Why Are Taxes So High? 

Don't worry. A bloke who did PPE at Oxford will soon be replaced as Chancellor by a woman who did PPE at Oxford. Nothing can go wrong.

Have you ever been to Treasury, Gary? I’ve been watching you a lot and heard what you’ve said about the out of touch privately educated rich kids in the banks, who have no idea how our economy is actually doing. I’m an economist in the civil service and my experience of Treasury is exactly the same. You don’t find it so much in other departments but Treasury is rammed full of these privately educated rich kids with no clue. Paradoxically, I think it’s because pay in Treasury is so low. The best don’t go there because they can’t afford to, yet it’s such a prestigious job. So it attracts a certain type of power hungry person with enough family money behind them to support them. I walk through the offices and the canteen and everyone is wearing their Saville Row suits and talking about their skiing holidays. It’s night and day with the real world! It makes me wonder how we’re supposed to make change when those working for the most important department in the country, advising the government on our economy and our future, are so out of touch.

*Why are taxes so high... on the poor.* And not nearly high enough on the rich. The trouble is, we all know why, we know it in our bones. We don't know the fancy terminology for it, but we know the country is run by and for a vanishingly small minority of people seeking to expand their own money and power at quite literally, the cost of our wellbeing and the planet itself. Trouble is, that the vanishingly small minority have convinced juuuuust enough of the riff-raff, that they might one day, make it, to prevent change. They won't. And none of us will, without solidarity and collective action.

In a word Privatisation... Gary you've a great way of explaining massive subjects very eloquently and clearly 🙂keep up the great work.

I've always wondered about this from a historical perspective: university was free, every town and even village seemed to have a fire station, police station, and post office. The NHS wasn't overburdened etc etc. They were also paying less tax but somehow they could afford all this without the economies of scale you'd expect to see today. You perfectly describe the problem and answer all the questions I've always wondered. Thanks Gary.

If I say there's wealth inequality, I'm a bitter loser who doesn't work hard enough. To have someone like Gary say it destroys that false narrative, and I really appreciate it.

One of the other ways Gov lost our assets was privatisation. Water companies are a great example. Investors from outside the UK have loaded the water companies with debt, lowered short term costs by not investing in the infrastructure assets, and extracted money in the form of dividends. The game is already lost. Now huge investment is required to bring the service back to a good standard, but who pays?

Governments losing wealth wasnt even on my radar! Makes total sense and of course makes the richer much richer! Your points are not being thought about or talked about in politics or by media. These messages need to go to the masses.

Gary just finished reading the book, good for you, you got out, before they devoured you, took your soul, sucked out your bone marrow, those bastards know what they are doing with you, they trawl the world, looking for rare people like you, knowing full well you're going to be creative and make more money for the bank, they can't do that you see! ....you made them a lot of money, you deserved every penny. And most importantly you got out at the top, and kept you're sanity, well done I salute you mate!

As a country in 1979 we were cash poor & asset rich, after nearly 50 years of trickle down economics we are now cash poor & asset poor, who would have thought.

I am the living proof of this government's absurd financial strategy. I live currently in a primary school in East Sussex with a property guardianship company which was closed down a few years ago due to "cost" issues. It's actually a nice place to live, and the rent is relatively cheap considering the location and building's aesthetics. I couldn't afford to rent in the private sector, most landlords are asking for £750 PCM+ around this area for a small box room! This site is due to be auctioned off at some point this year, which just doesn't make any financial sense as the remaining local schools are already grotesquely over subscribed, and with a growing population will only get much, much worse. The local council will inevitably end up having to rent another building to become a School, eight people will also become homeless, and no doubt an out of place block of unaffordable flats will replace a historic building to feather the nest of another faceless investor. Utter, utter short term insanity.

This is possibly the most important video you have made gary! That graph you showed is horrifying! How the hell did nobody see this (or at least nobody highlight it) in stark simple terms like you just did when that situation was getting close to 0...but well played gary for at least coming up with a solution (and yep its the same solution as you have in all your videos) to resolve this!! Lets keep getting more people on board and spreading the message! The irish people proved yesterday that they can push back on a tyrranical government (there is a lot more to do..), so its about time us Brits do the same with our government!!

Finished your book in 2 days, loved it. Keep up the great work.

