Most people think that the problem with oil-producing nations is a tendency for all the profits from those enterprises to flow to a relatively few oligarchs in control of those countries and that they should be "socialized" and distributed to the common people instead.
First, risk takers need to be rewarded, or they are not going to search for oil, take a risk, and especially in the early days, huge fortunes were lost by people like E. Marland and Tom Slick. The depression bankrupted many of the wildcatters of the era.
The problem with socializing oil is that nothing changes except there is no risk taking. The socialist simply steal the work of the risk takers, then keep it for them and their cronies. But people think they deserve part of it. And governments do extract a huge chunk of that "profit" in the form of property taxes, ad valorem taxes, severance taxes, environmental taxes, and income taxes. Though only a passive mineral rights owner, I pay all of the above taxes on my minerals. Do my minerals need police protection? Fire protection? And in Colorado, mineral rights assessment ratios are 12x the rates for residential properties.
Current efforts in California and Colorado, for example, have actually reduced the investment in energy in those states respectively. Can we not admit that our wealth as a nation comes from only two source - it is extracted from the ground as either agriculture, mining, extracting oil, gold, lithium, whatever - and then what we do with that energy and materials.
The agents of production are LAND, LABOR, CAPITAL AND MANAGEMENT (coordination). Marx proposed that LABOR deserved the most, yet without the other three, labor is pointless. It is necessarily the least important as its success depends upon the other 3. This is the problem with balancing capitalism with social good.
Why are Billionaires leaving California in fear of the Billionaires tax? Is it because they cannot "afford" 5% of their wealth? Is it because they feel it is unfair? Is it because they provide most of the taxes in the USA anyway? Or, is the proposed Billioinaires Tax merely a manifestation of resentment by people who are less fortunate? As a people we are comfortable and blessed. We don't need a billion dollars to be comfortable. And, as Jesus said long ago, "The poor will be with you always." Time and chance taketh us all.
community for the discussion of real estate appraisal. Register a free account to be able to post and unlock additional forums and features.
