James Simons made $1.7 billion last year.

Among the top 25 hedge fund managers, the average compensation last year was $570 million.

Much of that income may not be taxed anytime soon: "A lot of the hedge fund managers earning the astronomical paychecks making headlines these days are able to postpone paying taxes on much of that income for 10 years or more."

Maybe some of it won't be taxed at all.

Related: Keeping Social Security solvent seems quite doable.

UPDATE: Percy Walker has more.

Comments

[Bubba]

I find it interesting that Atrios chooses to comment only on SS, while ignoring the much larger and much more urgent problem found in Medicare.

I find it tiring that the same old bromide of "raising taxes" is the only solution he seems willing to talk about.

I find it astounding that a 12 percent tax is passed off as "doable".

And he has the nerve to complain about Samuelson.....

[Ed Cone]

Bubba: "I find it tiring that the same old bromide of 'raising taxes' is the only solution [Atrios] seems willing to talk about."

Atrios: "Social Security could be brought into actuarial balance over the next 75 years in various ways, including an immediate increase of 16 percent in payroll tax revenues or an immediate reduction in benefits of 13 percent or some combination of the two." [emphasis added for Bubba]

[Bubba]

No, Ed.

Atrios did NOT say that. The report said that.

What he said was this:

"Roughly, this would require increasing both the employee and employer share of the tax from 6.2% to 7.05% (there might be some employment/wage impacts of such a change so this is a rough take)."

He made no mention of a reduction in benefits.

[Percy Walker]

If the feds get too carried away with this soak the hedge fund managers movement, we can always move to London.

[Ed Cone]

Atrios quoted that section of the report as an example of the easy fixability of SS. The quote is most of the post. Silly Bubba.

[Bubba]

Silly Ed:

Misattributing the quote, just like Connie on the Schuler thread.

Atrios never quoted those words. He excerpted them from the report.

Here's what you posted, pal:

**** Atrios: "Social Security could be brought into actuarial balance over the next 75 years in various ways, including an immediate increase of 16 percent in payroll tax revenues or an immediate reduction in benefits of 13 percent or some combination of the two." ****

It's clearly an attribution to Atrios. Problem is, those are not his words.

And, as well we know, Atrios did not mention the second part of the "equation" in his actual comment.

I wonder why?

Are you and Connie teaming up as a writing duo now?

[Percy Walker]

By the way, I said in a comment here a couple of weeks ago that Jim Simons should have received the Nobel Prize that Myron Scholes received. (Ed, can you get one of your staff to find the link.) The Nobel Prize committee should be embarrassed. Jim Simons pulls in almost two billion while Scholes is probably turning tricks at a rest stop off the Jersey Turnpike.