Hacker News Reader

Comment by Confusion | Hacker News Reader

  If the United States had taxes as high as Denmark, there
  would be no Elon Musk.

Why do you believe this? Denmark also has multmillionaires that fund startups or start their own.

View on HN

Elon invested all his money from the Paypal sale to make Tesla, Space X, and Solar City at the same time. He had to borrow money from friends to make rent. Take away an additional 30% from his Paypal money and either Tesla or Space X would have never been born.

And that's only one entrepreneur's story. That same scenario is repeated thousands of times around the country. Taxes are sand in the gears of an entrepreneurial economy.

No entrepreneurial economy would exist if there wasn't a government to streamline the organisation of many mundane things such that the entrepreneurs aren't bothered by them. No entrepreneurial economy exists without a police force, a fire department and an influx of capable employees.

True, but those things are quite inexpensive compared to all of the other stuff that governments spend taxpayer money on, at least in the United States.

You are right! And it is perfectly possible to provide those public goods without European levels of taxation (or hell, Californian levels of taxation!). Hong Kong manages to do it with an 18% flat tax.

upon what data do you base this assertion? you can have entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial activities in anarchy. you can definitely do so without a police force, a fire department and employees.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com