巴菲特：别再纵容超级富豪

时间：2011年8月14日

来源：[New York Times](https://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/15/opinion/stop-coddling-the-super-rich.html)

原文标题：Stop Coddling the Super-Rich

奥马哈

Omaha

我们的领导人要求“共同牺牲”。但是当他们真的这么做的时候，他们没有找我。我问了我的超级富有的朋友，他们的生活发生了什么变化。他们说没有受到任何影响。

OUR leaders have asked for “shared sacrifice.” But when they did the asking, they spared me. I checked with my mega-rich friends to learn what pain they were expecting. They, too, were left untouched.

当穷人和中产阶级在阿富汗为我们而战，当大多数美国人努力维持生计时，我们这些超级富豪继续享受我们非凡的税收优惠。我们中的一些人是投资经理，每天的劳动收入高达数十亿美元，但却被允许将我们的收入归类为“承担利益”，从而享受15%的优惠税率。还有一些人持有10分钟的股指期货，他们60%的收益按15%的税率征税，就好像他们是长期投资者一样。

While the poor and middle class fight for us in Afghanistan, and while most Americans struggle to make ends meet, we mega-rich continue to get our extraordinary tax breaks. Some of us are investment managers who earn billions from our daily labors but are allowed to classify our income as “carried interest,” thereby getting a bargain 15 percent tax rate. Others own stock index futures for 10 minutes and have 60 percent of their gain taxed at 15 percent, as if they’d been long-term investors.

这些和其他的恩惠都是由华盛顿的立法者们赐予我们的，他们觉得有必要保护我们，就好像我们是斑点猫头鹰或者其他什么濒危物种一样。有高位的朋友真好。

These and other blessings are showered upon us by legislators in Washington who feel compelled to protect us, much as if we were spotted owls or some other endangered species. It’s nice to have friends in high places.

去年我缴纳的联邦税款——包括我自己支付的所得税和代我支付的工资税——是6,938,744美元。这听起来是一大笔钱。但我所缴纳的只占我的应纳税收入的17.4%，而且这实际上是我们办公室里其他20个人中缴纳的百分比最低的。他们的税负从33%到41%，平均为36%。

Last year my federal tax bill — the income tax I paid, as well as payroll taxes paid by me and on my behalf — was $6,938,744. That sounds like a lot of money. But what I paid was only 17.4 percent of my taxable income — and that’s actually a lower percentage than was paid by any of the other 20 people in our office. Their tax burdens ranged from 33 percent to 41 percent and averaged 36 percent.

如果你是用钱赚钱，就像我的一些超级富有的朋友们那样，你的税率可能比我的低一点。但是如果你是靠工作赚钱，你的税率肯定会超过我的——很可能超过很多。

If you make money with money, as some of my super-rich friends do, your percentage may be a bit lower than mine. But if you earn money from a job, your percentage will surely exceed mine — most likely by a lot.

要理解为什么，你需要考察政府收入的来源。去年，这些收入中大约80%来自个人所得税和工资税。超级富豪们大部分收入的所得税率只有15%，但几乎不用交工资税。而中产阶级的情况则不同：他们通常处于15%和25%的所得税档，而且还要承担沉重的工资税。

To understand why, you need to examine the sources of government revenue. Last year about 80 percent of these revenues came from personal income taxes and payroll taxes. The mega-rich pay income taxes at a rate of 15 percent on most of their earnings but pay practically nothing in payroll taxes. It’s a different story for the middle class: typically, they fall into the 15 percent and 25 percent income tax brackets, and then are hit with heavy payroll taxes to boot.

回到20世纪80年代和90年代，富人的税率要高得多，而我的税率处于中等水平。根据我有时听到的一种理论，我应该大发脾气，拒绝投资，因为资本利得和股息的税率太高了。

Back in the 1980s and 1990s, tax rates for the rich were far higher, and my percentage rate was in the middle of the pack. According to a theory I sometimes hear, I should have thrown a fit and refused to invest because of the elevated tax rates on capital gains and dividends.

我没有拒绝，其他人也没有。我和投资者合作了60年，我还没有见过任何人——即使在1976-77年资本利得税率为39.9%的时候——因为潜在收益的税率而放弃一个明智的投资。人们投资是为了赚钱，潜在的税收从来没有吓跑过他们。对于那些认为更高的税率会伤害就业创造的人，我想指出，在1980年到2000年之间，净增加了近4000万个工作岗位。你知道从那以后发生了什么：更低的税率和更低的就业创造。

I didn’t refuse, nor did others. I have worked with investors for 60 years and I have yet to see anyone — not even when capital gains rates were 39.9 percent in 1976-77 — shy away from a sensible investment because of the tax rate on the potential gain. People invest to make money, and potential taxes have never scared them off. And to those who argue that higher rates hurt job creation, I would note that a net of nearly 40 million jobs were added between 1980 and 2000. You know what’s happened since then: lower tax rates and far lower job creation.