So privatisation and the selling off of assets has left us at the mercy of corporations to maintain the daily running of our country. This has to be a huge argument for nationalising basic services.

Brilliant explanation Gary, this has been such an eye opener, makes me quite annoyed that we are all working longer for less and to have crap services as well. Keep up this great work

Gary you are a genius! The way you are able to make each video a revelation, an epiphany is so amazing. I love your sincerity and authenticity coupled at the same time with a humility and lack of vanity which is so refreshing. You come across so frugal, almost ascetic - you are a prophet for our times. Please stay safe because people like you who are intent on true change always end up being attacked by the powers that be and end up either being destroyed or corrupted.

My counter to Thatcher's "The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money" has always been "The problem with conservatism is you run out of public assets to sell". Always thought this was a problem as I never understood how in the long term selling off public assets is going to help. They sell them off to make a quick few quid to make themselves look economically competent, but then they run out of things to sell. You talking about this asset-stripping of the UK by conservatives, and Grace Blakely talking about the problems with individualism are problems I've thought about for quite a while and astonished that it's not a bigger conversation. It's great to see it happening with you both though, but the word needs to get out there more. Thank you for doing your bit! Awesome Spirited Away hoodie btw!

Start with the basics, if governments want people to work so they can tax them, then a taxpayer needs affordable healthcare, rent, utilities and basic food. When all of a government's assets have been sold off to private investors, there is this continual requirement for increased revenues yearly for shareholders. I have worked with many CEO's GM's who were an utter disgrace. Sacking people to increase margin so you can get your bonus is simplistic at the very least. Buying back these assets is a must. In Australia for forty years we have had to listen to the BS about balance the books and not having a deficit, so they would sell off assets, gas and electric "don't worry people, you will benefit in the long run from cheaper prices through competition" utter BS, Australia is in the top two for exporting gas, and we pay more than anyone else for this privilege! and why the sell off's really? to stay in power!!!! it was never about the voters, its always been about those in power, oh and forgot to mention congrats on this video, you simplified a complicated issue, and no swearing! 😜

Gary, Your explanation about the ways in which public resources have been appropriated by oligarchs is so clear and so compelling. Heard you last night on Loose Ends. Please stand as an MP. We need you!!!!!!!!

Put simply, in the 80s the UK government sold off the family silver. Had a huge party, exported it's 'success story' to the world, and is now experiencing a huge Hangover. But Who should pay for the clean up?

I will be sharing this video to everyone. I have been trying to say this for years, but I get so wound up and mad, I sometimes lose the point.. You said it calmly and more effective. Thanks so much

Huge penny drop moment for me watching this. All makes so much more sense now! Great video Gary.

There’s another factor on top of straightforward transfer of assets from the public to the private sector. The assets that remain in public ownership have not been maintained and therefore are turning into liabilities. If you keep your car maintained properly it can run almost indefinitely with relatively manageable maintenance costs but if you allow it to become a rusting hulk it will cost a fortune to get it back to a state where it can give you a decent level of service

I have been baffled for years by the utter cluelessness of British governments to understand how economies function. Thanks for making this abundantly clear.

This guy is awesome. Well done Gary. Your commentaries are a breath of fresh air and your channel deserves a high profile 👍

So the NHS paying private companies to build units and then paying to use them is just gping to make the NHS worse and worse. Selling the housing stock was the worst and privatising all assets, who was that? Oh yes Mrs T the Tory hero!!!!

Gary. What a whirlwind two weeks it must have been! This is creepy but it feels like I’ve chatted with you every day of that 😂 the content is amazing. The exposure is needed. Incredible work. I bet you’ve got a nice summer holiday booked to recover 😂 and if you haven’t - then make sure you get one booked! ❤

This is one of Gary's best videos. Nice explanation and I loved that it includes the solution.

It's about time we taught the younger generation what money is, what is good debt, what is bad debt, assets, isas, pension etc etc. The government don't want people to know about money because they want the ordinary person to be in debt, have no assets so they have to keep working and pay their taxes.

Thank you Gary! Education is so vitally needed! There is such an incredible lack of understanding in the area of economics and wealth! Your work is much appreciated!

A certain person on the Sunday morning show at 9 said that if taxes on rich went up that they would just leave and that seems to be there default position every time it’s mentioned

the question should be why are so many TENS of TRILLIONS hidden off shore and NOTHING is done about it?

