Envy: the deadly sin of the left

Vilfredo Pareto (born in 1848) was an Italian economist and sociologist, who has been widely acclaimed. While his theories are still taught in universities, they are widely ignored by the current day Left. Pareto's most profound observation was that an economic change is an improvement and desirable, if it makes at least one person better off without making anyone worse off.

Contrast this gracious and logical attitude to individual economic success to the begrudgery and envy directed today at economically successful individuals. Such hostility is common amongst our leftist politicians. Instead of being applauded for their success, anyone with money should watch out because the Left will want to hit them with more and still more taxes.

You won't find a clearer example of envy that that professed by the Australian Greens.

"In a wealthy country like ours, everyone should be able to afford the basics: a home, food, and world-class health and education. Yet billionaires are making out like bandits – while everyone else is being squeezed. They're making on average $67,000 per hour (over 1,300 times the average hourly wage in Australia). It shouldn't be controversial: Gina Rinehart should not have $40.6 billion in her pocket while millions in this country are resorting to sleeping in tents and cars…..The Greens have a plan to make Australia's 150 billionaires pay an annual 10% tax on their net wealth".

Apart from fact that Australia does not have enough billionaires to fund the grand spending plans advocated by the Greens, and that appropriating the assets of (smart) high wealth individuals is easier said than done, such a move would be enormously destructive economically. Despite this, the Left rarely misses an opportunity to tax those seen as rich, though they tend to look after themselves and favoured groups (politicians, public servants, asylum seekers, Indigenous, and those on welfare).

The reality is that the Hancock dynasty (Lang and Gina) have contributed immensely to Australia and its economy, as did Lang's business partner, Peter Wright. What would be the tax revenue of the Commonwealth be without the contribution of the company taxes of our iron ore industry? Think of the number of high paying jobs in the industry, and the importance of iron ore royalties ($9.9 billion in 2024) to state revenue in WA.

The company Roy Hill Holdings alone paid $839 million in corporate tax, $551 million in state royalties and native title payments, $48 million in payroll and land tax, $1.8 billion to West Australian suppliers, $1 billion to other Australian suppliers, and $886 million in staff payments in 2024-25.

While these billionaire families have had their internal hiccups, they have overwhelmingly reinvested their profits back into their businesses, and Gina (in particular) must be credited with placing her companies in a far sounder financial position than she found them. Had her companies been in public ownership, there is no way that they would be in the strong position they are in today.

As far as I am concerned, Gina Reinhardt is entitled to live well. Australians have greatly benefitted from the spillover benefits of her success. As long as her companies prosper and she keeps reinvesting and supporting good causes, we are all better off.

The alternative, public ownership and management of businesses, has never worked because politicians and bureaucrats never manage other peoples' money well. Communist Eastern Europe was never able to come close to the living standards of capitalist Western Europe and suffered significant corruption. China was poor and backward under Mao.

In more recent years laisse faire America has experienced much faster economic growth than the more socialist EU. At present, due to rising public expenditures (much being squandered) and growing debt and taxes, Australia is firmly set on a socialist low per capita income growth path.

Lower incomes, higher taxes, rising debts, waste, and moral hazard are natural outcomes of leftist policies. High taxes are partly driven by envy, though more so by an uncontrolled urge to spend.