One for the politicians
Much has been made of how evil bankers are. Nasty, greedy sorts who privatise their massive gains, socialise their losses and do their best not to pay tax. Well, to an extent that is clearly true and the current government has made a well-intentioned attempt to try and moderate their behaviour by taxing their bonuses at source since they are clearly unwilling to behave themselves
It does occur to me though that the problem is not restricted to bankers. There are others who are decimating their industries with ridiculous wage demands whilst their employers struggle and are bailed out by the common man. Premiership footballers spring to mind, I am sure you can all come up with others.
The problem is though that by taxing these people heavily enough to retrieve some return for those upon whose efforts their wealth and security ultimately rests one risks driving them abroad. This, for those groups is a good thing. Sure, we'd lose out but we'd adjust and I suspect there are plenty of people who would/will tolerate the higher taxes being suggested without leaving. The problem is that in doing this one also collects entrepreneurs who create jobs and employ people and these people need to be kept and deserve to be richly rewarded as they play an important part in the economy.
So, how about a tax system that, for high earners (say over £150K) gives you tax breaks based upon how many people you directly employ (and supply employer tax returns for)? That way, the people who create businesses get something out of it, those who simply ride on the coat tails of others do not.
I know its simplistic, so any suggestions to refine it or shoot it down are welcome.
Thoughts?