That was a Very Good one, Gary! You've absolutely got to the root of the problem - now we know where we're going, and we have a basis to work out what we need to do!

You need to write your own book called “Economic Manifesto” for the governments to follow years into the future

One minute in and I'm hooked, this is a question I've been asking myself for years now.

Another outstanding video, simple and to the point and as someone else has commented, that graph just makes another part of the equation so crystal clear. Congrats on the book, I had it on pre-order and read in two sessions over 48 hours. I don't recall the last time I read something that was such a page turner. I read a lot but can go years between being so compelled to turn the page. Highly readable, engaging, exciting, concerning. I hope someone has optioned the film rights!

Spot on Gary. Introduce a 1% tax on all net assets above £5M held by wealthy families, trusts, offshore trusts and corporations. Currently most of the best property in the centre of London is owned by offshore trusts. Also, tax foreign corporations that sell goods or services in the UK and don't pay any corporation tax I.E Amazon. Then massively increase quality of services for poor and middle-class people and massively decrease tax for the poor and middle-class people. People need to wake up and vote for a new political party that represent the poor and middle class. The Tories and Labour do not represent the poor and middle class.

Jesus. Thank you, Gary. It all just clicked for me and I'm so mad right now. We are living in the end stage of the game Monopoly where that one player has most of the assets by far and is just raking in money as we all (normal people and the government) slowly bleed to death. It's game over but we don't see it yet. Is it time for revolution yet?

Fantastic layman’s breakdown of a complex subject. Keep up the great work 👏

Thank you for continue to make videos to bring awareness to the general public. As a tiny potato in administration, I've witnessed a revolving change of chief positions in our provincial ministry, CFO, CTO, CIO .,.. etc. for 18 years. I can ensure you that none of these "chiefs" are from ordinary working class families. They all have certain background. Unless general public can act collectively to demand a certain change in politics and taxation policy, the misery continues for the ordinary families.

I work as an analyst for one of the last ALMO’s that manage the Local Council’s housing stock. We are a profitable and effective business providing way more than just a roof over peoples heads. Money advice, tenancy support, an amazing responsive repairs system. All profits are put into investment in those services and into new build or brown field site development. How has this government got Social Housing SO wrong?

One of your best videos to date, Gary, brilliant exposition: the argument is in-depth, and the inference is very clear for your simple conclusion. Best I've ever heard it spelled out, this should be seen by millions.

Government is a skint renter who could rewrite the rental contract to say that they own the house if they wanted to. Imagine.

What you described is privatisation of public services. Which, arguably is driven by government corruption. Individual interests of minsters are tied up in the private companies to which the services are outsourced, rather than the society they are supposed to serve.

Thanks for another great video Gary! Addressing our impoverishment is the most important challenge of our generation. Please look after yourself. We need your voice!

In think there is an even bigger underlying problem. This transfer of ownership to the super rich, who by and large don't produce, generally move far less money back into the economy, and often transfer the wealth outside the country, drives even higher operating costs for provision of services (simple maths: the underlying costs are still there, but private owners also want to cut profit on top, and economies of scale and large scale bargaining are lost) and keeps lowering the spending power of ordinary people, which in turns shrinks the economy even further. Basically rich people are bad for the economy because they accumulate and extract wealth, they don't inject it back into the economy, it's that simple.

Gary I’ve listened to quite a few of your videos. I’m an estate agent not an economist and I grew up on a council estate and I now meet normal people every day in the course of my work so I see things from a practical point of view. Normal people are struggling to make ends meet at the moment and most people have fairly basic needs to make them happy. I’d say what we need is the following; 1. An ability to live in a home that you can afford 2. The ability to pay your energy and food bills 3. The ability to raise a family 4. The ability to buy your own home if you want to in the future I think this all starts with government/councils to build affordable well-built homes with a garden in nice environments which younger people can afford to live in. In my area each home would have to cost around £100pw in rent to achieve this on current wage levels locally. The ready available homes would also mean that private rents would be poor value in comparison and would therefore be less attractive as investments and the reduction in private rented property would happen naturally as council provided homes increased. With a clear strategy in place to do this we could then start to look at other ways of levelling up which would be more complicated. Locally, I think my council has recently sold its headquarters (the civic centre) and has moved into a new town hall which it now rents from a private company so, in effect, the local labour government has sold its asset and is now renting. I’m sure they must have weighed up the pros and cons of doing so and arrived at the best financial decision for doing so so but I don’t know the reason. I think to really understand why decisions like this are being made we should examine the detail of specific cases and see what it is that’s driving these decisions so that you can get to the cause of the problem. I would genuinely like to know.

