Backlash Builds Against Bill Gates' Call For A Robot Tax (cbsnews.com)

Bill Gates argued governments should tax companies that use replace humans with robots, which "provoked enough negative feedback to fry a motherboard," according to CBS News. Here's how they summarized some of the reactions:

• "Why pick on robots?" former Treasury Secretary Summers asked in a Washington Post opinion piece, which called Gates "profoundly misguided." The economist argued that progress, however messy and disruptive sometimes, ultimately benefits society overall.
• Mike Shedlock, a financial adviser with Sitka Pacific Capital Management in Edmonds, Washington, wrote on his blog that robot owners, who likely would pay the tax, would simply pass it along by jacking up prices.
• The European Union's parliament in February rejected a measure to impose a tax on robots, using much the same reasoning as Gates' critics.

But even while acknowledging that technology can complement humans rather than replacing them, a Bloomberg columnist argues that "Gates is right to say that we should start thinking ahead of time about how to use policy to mitigate the disruptions of automation." So if we're not going to tax robots, then how should society handle the next great wave of automated labor?

Comments

Re:yeah, tax the robots

[grumbel5969]

There are a few billionaires out there and that's it.

That's enough. Even just the eight richest people in the world have as much wealth as the poorest 50%. That's 8 people vs 3.5 billion. The wealth distribution in this world is completely out of whack. Give that money to the poor and they'll spend it in the local economy and get things going.

BOOK: Says Microsoft is abusive in many ways.

[Futurepower(R)]

"... Nevada, a state which just happens to have no income tax."

Nevada has no Corporate taxes or personal income taxes.

Washington state has no personal income tax, but has taxes "based on gross receipts of businesses".

Microsoft Is Filled With Abusive Managers And Overworked Employees, Says Tell-All Book (May 23, 2012)

Re:Except, that is not Capitalism

[dryeo]

Up until the '30's the vast majority of the population were even worse off. (America slightly better due to the government stealing land and redistributing it to the poor through homesteading).
The government itself was even more in the pockets of the rich in the 19th century with many political positions, from judges to senators, being for sale.