A deceased childless businesswoman inherits a house in Düsseldorf from her sister. Value: €1,000,000 Inheritance tax: €245,125 To pay the tax, the sister must sell the house. The sale entails the purchaser paying a real estate transfer tax of €65,000. This brings the total tax payable to €310,125. This applies to a house purchased with fully taxable funds and for which real estate tax was paid annually.

Any debate between #core30 and #bip110 is pointless because they lack common fundamental concepts and principles. The words are similar, but the content is different. Fortunately, there is a reality that doesn't depend on our intellectual acrobatics. It will decide everything. #bitcoin

- You: "What happens if my bank collapses?" - Government: "Bail-ins are the new policy." - You: "What's a bail-in?" - Government: "Depositors help rescue the bank." - You: "With what?" - Government: "Their deposits." - You: "You'd take MY money to save the bank that lost it?" - Government: "Ask Cyprus how it works."

Black Rock and Wallstreet funding developers = Yay! The FBI director giving a speech at the #Bitcoin Conference while a developer is in jail = Whatever. Your node doesn't matter = Neutrality. Bitcoin is not money, use STRC as credit = Free money glitch. Spam (introduced by Taproot) is necessary to keep Bitcoin secure = Say no to censorship. Stablecoins being mentioned more than Bitcoin itself at Bitcoin conferences = Bullish adoption. Treasury companies extracting billions using Bitcoin as a narrative = Institutions will pump my bags, whatever. Are you awake yet, Bitcoiner?

- You: "My bank made record profits this year." - #Bank: "Great news!" - You: "During a cost of living crisis?" - Bank: "High interest rates are good for banks." - You: "The rates that doubled my mortgage?" - Bank: "Those, yes." - You: "So my crisis is your record quarter?" - Bank: "We value you as a customer."

- You: "My costs went up 15%." - #Government: "Inflation is only 3%." - You: "Rent, food, power. All up 15%." - Government: "We don't weight those heavily." - You: "What do you weight?" - Government: "Flatscreen TVs got cheaper." - You: "I can't eat a flatscreen." - Government: "You're not an economist." #money #economy

- You: "I'd like to withdraw my money." - Bank: "Why? That's suspicious." - You: "It's MY money." - Bank: "Large withdrawals must be reported." - You: "So I can't freely use my own money?" - Bank: "It's for your protection." - You: "Protection from what?" - Bank: "From having your own money."

- You: "My stocks went up 10%." - Government: "Congratulations! That's taxable." - You: "But inflation was 8%. I only really gained 2%." - Government: "We tax the full 10%." - You: "You tax the inflation you created?" - Government: "Capital gains are capital gains." - You: "So you profit from debasing my money twice?" - Government: "You're not an economist."

- You: "I paid off my house." - Government: "Congratulations!" - You: "So I own it now?" - Government: "As long as you pay property tax." - You: "And if I stop?" - Government: "We take the house." - You: "So I'm renting... from you... forever?" - Government: "You're not an economist."

- You: "I missed one mortgage payment." - Bank: "Late fee. Credit score destroyed." - You: "What happens if YOU run out of money?" - Bank: "The government saves us." - You: "With what money?" - Bank: "Yours." - You: "So I bail you out, but you fine me?" - Bank: "You're not an economist."

- You: "I made a 200 dollar math error on my taxes." - Government: "Audit. Penalties. Interest." - You: "The Pentagon failed its audit." - Government: "Sixth year in a row, yes." - You: "Trillions unaccounted for." - Government: "Accounting is complicated." - You: "That's what I said!" - Government: "You're not an economist."

- You: "I got a raise to keep up with inflation." - Government: "Congratulations! New tax bracket." - You: "But I can't buy more than before." - Government: "Your income went up." - You: "Only on paper. You printed the paper." - Government: "The brackets don't adjust for that." - You: "Convenient." - Government: "You're not an economist."

- You: "What backs the dollar?" - Government: "The full faith and credit of the government." - You: "What does that mean?" - Government: "Trust." - You: "Trust in what?" - Government: "That we won't print too much." - You: "Have you ever kept that promise?" - Government: "You're not an economist."

#bitcoin

#bitcoin

Satoshi's system wasn't perfect and overlooked one key problem: the governance and funding of #Bitcoin software development. Miners and nodes have their own incentives. But the incentives of Bitcoin #Core developers are unclear, leading to conflicts of interest and constant warfare.

A poor farmer lovingly tended his vineyard in the Gironde. After much toil and effort, he finally succeeded in harvesting enough grapes to produce a bottle of wine, and he forgot that every drop of this precious beverage cost him a drop of sweat on his forehead. "I'll sell it," he told his wife, "and with the proceeds I'll buy some thread with which to sew our daughter's dowry." The honest farmer goes into town and meets a Belgian and an Englishman. The Belgian says to him, "Give me your bottle of wine, and I'll give you fifteen skeins of thread in exchange." The Englishman replies, "Give me your wine, and I'll give you twenty skeins of thread, because we Englishmen buy yarn cheaper than the Belgians." But the customs officer standing nearby said: "My dear sir, trade with the Belgian if you wish, but it is my duty to forbid you to trade with the Englishman." "What!" said the peasant, "you want me to settle for fifteen skeins of Brussels thread when I can get twenty skeins of Manchester?" "Of course! Don't you see that France would be a loser if you received twenty skeins instead of fifteen?" "I find it difficult to understand," replied the winemaker. "And I find it difficult to explain," countered the customs officer, "but it is true, because all deputies, ministers, and publicists agree that the more a people receive in exchange for a given quantity of their goods, the poorer they become." So he has to trade with the Belgian. The villager's daughters sewed only three-quarters of the dowry, and the good man, her father, still asks himself: how come we are ruined, getting four instead of three, and why is the one who has three dozen napkins richer than the one who has four? #economy #libertarian