Rayhan's Ideas

Dear all,

I do not presume to be, at the age of 29, an expert on anything. I am, however, passionate on the topic of education. I have a kid brother, Goodoo, who is the same age as most on this team. I constantly attract the ire of my own parents when I tell them they don't know what they are doing when they send Goodoo to school and expect him to gain all the knowledge and skills he needs. My problem is based in that he cannot make decisions, cannot process information and is mostly a parrot for whatever companies market his way - he loves all things Apple, for example. I often take this as a challenge to try and extract some intelligent thought from him by asking why he likes Apple products. Based on his responses I challenge what he "knows as fact". The Apple example is that products "just work", when often they don't. It makes him think. For all of three seconds. Then he turns back to the TV.

I love football, I love learning and I like to help others. So coaching your kids fulfils my hope to be (actually) useful to my own kids one day. 

I have a problem though, and it is the same as that with my little brother: getting these kids to be intelligent about what they hear, see and do. To be curious, to be hungry and, without realising it, to keep the end goal in sight. (there are times when the boys questions my decisions on strategy and even what we are doing in training - nothing makes me happier than those moments).

Mistakes, slips, falls, scoring, missing, losing the ball, executing a 20 pass move are all expected and great as learning. What they all DO is great. I cannot ever complain about a kid that makes a decision to do something.

I need help from parents in setting the expectations for your boys that making decisions is a great thing. Whether that decision was good or bad is irrelevant. They are kids, they have time on their side and will learn. More importantly, by making decisions they will learn faster. Explaining all that to them will probably not make any sense to them, but it is what I have to find a way of demonstrating.

If there is one message I would like some help in reinforcing, it would be: Don't be afraid. Don't be afraid to make a mistake, to miss, to mess up. If you lose the fear, you gain the opportunity to make great things happen. 

It is that fear that holds us all back. It is strange, to me, that in the 21st century where change is more normal than not, people are still afraid of the basic concept of changing what they do.

This excerpt from a Sean Parker interview is great, and is exactly what my thoughts are on teaching kids to reason for themselves (which is the main principle behind The Best School in the World). This is in response to how he has an intelligent opinion on so many different topics:

Access to information on the internet; literally anything you want to know, from any perspective, is available. The way to take advantage of that is to teach kids how to learn differently. Kids aren't being taught to learn in an environment where information is provided in a non-linear fashion and not condensed into a textbook (an expensive textbook) that has to be taught in a classroom environment. But it requires a different kind of thinking, it requires constant scepticism. You have to second-guess every piece of information you come in contact with, but what you quickly realise about second-guessing is that second-guessing your own conclusions of what you have just read is the scientific method. Second-guessing information is basically the same process that we go through when we form a hypothesis and try to invalidate it. So if you could teach more of the population to take advantage of these tools. I read alot, I just read in a very unconventional way; I read and consume all media operating on the assumption that it is probably distorted and it is certainly an opinion. Even if it is a scientific paper on PubMed, I am aware of the political and sort of social factors that would lead information to be represented in one way or another and taking that context into consideration you can come to better judgements about what information is good and what information is bad.

The government is forecast to raise £340bn from National Insurance, Capital Gains Tax, Corporation Tax and Income Tax.

Each of these taxes is complex, inefficient and bad for people/business.

What we need is lower rates of tax, that are more fair and easy to collect.

If we replace all four of NI, CGT, CT and IT with two ultra low rate taxes of 3% on income and non-depreciating assets*, we can raise £314bn.

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The result of these two taxes would be:

- more money for employers and the middle class

- less admin and less revenue for expensive accountants and advisors

- the top 2% paying their fair share of tax (i.e. more than they pay now)

- no way of avoiding tax (looking at you Vodafone, Starbucks, Amazon, Google, et al)

- encouraging those who are 'sitting on' assets to become economically active (empty homes, expensive jewellery and derelict land would be the hardest hit)

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You can see the workings for this proposal here: http://rayhano.com/post/30672762834/solving-the-uks-tax-problem

And the initial intention with that spawned the idea here: http://rayhano.com/post/14531909143/wealth-the-missing-tax-because-it-is-fair

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There is one group who this proposal would be a problem for: the elderly (those with a home and little/no income).

