Swamp & Got Rocks for Kids & Capitalism

Letter to Ephesians: “Trump Savings Accounts” were created to encourage baby boomers to pass on their wealth to college bound kids. No. 47’s brainstorm can entail tax complications. But aren’t “there far worse causes than giving kids a stake in capitalism”?

The WSJ’s editorial board thinks so. And, not just because Michael and Susan Dell are jumping in to donate $6.25 billion to the newly created government program via the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.” The couple’s unprecedented largess ($250 per person?) is in support of the new savings accounts that are to come with $1,000 per person seed money; the financial shot in the arm plus interest in safe investments over the years will help nearly 25 million American children 18 & over get a jump on life. As with all new government programs, the critics are (rightly) warning of potential tax complications for parents, contributing friends and beneficiaries alike. Yet, as usual, those devilish details can & will be sorted out in the coming weeks & years.

What the newspaper’s editors smartly noticed is the messaging irrepressibly tied to the IDEA behind the savings accounts: Regardless of concerns, “at least the money will at first be invested in the private economy and young people will get from an early age a lesson in capitalism & watching their assets grow. Over time the accounts might become large enough to use for tuition, a home down payment, or a head start on retirement. As for billionaires, the idea of donating money to give young people a stake in the American economy beats a guilt-ridden political panic to endorse higher taxes – which would hit the middle class in any case. That’s the recourse of many billionaires, who get rich as capitalists but then support [progressive/socialist] policies that make it harder for others to become rich.”

Davd Soul