Smalmer than what?

Didn't the US literally do exactly that last week? Maybe I read the bill wrong.

In the Netherlands they raised tax on owning houses that you don't live in yourself, a lot of affordable houses flooded the market. Which was great for everyone wanting to buy a house, but meant there were less homes available to rent. So while some people had it easier to find a house, others had it harder. The lessen basically everyone knows already: if there are not enough houses to live in, you need to build more houses. I totally agree with you, but if after that change there still aren't enough homes the problem will remain.

Or blackwater.

"worked" = did nothing half the day then 2h of corruption

It shows, but only a little...

The main problem is that investment funds need the constant growth in order to pay for people's pension. If you don't have index funds that return above a given yield, year on year, then there's no way for pensions to work because there aren't enough young people being born to work and pay taxes to support the older people's pensions. That's why every financial services company is pushed, hard, to return more and more profits. That's why governments don't regulate them harder: because they NEED the financial sector to be greedy on an epic scale, or else the economy doesn't work.

https://youtu.be/nBEgJZdd2BQ

SETH: "Shit, this is really gonna affect people."

WILL: "Yeah, it's gonna affect people like me!"

SETH: "No, no, real... real people."

WILL: "Jesus, Seth; listen, if you really wanna do this with your life, you have to believe you're necessary. And you are. People wanna live like this, in their cars, and their big fuckin' houses that they can't even pay for? Then you're necessary. The only reason that they all get to continue living like kings is 'cause we've got our fingers on the scales in their favor. I take my hand off? Well then the whole world gets really fuckin' fair, really fuckin' quickly, and nobody actually wants that. They say they do, but they don't. They want what we have to give them, but they also wanna, you know... play innocent, and pretend that they have no idea where it came from. Well, that's more hypocrisy than I'm willing to swallow, so fuck 'em. Fuck normal people. You know, the funny thing is, tomorrow, if all of this goes tits-up? They're gonna crucify us for being too reckless. But if we're wrong? And everything gets back on track? Well then the same people are gonna laugh 'til they piss their pants, 'cause we're gonna look like the biggest pussies God ever let through the door."

SETH: "You think we're gonna be wrong?"

WILL: "Nah, they're all fucked."

The whole world economy is based on a system whereby the global regions and demographics that Have, extract wealth and value from the regions and demographics that Have Not. And everybody here commenting on this post are Haves. Maybe not on the scale that some others are, but I know I certainly didn't have to walk several hours today just to get clean drinkable water. Given what some people are forced to do without despite how hard they work, I really shouldn't be able to afford the lifestyle I have for the amount of work I do. But I can, and that's because my government tilts the scales in my favor. And even I'm financially screwed compared to some other people! The only way to fix it is a complete overhaul, and nobody has the stomach for that.