麼樣的問題？我們能做些什麼？
系統思考看自費限制：健保署為何砸下絆腳石？我們還能做什麼？-昨天的一個消息讓生醫界發出不少聲音：健保署核定自費醫材的收費上限[01]。一開始聽到時相當難過，甚至感到生氣，心中不免開罵血汗、鬼島。政府用一顆石頭想止住特定貪婪者讓民眾受惠[05]，卻不免波及到生醫界。-...
今天臉書被健保署自付差額醫材的新聞洗版了，主要是很多醫生跳出來砲轟健保署莫名其妙之舉，甚至也出現很多未來好的醫材會因為這個收費上限制度而放棄台灣的市場，然後台灣人的醫療就會崩壞！ 對於剛出院的我，剛刷卡付掉幾萬塊心導管暨冠狀動脈支架放置手術的費用，看到這新聞之亂，第一時間想的是能不能申請退費？因為 健保署, 收費, 醫院, 病患, 上限, 醫生, 醫材, 資訊, 手術, 心肌梗塞
Morris Pearl, Chair of the Patriotic Millionaires and former Managing Director at BlackRock, said: “In recent decades, wealth inequality has skyrocketed around the world. The growing gap between rich and poor has destabilised the global economy, exacerbated the rise of extremist politics, and frayed the very fabric of our social order. As an ultra-wealthy person, representing an organisation of like-minded wealthy people, I am asking the G20 to tax us
In an open letter to the G20, close to 300 millionaires, economists, and political representatives from almost all G20 countries call for a new international agreement on wealth taxes to “stop extreme wealth from corroding our collective future”.
the vested interests in maintaining the current system, including billionaires, the fossil fuel sector, big pharma, defense, and industrial agriculture will continue to fight to prevent the transformative changes needed. To overcome our societal addiction to the current system will require a broad consensus and movement of movements around the shared goal of sustainable wellbeing for humans and the rest of nature
13 August 2023 -
G20 Leaders must tax extreme wealth
time lags involved in building dynastic fortunes ... Inequality of income must precede growing inequality of wealth, since wealth is simply the cumulative excess of income over consumption.So, given the current era of highly unequal incomes and social immobility, we can expect inheritance to play a much bigger role in explaining inequality for the generations now entering adulthood. That will include direct transfers of wealth, mainly via inheritances, as well as the effects of increasingly unequal access to education, early job opportunities and home ownership
Are we creating a society Jane Austen might recognise?
馬英九的競選政見本來只說要將遺產稅免稅額及扣除額，提高到2600萬元，反而是謝長廷承諾要將免稅額提高到3000萬元，並將遺產稅最高邊際稅率由50% 降低到10%。但7月23日，工商協進會與劉兆玄早餐，要求將遺產稅先調降至20%，將來完全廢除。劉兆玄表示贊同
過去十幾年中華民國政府所推政策中最爛最爛的是哪個政策？我可以毫不猶豫地告訴你：就是在2008年將原本50%最高邊際稅率的遺產稅率，一舉降為10%。這個政策背後有太多太多的可疑之處
1：資本集中的必然趨勢[啟動LINE推播]每日重大新聞通知法國皮凱提（ThomasPiketty）教授的新書CapitalintheTwentyFirstCentury（我暫譯為《廿一世紀資本論》）獲得《紐約時報》極佳書評，而諾貝爾經濟學獎得主克魯曼甚至誇讚，此書是今年甚或最近十
intergenerational transfers, such as inheritances and inter vivos gifts, play a significant role in underpinning wealth inequality. When inheritances and gifts exceed a certain threshold, the opportunities to accumulate more wealth are greatly expanded
Wealth inequality can limit people’s ability to accumulate human capital, carry out business projects, or cope with major economic crises. Focusing on France, Spain, the UK, and the US, this column shows that intergenerational transfers, such as inheritances and inter vivos gifts, play a significant role in underpinning wealth inequality. When inheritances and gifts exceed a certain threshold, the opportunities to accumulate more wealth are greatly expanded.
