Fareed Zakaria continues his amazing series of interviews on his CNN GPS show with Bill Gates.
Like Warren Buffett, a close friend of Gates, Gates will give away almost all of his wealth over the next decades via the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation which focuses on global health and education initiatives.
Gates supports “some” inheritance taxes because we are all beneficiaries of the education and stability provided by the US infrastructure.
His preference for foreign development investment seems to be based on the idea that the need is much greater there, the return on the charity giving is much greater, reducing infant mortality wll *decrease* birth rates [this is a profoundly important observation that is well documented but poorly reported – many think helping the poor tends to increase births when this is false]. They talked about the book “The Bottom BIllion”.
On the future of computing and the Internet:
Shape of computers will change. VIrtual wallpapers, tablet computing.
The whole economy is using software simulation, which makes development less expensive.
China as largest broadband market – probably for the rest of the century. He seemed to think India was unlikely to catch up to China.
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He’s focusing more now on how to create visibility for issues like malaria prevention.
When asked how he’d be remembered – as a software pioneer or philanthropist – Gates didn’t answer but I think the answer is increasingly clear. Gates more than any other person has brought a new era of Innovative huge scale development work that could turn back the tidal wave of poverty in our generation. He’s helping to make it not only fashionable, but somewhat obligatory for the rich to pay a lot more attention to those in need.
Joe Duck 
I find it fascinating, and refreshing, that Gates Jr, and even more so his father, Bill Gates Sr., are proponents of keeping some portion of the estate tax. I’ve heard Gates Sr. speak on this and he is very compelling. Among his arguments is those that have benefited the most from our system and can afford to give something back should give something back.
There is a good interview with Bill Sr. and Chuck Collins, the heir to the Oscar Meyer fortune, pointing out the many fallacies conservatives perpetuate about the topic here:
http://www.pbs.org/now/transcript/transcript_inheritance.html
They should make the inheritance voluntary then. Those that believe that can earmark it 🙂 in their wills.
Estate and inheritance taxes are an absolute form of double taxation and in some states the Estate taxes over history have run as high as 90%.
Another relevant element of the argument is the growing disparity between the wealthiest of the wealthy and the rest of us. Study after study show that the top 10% are experiencing far greater growth in their wealth than virtually everyone else, and that the middle class are getting squeezed out of existence:
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0414/p16s01-wmgn.html
and here:
http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/invest/extra/P143548.asp
As to Bush’s tax cuts and who they have benefited most?…the evidence on that is clear and is part of the upwelling of anger on the part of the American electorate. It’s “trickling down” to the wealthiest of the wealthy…Laffer’s theory, in my book and in the opinion of most mainstream economists, is a laugher:
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/1006/p16s01-wmgn.html
Hardly anybody pays the inheritance tax. I will give you the name of the greatest wealth destroyer of the middle class:
medicaid spend down
But go on harping about a tax that a tiny percentage of all Americans pay, and which has a multitude of avoidance strategies. Conservatives are masters of the smoke-and-mirrors game.
Inheritance – gigantic yawner great big meaningless nothingness.
JCH you are the one with smoke and mirrors…go back over the Freddie and Fannie facts I presented and show me which ones are incorrect.
There is no smoke and mirrors in those data points. It clearly shows a planned path of deceit and corruption among the Democrats.
Just like the Republicans before them when they get caught they don’t like it but alas the truth will come out and hopefully these people will be removed from office.
(5) I don’t know which polling you’re following, but all the ones I’m looking at suggest a sweeping change is coming, but not the one you’re looking for.
The only thing that bothers me about that is I do believe checks and balances are important. We saw from 2000-2006 what one party controlling all 3 legislative branches can lead to, and it certainly wasn’t encouraging.
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