Gary, you're a breath of fresh air.

Brilliant analogy Gary. ‘Economics for the people’. Well done.👍

Completely agree Gary. Huge fan of yours. You are absolutely right. I am a rich person (not super rich). The only problem with your solution is that the super rich are super amazing at dodging any kind of tax. From off shore, non-dom to incorporation structures and trusts. They have an answer for all sorts of tax liability. So how do you effectively claw back tax from the super rich?

If the main problem is property accumulation, then logically put limits on property accumulation. This won't directly hurt the rich as much as taxes, but it will eventually restore balance. Gary, really need some solid figures on high wealth taxation, plus how tax avoidance will be handled.

Just finished the audiobook. Really enjoyed it, great narration also. The bit with the flying phone had me pissing myself 🤣

Thanks for making this video, this has always been one thing I haven’t understood. It’s clear now. 😅

Awesome breakdown. It’s easy to get bogged down in how inequality feels emotionally but this is the deeper issue.

Just finished your book Gary, absolutely loved it!

I do have a concern about what is considered “normal” or “ordinary”. It used to be the working and middle class. I’m not sure that is what we would call normal now. It would be helpful if you were to be more specific in defining normal. I think a larger + larger proportion of the population is going to agree with the points you make. Yes, watching and growing your RU-vid channel is one way of spreading the message. Your book may have some impact. But, we need real and tangible ways for voices to be heard. Voting at the polls does not seem the solution. I, and I’m sure others who watch your content, would like to hear more on what can actually be done to change this mess. Thank you for the work you do.

I think we're very close to a tipping point. The cost of housing is ruining our world.

Feel like I'm missing something Gary . After World War ll , this country was on its knees . We had lost so many people in the theatre of war , yet still had to maintain a standing army in Europe . The country was in debt up to its eyeballs to the USA and Canada ( which we didn't pay off until December 2006 ! ) Much of our major infrastructure , and many of our major cities had been bombed to virtual oblivion . Moral was low , and we still had food rationing until 1954 . That's ten years after the end of the war ! The bulk of Britain's housing stock was either poor to the point of being slum accommodation , or virtually non existent due to being bombed out . And yet , with all this Aneurin Bevan convinced the government to institute the National Health , free at the point of delivery , and build hospitals for the NHS . Education was at its hight , again free at the point of delivery And New Towns with good quality homes were being built all over the country . All at a time when the country was on its knees and virtually bankrupt . So , if we could do all that then , why not now ?

Thank you for being so clear and helping us think differently!

Gary, I've been following your videos and interviews for a while. I think this is your best one to date. Not so much because it breaks new ground --- all of your videos reinforce the basic lesson of how wealth inequality happens. But this is such a clear explanation, and it really covers all the bases. And I like that you cite Piketty and also allude to how the left describes inequality as a moral or social issue, but you simply explain the facts of how wealth inequality is so pervasively destructive. I'm grateful that you have dedicated your life to sharing this message, and I hope that I can do my small part to help amplify that message -- a message that applies just as much on this side of the pond.

Taxes collected are where they need to be and seem low to be honest. The issue is they are taxing income/production rather than rent seeking/wealth.

Thanks Gary, Conservative Ethos ‘Take Everything , Leave Nothing.’

By 1990 Thatcher had sold off 1.5 million council houses. In 1992 the UK crashed out of the ERM, interest rates peaked at 15%, and unemployment rose rapidly. A good percentage of those on the lowest wages who had bought their council houses would have had their properties repossessed. There were 75,000 repossessions in 1992 and over 400,000 in the decade. These houses became part of the landlord rental economy. We now see underfunded local councils being forced to sell off their assets to the private sector and load up on debt as they rent back their assets. This will see further tax burdens placed on the public as we see our public services disappear or incur price hikes to maintain.