Debt measures typically ignore most assets – notably, the public sector’s real commercial assets – and some significant liabilities, including the present discounted value of public-sector pension entitlements
only New Zealand uses the IPSAS [International Public Sector Accounting Standards] as the basis for its financial-management system...
view the matter from the perspective of “future generations.” What value do we place on our children? ... If we value them as much as we value ourselves..., we must account for how damage done to the environment today would affect their well-being
balanced budget multiplier: an increase in government spending will inject more demand into the economy than will be withdrawn by an equal increase in taxation, since some of the money taken by the tax would have been saved, not spent
SALZBURG — In 2009, while the world economy was still reeling from the global financial crisis, Nobel laureate economist Robert Lucas observed that “everyone is a Keynesian in the foxhole”. The implication was that, when an economy is faced with a severe economic shock, conventional fiscal policy norms must take a backseat to stabilization.
economic shocks of the past two decades were not freak occurrences but rather the product of a profoundly flawed and corrupt system
升學主義的來源，正是臺灣與東亞諸國所賴以經濟起飛的瀰漫全社會的無止境勤儉精神……這種勤儉精神的成分之一是無限制的工作投入。不只是低收入的勞工小販願意長時加班，逾時營業。連極高所得的名醫們也不惜觸法犯規，下班後不辭勞累在自家看診增加財富。勤儉精神的成分之二是延後消費，延後享受。東亞國家的人民並非不知如何奢侈誇示，享受財富。但通常會先勒緊褲帶，一家人克勤克儉到累積了令人心安的足夠資產後才開始放心享受辛勞的果實。以前半生的辛苦換取後半生的安逸，這是東亞各國共通的經濟思維……一分耕耘，一分收穫。勤能補拙。工作如此，準備考試當然也如此。如果把課本讀五次能考七十分，讀二十次能考八十五分，讀一百次能考九十分，很明顯的，學習的邊際效用是降低了。但是既然閒著也是閒著，為什麼不多讀它幾十次、幾百次，增加一分算一分呢？於是不論日夜，不論週末暑假，只要一息尚存，你就專心準備考試吧。無止境勤儉精神的勤就表現在這無休止的投入準備考試科目上。…儉就是「暫時」壓抑無益於考試的一切活動與享受。既然入學考試不考體育音樂，那為什麼要「浪費」時間上體育？為什麼不將音樂課挪來加強數學？喜歡看課外書？等考上大學再看吧！看報紙聽新聞關心世界大事？等考上大學再關心吧！想郊遊烤肉跳舞？等考上大學自然由你玩四年！於是所有與入學考試無立即相關的知識追求，人生關懷，個人興趣，乃至休閒娛樂，都在升學（以及它所代表的終身前途）考量下被暫時棄置一旁。暫緩不急的享受，這就是儉惡性升學競爭的根源是我們社會過度勤勉向上（至少就教育與升學而言）的精神
東亞文化中根深蒂固的勤儉精神。極端勤勞，也極端節儉。拼命賺錢，延後消費，到了可稱之為集體自我剝削的程度。後果是高額儲蓄，快速資本累積，快速成長。但這局勢稱羡的東亞經濟奇績背後，卻是惡劣的生活品質。環境保護、居住品質、文化教養等，都被視為不急之務，一切等賺夠了錢再慢慢彌補
美國的起源是清教徒尋找自由土地，其個人主義的「個人」，有信仰約束，自有分寸。現在，信仰淡薄，個人主義淪於自私。
中年人，也就常常是沒有可以傾訴自己情緒，分享成敗的伴侶
當人與人之間，只能以「利」相處時，人間不會再有人類情感
「我可以爲所欲爲，因爲我是勝者。」這個現象
跨國企業菁英與超級富豪階層也順勢取得了無以倫比的政治權力，他們可以凌駕政府、支配社會遊戲規則，並一步步的支解立意在保護弱勢群體、勞工與中產階級權益的經濟管制措施與社會保障體系。他們排斥任何限制其行動自由與資本回報的全球治理或監管機制，他們可以影響美國法律與國際規則，也可以左右國際貨幣基金與美國聯邦儲備理事會的觀點與政策
全球化的紅利與風險之分配嚴重不均
主流政治人物紛紛失去這批選民的信任，因為這些熟面孔不是已經被利益集團徹底綁架，就是面對經濟與社會難題束手無策，選民寧可寄希望於毫無從政經驗的新手
新自由主義思維頌揚個人自由，但也同時獎勵自私、自利與貪婪，並鼓勵對物質欲望無止境的追求。美國富裕階層的所得稅率在發達國家中是最低的，而且跨國企業都盡可能將利潤隱藏在國外租稅天堂，他們自私自利到連最基本的社會義務都設法擺脫
A family is a system for living and raising children.
Management is a system of people for allocating resources and regulating the activity
In a primitive society, the existing systems were those arising in nature and their characteristics were accepted as divinely given and as being beyond man's comprehension or control. Man simply adjusted himself to the natural systems around him and to the family and tribal social systems which are created by gradual evolution rather than by design. Man adapted to systems without feeling compelled to understand them.
laws serves as a guide to permissible behavior......But no one knows the entire legal code as set down in the statute books. Instead, a guiding moral structure conveying the fundamental nature of right and wrong helps us to estimate approximately what the law must be.