We, as a society, have a moral obligation to our elders. Therefore HMRC should ensure that none of these people pay tax (and are not stressed out with the prospect of being charged tax on their sole home).

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There is another problem with implementing this tax: a short term spike in inflation. My suggestion to help counteract this would be a dual approach of government building a quick glut of social housing and constricting the money supply to temper the short-term effects of putting so much extra money in the pockets of the middle class (who would likely spend most of what they earn).

Much more needs to be done, like reducing government spending, reforming elections (why is it not compulsory to vote?!) and MPs being truly transparent in their dealings.

But hey, you have to start somewhere, and fairer tax to help boost the economy is as good a place as any.

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Just to reiterate: Want more confidence and spending? Put money in the pockets of the middle class but removing NI, IT, CGT and CT and replacing these taxes with a flat 3% tax on income/revenue and non-depreciating assets.

It is worth noting that putting out a policy suggestion is 10% of the solution. The rest is leadership, deal-making, inspiring and persuading others. We have a long way to go.

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Either the other screen has the Instant app installed and just enters the 4 digit code to receive the file, or navigates to the Instant website, ala Pult, to enter the code and download the file.

A browser extension that beautifies all websites you visit.

You can click reload to get a better interpretation and favourite those you love (which are then served earlier to others).

The crowd-sourced data in the cloud learns and can do more as time goes on.

Learns over time (stores matches to cross reference - need to store certain key characteristics of each site to develop patterns that work and don't work).

A suggestion by one of the tutors was: *taking other website's stylesheets and applying them randomly. 

  2. Why did you go for Vice and not President?

  I wanted to provide a service and help instill a community spirit, rather than be important and do the impossible task of trying to represent 23,000 very different people, most of whom don’t really want to be represented, even if they’re shown how much it can benefit them…so the sports and societies and finance side of my role allowed me to try and shape the social future at UoW and also gave me time to work on the million and one projects that I dream up…like the shuttle service, getting in a marketing dept and an intercampus sports competition

  3. How is your workload? Do you find it has taken over your life?

  My workload is very heavy, because that is the way I chose. I was warned over and over again by not only everyone in the SU (who knew) but also university senior management. I knew I’d be giving up my life this year. I’ll be honest…at times it has been frustrating. I’ve tried twice to start a relationship and both times failed because of how much pressure I’ve put on myself to perform. I’ve tried to make sure that there is the staffing support in place next year so that the person that takes over from me doesn’t have to sacrifice their life, yet can achieve more than I have done. I had no handover and I’m the only sabbatical without any staff support….hopefully by the end of the year, the VP Activities will have a lot more admin support and a more defined role of fun and policy, rather than running around trying to do everything themselves. Right now, my life is the SU, and I kinda like it and kinda despise it…but that’s my own fault.

  4. Roughly how many days/hours are you at university?

  I spend around 10-12 hours in the office or in meetings, per day, and maybe a further few hours (some days a week) making sure I attend the social events and talk to people and sit and listen to complaints…it’s really the most satisfying part of the job….just listening to people complain….when you work so hard, and you meet some of the few people that ACTUALLY care….it leaves a smile on your face….even if they’re being personal. I try and work Sundays so that my desk is clear for the week…so on average upwards of 70 hours a week.

  5. Do you feel you have been able to make constructive changes?

  This is a difficult question to answer, because it all depends on the finish. I’ve run around building links, being honest and upsetting people, all to just get people to notice, get off their asses and help put in structures that will make for an easier, more efficient and fun future. The only way I’ll know if the changes I’ve made are constructive is if next year’s lot are inane, yet still achieve a lot. But hopefully the people elected this year will be passionate, intelligent and considerate of everyone around them, will listen to our handovers and make sure they focus their ideas and go through with them…We’ll see, but I’d like to think a lot of things this year will pan out to be incredibly constructive. The elections will also be a gauge of how constructive we’ve been…the one thing that annoys me is our lack of communication with our own members. If the extra Freshers’ Fair, the ReFreshers’ Fairs and all the other daft ideas I’ve come out with make people take notice, even if in anger, then yup, I’ve made a constructive change.