Thanks for the content Mr Stevenson. Charismatic and smart. The message is simple and clear. It's also nice to see MC Gaz of Cadaverous Crew fighting his way to the surface occasionally.

New subscriber here. Really like you plain speaking and you clearly have a deep understanding of how our and similar economies are broken.

Gary, if Britain is going bankrupt and they don't increase asset taxes, will Bank Of England ramp up interest rates even higher due to British government bankruptcy? Looks like we need emergency legislation to increase taxes on assets and put them higher than taxes on work. And maybe have asset tax bands, the more value in assets someone has then the higher tax rate they pay. Gary, this is a very good video especially with that graph showing clearly that the government has almost bankrupted the country. Politicians and their funders should to be held accountable for the damage they cause.

It’s not just the very rich though, it’s the fact that a lot of the debt and services such as Thames water is owned by entities outside of Britain which means that the money is flowing out and not back into the hands of the middle/working class

Oh and also, starving public services despite high taxes is the whole point. Its to justify privitisation and we need to stop falling for this textbook tactic.

Bought 'the trading game' two days ago, nearly finished it already. Really enjoying it! Thanks for taking the risk to tell the story.

Bravo ……have just stumbled on your channel and I have to say I love your message here. Your delivery is warm….despite the cold truth in it. Thankyou …..subscribed 💥💪🏻

Gary - you’re right of course, but ffs, calling for higher taxes in a system where the lawmakers are either billionaires themselves or they are owned by billionaires isn’t going to work. WE really need to think about how to “back-door” an economic revolution.

Tax on the rich is hard to increase because ordinary people, however misguided, believe they will one day be rich.

Please do a video on tax assets not work. I watched an accountancy forum where an accountant actually said this was the best and fairest system of taxation.

Loved the talk in Bath last night Gary, thanks for everything that you're doing.

Hi Gary - thanks for the video. I think referencing recent inflation and inheritance tax might have added to the broader picture. Congrats on the book!

Privatisation is a large part of it as well. I work in social care and my Council has to pay huge amounts to accommodate children in care. It is shocking the amount that some of these companies charge

There is often the argument that low corporate tax attract volume investment. Higher volume at lower % can give more money to governments. But if you then decentivise investment by putting barrier to trade with huge trading block, the level of tax is meaningless. Money goes elsewhere. Suspending Eu laws about fair employment doesn’t help if you can’t export. I have never supported the tories, but I used to be able to at least kinda understand their arguments. I have no idea anymore, it looks like asset stripping. They talk of growth and then in next breath say we won’t align standards. What will grow? Russian money laundering?

Government is the biggest it’s ever been, the systems are so complicated that nobody understands them. The accountants are able to navigate this complexity to benefit the rich. The budget always benefits the rich ( eg latest stamp duty on multiple houses and capital gains on second homes) And the government has sold off everything it possibly could. Government has increased its own perks. Ex prime ministers have rest of life expense claim of £130, 000 per year and final salary pensions. All the MPs have expense claims, second homes, etc that is way out of proportion for the job they do Also they have sold off anything that could have generated income, so they could invest in the privatised companies to once again line their own pockets

Utterly brilliant insight. Thank you!

how to improve the situation. recognise the problem 1) the super rich are irelevent. reality will be taxing the middle class. the very people you want to help. 2) that 50% of the budget is literally steeling from the young to give to the old. NHS, pentions and debt serviceing. abolish them. the average voter is within 10 years of retirement. 3) perito analysis - you can cut spending by 80% and still provide 50% of the services. if you increase spending by 10% you will improve services by 2% making the situation worse overall.

Financial planning is like navigation. If you know where you are and where you want to go, navigation isn't such a great problem. It's when you don't know the two points that it's difficult

The funny thing is we brought up this point when Thatcher wanted to sell it off.

Nothing can go wrong when everything has already gone wrong.

Honestly love your videos, you're brilliant at explaining these complex issues in a way that everyday people can understand them. I hadn't even considered Government wealth/debt in this context before!

I've just finished your book Gary. Brilliant read and so well written. I hope it leads lots of new people to this channel. Congratulations 🎊

Taxation is actually the biggest cost we all face, not rent or mortgage payments in fact. It’s the government…

Is the hat glued on

1.It's basically a game of Monopoly. 2. Make a law for housing a human right ( government pay fine if not done) 3. Taxation is theft. The rich avoid tax this is not immoral. 4. The middle class can by law stop paying taxes via Rome statute. 5. You don't explain compound interest and how to swap it in your favor. 6. Interest will drop as the government is broke and will have to print money to service the debt 7. Money goes where is treated best smart business types will leave the UK.

