The Dallas Mavericks owner today dips into his own archive to repost words that he first published in the lead-up to the 2008 election. Â He believes they still apply in talking about Obama vs. Romney and the never-ending debate about what should be taxed, and by how much:
Entrepreneurs who create something out of nothing don’t care what tax rates are. Bill Gates didn’t monitor the marginal tax rate when he dropped out of Harvard and started MicroSoft (btw, it was a ton higher than it is today). Michael Dell didn’t wonder what the capital gains tax was when he started PC’s Limited, and then grew it into Dell Computer. I doubt that any great business or invention started with a discussion or even a consideration of what the current or projected income or capital gains tax was or would be.
The impact of tax rates on productivity and development is something economists masturbate about, enterpreneurs don’t waste their time thinking about it. We have business to do.
Entrepreneurs live to be entrepreneurs. I have never had a discussion with anyone about starting a business that included tax rates. Ever. If anyone that wanted an investment from me made a point of discussing tax rates as an impact on their business, I wouldnt invest in them. Ever.
