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> Earning mere interest is a poor rate of return

You're looking at just the APY on savings accounts. Actually the rich make far more than that on interest-derived financial products through various forms of rent-seeking. Interest is the hidden tax baked into every transaction. Some studies found interest accounts for roughly half of end-user prices—12 percent on garbage collection, up to 77 percent on public housing.[1]

And as Musk warns: “If we don’t act, the entire government budget will be used just to pay interest — there won’t be money for anything. No, there won’t be money for Social Security, no Medicare, nothing. That’s where we’re headed.” [2]

In the late-stage capitalist West, most public and private money goes to servicing interest at some point in the food chain.

[1] https://base.socioeco.org/docs/margrit_kennedy.pdf

[2] https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/us/e...



> Actually the rich make far more than that on interest-derived financial products through various forms of rent-seeking.

The US would not be the wealthiest country in the world if its wealth was acquired through rent seeking.




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