Nostr notes by Dave Neary

You're arguing that creating a tax system that increases the ...

2026-03-28T14:33:09Z

In reply to nevent1q…dgzd
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You're arguing that creating a tax system that increases the costs of running a taxi and makes taxis more expensive will discourage cars and encourage the use of public transport. You might be right - but if public transport does not fill the need (eg. if the quantity/quality/reliability of public transport is poor), all you will do is deprive people who would otherwise do that job of a livelihood and create a shortage of taxis.

3. Creation of incentives/expression of values - this is what ...

2026-03-28T14:30:36Z

In reply to nevent1q…ur7q
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3. Creation of incentives/expression of values - this is what you're alluding to. We tax tobacco and alcohol sales because as a society we see those as bad and want to discourage them. We subsidize behaviour that we want to encourage (spending on energy efficient homes or EVs over ICE vehicles).

We hit on a key point - fiscal policy is about a few different ...

2026-03-28T14:24:56Z

In reply to nevent1q…8p26
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We hit on a key point - fiscal policy is about a few different things:
1. Managing inflation - taxing people takes money out of the economy, Government spending puts money into the economy. Tax policy's first job is to prevent the economy from overheating.
2. Wealth redistribution - in the absence of intervention, wealth floats to the top. Progressive fiscal policy takes more from the wealthy and subsidizes the poor, for the good of society (1/2)

So people driving taxis, small coaches (under 15 people), Uber ...

2026-03-28T12:46:08Z

In reply to nevent1q…ncxq
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So people driving taxis, small coaches (under 15 people), Uber Eats/Door dash vehicles cannot deduct the costs of running their vehicles or the acquisition cost? Seems wrong.

The IRS could behave like health insurance companies and set ...

2026-03-27T20:32:40Z

In reply to nevent1q…rg22
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The IRS could behave like health insurance companies and set limits on how much you can deduct for different things - so much for vehicle leasing or purchase, so much per mile for gas, etc. But that becomes an anto-business tax policy very quickly & easily and adds massive filing burdens for SMBs.

Every country has rules about what you can claim as legitimate ...

2026-03-27T17:29:22Z

In reply to nevent1q…qe5y
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Every country has rules about what you can claim as legitimate business expenses - clearly gas and diesel for delivery vehicles and work vans is a legitimate business expense, but things like nice trucks, computers, etc. are often fully deduced from the gross while the company could fulfill the functional need with something cheaper.

Businesses have costs, and those costs of doing business are ...

2026-03-27T17:13:23Z

In reply to nevent1q…hjnv
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Businesses have costs, and those costs of doing business are deduced from gross revenue - taxes are paid on profits, not revenues. Business owners sometimes spend money from their profits on nice things that they don't strictly need, in order to reduce taxable profits, as long as they can claim the nice things as legitimate business expenses.

I think they're legal in the EU. Expensive to fill up, ...

2026-03-27T08:03:22Z

In reply to nevent1q…jccl
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I think they're legal in the EU. Expensive to fill up, heavily taxed, difficult to park, a bit wide for the roads, but street legal.

I miss the decentralized world. We used to have individual ...

2026-02-07T15:08:46Z

I miss the decentralized world. We used to have individual WordPress powered blogs, with aggregators of our favorite content allowing us to filter. Now we have Medium, LinkedIn, and Facebook posts that get lost in a flood of algorithm-dominated posts. I've debated restarting a personal blog. But I don't know how I would get people to read it. Are RSS, Atom, and aggregators still a thing?

That said, the Irish government seems to have fully embraced a ...

2026-01-17T21:48:10Z

In reply to nevent1q…fjpn
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That said, the Irish government seems to have fully embraced a corporatocracy identity at this point, and has too much to lose in changing it. The election of people like Mary Robinson, Michel D, and Catherine Connolly as President in our only nationwide election, and the steady state of 10-20 independent TDA over the past 20 years, suggests that the Irish public is not aligned with that.

You're not wrong. At the time it felt like the EU dictating ...

2026-01-17T21:40:09Z

In reply to nevent1q…s89y
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You're not wrong. At the time it felt like the EU dictating domestic policy - the kind of thing Farage and his ilk take as evidence of EU intrusion on national sovereignty.

That's not how the Irish government would characterize it - ...

2026-01-17T17:30:47Z

In reply to nevent1q…wng5
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That's not how the Irish government would characterize it - the EU found that Ireland's tax code was in breach of EU competition rules, and their treaty commitments. They were ordered to collect taxes that they had not asked for.

This wasn't the only thing they did. They made college free ...

2026-01-17T15:37:19Z

In reply to nevent1q…w5tv
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This wasn't the only thing they did. They made college free to ensure a well educated young professional class, and invested in fiber optics for telecommunications backbone. They were also getting a lot of EU Development Funds to build roads, ports, and airports, and renovate inner cities. And Michael D. Higgins, as Minister for Culture and the Gaeltacht gave sweetheart deals to movie studios for movies like Braveheart and Saving Private Ryan to raise Ireland's profile.

What did I miss? Who called attention to something they would ...

2025-10-24T13:42:42Z

In reply to nevent1q…3jje
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What did I miss? Who called attention to something they would rather have kept quiet?

The 2017 paper @npub1fdr…lvhs refers to, I believe, was also ...

2025-06-29T20:59:25Z

The 2017 paper Cory Doctorow (npub1fdr…lvhs) refers to, I believe, was also cited in Lawrence Lessig (npub1pfd…9dtt)'s book "They Do Not Represent Us" - this is a pretty widely studied thing! We should be more outraged about this, but the outrage is starting to show. https://pluralistic.net/2025/06/28/mamdani/

Would you recommend it? I quite liked "The Obstacle is the ...

2025-06-14T01:20:25Z

In reply to nevent1q…fy7u
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Would you recommend it? I quite liked "The Obstacle is the Way", which refers to it extensively.

Do you still have the hat too?

2024-09-08T01:13:55Z

In reply to nevent1q…lzqa
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Do you still have the hat too?

@npub1m7m…2e7k I came across this photo of you from a couple of ...

2024-09-07T21:27:31Z

Jan Wildeboer 😷:krulorange: (npub1m7m…2e7k) I came across this photo of you from a couple of years ago! (Linuxdays.ch 2007)

Michelle Obama is killing it. "Who's going to tell him, ...

2024-08-21T02:54:54Z

Michelle Obama is killing it. "Who's going to tell him, maybe this job he is trying to get is one of those Black jobs?" Oh. My. God. 👏