Gary this was a great video keep up the great work you are doing We need to get your message out to as many people as possible they really don’t know what’s at stake Hopefully your book will be a great success, huge respect to you ❤

A brilliant and crystal clear explanation of the main problem facing society. The only way the neoliberalism revolution of Thatcher and Regan led to growth was because a massive pulse of cash from state asset sales was sent through Western economies. Now we are all paying the price for renting those lost assets. Keep up the excellent work with these fantastic videos.

Tories dont believe in the public ownership of assets , and labour were suckered into that view too.

But how can a sovereign, currency-issuing Fed Govt ever run out of its own currency? Only the Fed Govts (of especially UK, USA, Australia etc) are Constitutionally authorised to *create* its own currency. Not the banks, not the rich, not corporations, and certainly *not* foreign banks. Any change to that fact requires changes to each country's Constitution, to remove the sole currency authorisation from Fed Govts and give it to other parties. And isnt the "national debt" just the sum total of untaxed $/£ etc circulating in each economy? Aka each respective country's entire domestic etc money supply? Dont the Fed Govts themselves actually *legislate* the 'powers' and privilages of central banks and other banks, corporations and the wealthy, ...in the first place? Meaning, that Fed Govts DO have the choice and the power to legislate differently, ...but simply *choose* not to? 🤔

The reason tax is going up whilst services are cut is because more of our taxes are going towards paying interest on the national debt (that have been used to increase benefits without raising tax), pension liabilities (state and civil service) and health care costs. At the same time boomers are reaching retirement age meaning a large chunk of the working population is retiring. The rich have gotten richer because asset prices have been inflated by government / central bank monetary expansion. Government is the problem and not the solution.

Interesting and thought-provoking. Added to my list of "obvious things that nobody - politicians, journalists, economists - seems to want to talk about.

Straight here from Full Disclosure with JOB. Big up Gary. Basically what you’re laying out here is a properly progressive taxation system. God only knows why Labour isn’t moving into the space.

I deal with many rich people here in the UK on a daily basis. The common theme is that many are already thinking of leaving the UK. Many have done so already. The only ones staying are here because they want their kids to grow up here, but all of them say that higher taxes would tip the balance towards them leaving. I ask this sincerely, what happens to the economy when the people who pay the most tax leave?

Spot on Gary ! Re-distribution of wealth, from poor to rich, taking back what we took from them after WW2 up until Thatcher. These politicians of both persuasions who harp on about tax cuts, are clueless. Taxes pay for infrastructure, services people need, especially in the poor areas. Any savings from tax cuts will be taken back in other ways, for example, your tax is cut, meaning you get an extra 20 quid in your wages, but then your bus doesn't turn up one day, because of cutbacks, meaning you have to get a taxi to work, costing, you guessed it, 20 quid. Don't be fooled, paying less tax is a con, people should be paying more tax not less, but getting something in return, like they used to pre 1979. Obviously those on low pay will bite the hand off of anyone who offers them a tax cut, because they need every penny, but tax cuts in this sense are just letting employers off, you should be paying better wages, and the taxpayer has to then shoulder the burden, because less tax in the coffers, mean less being spent on infrastructure and services. The best thing a Labour government could do to kickstart the economy is announce the building of a million council houses, not a million new houses, mostly unaffordable and built with private investment, that won't cure the housing crisis. This proves that Labour are working now for big business not people. I will say it again, why would politicians profiting from owning multiple homes, that they rent out, want to see council houses being built? it would drain them of tenants overnight. Maybe this is something you could talk about in a future Vlog Gary?.

Let's tell MPs we ain't voting for them until they fix wealth inequality!

Got an A for A Level in Economics now im getting knowledge at the Masters level for free!!! 😂😂😂 keep it up Gary

Great insights and excellent programme 👏 selling public assets has been one of greatest thefts from the public. All the utilities sold off. If they are going down the drain. The government has to bail them out. I believe in private enterprises but when things go wrong the government needs to take action and bring them back into public ownership.