Juggling Dynamite

Important insight into the nitty-gritty of why and how America’s tax code is broken.

Ray Madoff (The Second Estate, Immortality and the Law, Practical Guide to Estate Planning) is a Boston College law professor, author, and tax-policy expert. Ray joins Armchair Expert to discuss being a proudly mediocre high school student, reluctantly trading philosophy for law school, and becoming a terrible Wall Street tax lawyer who loved teaching. Ray and Dax talk about America’s return to a pre-revolutionary aristocracy, how “salaries are for suckers” among the ultrawealthy, and why $50 trillion in wealth yielded only $28 billion in estate tax. Ray explains why high earners and wealth holders aren’t the same, how fair taxation could rescue capitalism, and why the problem lies with the system, not billionaires themselves. Here is a direct video link.

Our August month-end client letter explores the history and compounding ramifications of various deficits and debt levels across countries. ‘Easy money’ most often turns out to be a curse.

US public debt just crossed $40 trillion, but the country is hardly the only one facing fiscal troubles. Nations around the world took on record debt during Covid, and many have struggled to bring spending back under control. Chrystia Freeland, who faced this problem herself as Canada’s Finance Minister, speaks with former Dutch Finance Minister Sigrid Kaag and former German Finance Minister Christian Lindner about why fiscal discipline is so politically difficult and what the rest of the world can learn before markets force the issue.  Here is a direct video link.