"Mark Rand" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 4 Nov 2008 14:02:02 -0500, "Ed Huntress"
wrote:

snipped for sanity

Before we get too far off the track here, remember that the subject is
whether you can have a capitalist system with no growth. My assertion is
that you can't. Share prices versus dividends still leaves open the
question
of why someone would risk capital by buying equity in a company that isn't
going to grow. Even if one company grows in such a system, it requires
that
another one decline. The stock market then becomes a gambling game -- or,
more likely, it dries up -- because it's a zero-sum game overall.


Someone would risk cash for income i.e. dividends.

But they don't. Dividends-only securities only work when there's a guarentee
for the principle. In other words, bonds, and some types of preferred
stocks. The high-risk equities market would dry up with no growth. Where
would the capital come from for new startups?

The only justifiable and
sustainable rise in the price of the equities is the rate of inflation,
since
those equities represent the value of the company.

Geez. What kind of capitalism do you have over there? g The only
justifiable and sustainable source of increase in the price of equities is
economic growth.


I think that John has hit the nail on the head. income from capital gains
should be taxed at similar rates to income from labour.

That's another old argument. Are you basing yours on "fairness," or on
proven trends in capital investment?


Mind you, I think that anyone that makes a living from gambling should be
treated with significantly less respect than an honest pimp or drug pusher
:-(

I always wanted to be a card-counter at blackjack, but now they use too many
decks. Don't try me in a friendly game with only one deck, however. d8-)



Mark Rand (happy Obama day
RTFM

Thanks. It's quite a party.

--
Ed Huntress