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Scott Sumner makes a (mostly) interesting point here.
Bill Gates essentially taxed middle class consumers all over the developed world, and is giving almost all of the money to the disadvantaged in poor countries. That's something governments don't do, and yet for his "monopoly profits" he is despised by many on the left.Putting aside the weird shot at the left (should we really permit monopolies on the hope that the monopolist will eventually prove philanthropic with his gains? does anyone currently loathe Bill Gates?), that seems like a fair description of the situation. Gates, however, isn't quite the shadow taxer that Warren Buffet is: His decision to donate the vast majority of his fortune to the Gates Foundation amounts to a tax on wealthy investors on behalf of the developing world. And Steve Jobs? The guy has dedicated his life to further impoverishing struggling Africans. Bastard.
