[Javaman]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('thor', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Sixstrings', ' ')Taxing savings is ridiculous.

[Tyler_JC]

Why would anyone keep their money in Dutch banks if they have more than 20,000 Euros?

Has anyone ever actually paid that tax?

Switzerland is a mere phone call away...

Maybe the wealthy Dutch are gullible enough to sit back and get hosed by their government but America's wealthy aren't going to allow a 1.2% tax on a savings account that yields .2%.

Again, the talk of this kind of tax would encourage people to proactively send their money out of the country.

Unless this tax was made retroactive (which is unconstitutional and extremely unpopular), the money would never be taxed.

[IgnoranceIsBliss]

What about senior citizens who have all of their meager savings in the bank? (like my husband's 80 something year old grandparents)?

These folks are very trusting of banks, and might not even notice if their money was taxed.

[jasonraymondson]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('IgnoranceIsBliss', 'W')hat about senior citizens who have all of their meager savings in the bank? (like my husband's 80 something year old grandparents)?

These folks are very trusting of banks, and might not even notice if their money was taxed.

[Tyler_JC]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('IgnoranceIsBliss', 'W')hat about senior citizens who have all of their meager savings in the bank? (like my husband's 80 something year old grandparents)?

These folks are very trusting of banks, and might not even notice if their money was taxed.

[mattduke]

It's nice to know some things never change. Here is Bastiat discussing the common misconceptions about saving in 1850.
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'S')aving is voluntarily postponing until a later date our payment from society, in the form of equivalent services, for services previously rendered it. For example, a man may every day, from the time he is twenty until he is sixty, perform for his fellow men business and professional services equal, let us say, to four, while asking in return services equal only to three. In that case he is in the position of being able, in his old age, when he can no longer work, to receive from society payment for one-fourth of all his labor over the previous forty years.

The fact that his tokens of acknowledgment, which he has received and accumulated through the years, take the form of bills of exchange, promissory notes, bank notes, and specie, is an entirely secondary and nonessential consideration. It has reference only to the means of execution. It can change neither the nature nor the consequences of saving. The illusion created by the fact that money is involved is none the less an illusion, although nearly all of us fall victim to it.

Indeed, it is very difficult for us to resist the error of believing that the saver takes values out of circulation and, consequently, does a certain degree of harm to society.

[shady28]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Tyler_JC', 'I')'m speechless.

This is, perhaps, the dumbest proposal I've ever read in a financial publication.

And that includes the BUY BUY BUY TECH and "Why Homes Will Never Lose Value" crap.

Do you know what happens when you steal people's savings? They don't put money in the bank.

And what happens when there are no deposits in the banks?

[EnergyUnlimited]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('uNkNowN ElEmEnt', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'S')avings tax in UK is alive and well for many years.

[wisconsin_cur]

Government can also make it illegal to buy or sell gold (under the title of meddling) which would make it dangerous to try to use the savings.

I would love to make a bet on inflation by purchasing some gold, but I can not take the risk that trading in gold is suspended in some fashion.

[EnergyUnlimited]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('wisconsin_cur', 'G')overnment can also make it illegal to buy or sell gold (under the title of meddling) which would make it dangerous to try to use the savings.

I would love to make a bet on inflation by purchasing some gold, but I can not take the risk that trading in gold is suspended in some fashion.