自1992年以来，美国国税局（I.R.S.）根据报告最高收入的400名美国人的纳税申报单编制了数据。1992年，最高收入的400人的应纳税收入总额为169亿美元，他们在这笔收入上缴纳了29.2%的联邦税。2008年，最高收入的400人的应纳税收入总额飙升到909亿美元——平均每人达到惊人的2.274亿美元——但他们缴纳的税率却降至21.5%。

Since 1992, the I.R.S. has compiled data from the returns of the 400 Americans reporting the largest income. In 1992, the top 400 had aggregate taxable income of $16.9 billion and paid federal taxes of 29.2 percent on that sum. In 2008, the aggregate income of the highest 400 had soared to $90.9 billion — a staggering $227.4 million on average — but the rate paid had fallen to 21.5 percent.

我在这里提到的税收只包括联邦所得税，但你可以肯定的是，对于这400人来说，任何工资税都与收入相比微不足道。事实上，2008年的400人中有88人没有报告任何工资，但他们每个人都报告了资本收益。我的一些同胞可能不喜欢工作，但他们都喜欢投资。（我可以理解。）

The taxes I refer to here include only federal income tax, but you can be sure that any payroll tax for the 400 was inconsequential compared to income. In fact, 88 of the 400 in 2008 reported no wages at all, though every one of them reported capital gains. Some of my brethren may shun work but they all like to invest. (I can relate to that.)

我很了解许多超级富豪，他们大多数都是非常正派的人。他们热爱美国，感激这个国家给予他们的机会。许多人加入了“捐赠誓言”，承诺将他们的大部分财富用于慈善事业。大多数人也不介意被告知要多缴税，尤其是当他们的许多同胞真正遭受苦难时。

I know well many of the mega-rich and, by and large, they are very decent people. They love America and appreciate the opportunity this country has given them. Many have joined the Giving Pledge, promising to give most of their wealth to philanthropy. Most wouldn’t mind being told to pay more in taxes as well, particularly when so many of their fellow citizens are truly suffering.

十二名国会议员将很快承担重新安排我们国家财政的重要工作。他们被指示制定一个计划，将10年的赤字至少减少1.5万亿美元。然而，至关重要的是，他们要做的远不止于此。美国人正在迅速失去对国会处理我们国家财政问题的能力的信心。只有立即、真实和非常实质性的行动才能防止这种怀疑变成绝望。这种感觉可以创造出自己的现实。

Twelve members of Congress will soon take on the crucial job of rearranging our country’s finances. They’ve been instructed to devise a plan that reduces the 10-year deficit by at least $1.5 trillion. It’s vital, however, that they achieve far more than that. Americans are rapidly losing faith in the ability of Congress to deal with our country’s fiscal problems. Only action that is immediate, real and very substantial will prevent that doubt from morphing into hopelessness. That feeling can create its own reality.

这12个人的首要任务是削减一些即使是富裕的美国也无法兑现的未来承诺。这里必须节省大量资金。然后，这12个人应该转向收入问题。我会保持99.7%的纳税人的税率不变，并继续当前对雇员缴纳的工资税的2个百分点的减免。这种减免有助于穷人和中产阶级，他们需要尽可能多的优惠。

Job one for the 12 is to pare down some future promises that even a rich America can’t fulfill. Big money must be saved here. The 12 should then turn to the issue of revenues. I would leave rates for 99.7 percent of taxpayers unchanged and continue the current 2-percentage-point reduction in the employee contribution to the payroll tax. This cut helps the poor and the middle class, who need every break they can get.

但是对于那些收入超过100万美元的人——2009年有236883个这样的家庭——我会立即提高超过100万美元的应纳税所得额的税率，当然，这包括股息和资本利得。而对于那些收入超过1000万美元的人——2009年有8274个——我建议再增加一点税率。

But for those making more than $1 million — there were 236,883 such households in 2009 — I would raise rates immediately on taxable income in excess of $1 million, including, of course, dividends and capital gains. And for those who make $10 million or more — there were 8,274 in 2009 — I would suggest an additional increase in rate.

我和我的朋友们已经被一个偏好亿万富翁的国会娇惯了够久了。是时候让我们的政府认真对待共同的牺牲了。

My friends and I have been coddled long enough by a billionaire-friendly Congress. It’s time for our government to get serious about shared sacrifice.