  6. How do you feel about the position changes?

  The Sabbatical positions haven’t really changed at all…I can’t express how much that annoys me. We worked so hard with the sole aim of making things easier on the people that take over next year…and the change that would have made the most difference is taking away the shit from their jobs and giving students the positions they ACTUALLY run for. We, as sabbaticals are trustees, which in short means we are responsible for the financial integrity of the SU…it’s way too much responsibility for students who have no such experience. I wanted to strip that away, get the staff support structure in and leave the Sabbs with FOCUSED positions so they could work on a few things each and do VERY well, instead of trying to work on everything and struggling to get a few half decent results. The year isn’t over yet, so will still be trying to tweak things to make it for next year’s lot.

  The part time position change to Campus Reps is brilliant progress. It’ll make the world of difference next year. And the Editor of the Smoke being independent will also be a revelation. So on those counts, I feel very happy.

  7. Is the student union fun to work for or much harder than you expected?

  Much harder than I expected. As I and the other three trustees are the ones that get sued for any mistakes, it’s amazing how little power we had to make positive changes, how much opposition there is from staff to change and provide a service (the bar staff have been exemplary though) and how much you can get caught in the politics of such a small organisation. If you want to get into the mess that is SU Politics…make sure you have a hard wearing sense of humour, a lot of patience and resilience to see your ideas flourish…also the ability to listen is invaluable. It has been a serious learning experience, and continues to be so every day.

  8. Would you do it again?

  It would be insane to do it again….so the answer is yes.

  I’d actually like to get on with my life, but because I’ve taken on so many projects, I might run again (but for Comms) and help next year’s lot survive the politics and finish off some of my projects.

  9. What did you find made your campaign successful?

  Last year my campaign was a mixture of luck and the fact that I was the only person who put their face everywhere and was SEEN on all campuses (bar Harrow – which was a mistake and cost me dearly). I have a number of strategies for this year, all of which involve personality rather than actual manifesto. It’s a popularity contest and you win by virtue of people picking your NAME above the other names on the ballot paper. It’s all a game really. People relied too much on posters and less on getting around and personal contact…which is why I won.

  10. Was it worth it?

  Absolutely. There’s no way I would have received such invaluable life experience until I’m 40, if it wasn’t for this job. It really is an eye-opening gift. It puts so much into perspective, gives you the opportunity to fall very heavily on your face and still have time to pick yourself up and learn. It does depend on what you want out of it… I wanted to provide more of the university experience and to grow up a bit myself…I put in the foundations for the former and I THINK I’ve done a fair bit of the latter. Graham (the General Manager) helps an incredible amount, and without his unique ways and knowledge, I would not have learnt as much. It has been MORE than worth it. The elections themselves were a bit ugly, but to be honest, I didn’t really campaign, so was quite removed from the nastiness of it.

  11. Any regrets?

Freedom, choice and confidence is what I want to gift those who work with me.

Below are the values that any company I lead will be what I demonstrate and do, constantly:

Everything is borrowed: when you die, no wealth or knowledge goes with you. So all you leave behind is what you did. Make it good.

You are what makes you valuable: if all you do is work, you will lose the reasons we hired you.

In 2011-12, the UK is due to collect about £340bn in Income Tax, National Insurance, Corporation Tax and Capital Gains Tax. Surprisingly, normal tax payers pay between 30% and 50% of their income in tax when all these taxes are taken into account. 

I propose an alternative taxation mechanism, which I think could lead to a much fairer distribution, while meeting the tax target above.

The total wealth of the UK is estimated at around £9tn. This enormous wealth, currently sat on by a tiny proportion of the population is a huge untapped resource. Meanwhile vast numbers of the population are stuck in poverty traps which punish hard work. 

Why don't we tap this extra wealth? It would mean we could hugely reduce and simplify income tax, remove the poverty traps and create a far greater incentive to put those assets to better use.

Total income is currently in the region of £1.45tn.

I propose just two ultra low rate taxes: 

- Simple income tax, on earnings before any deductions, of 3%

- Straightforward annual wealth tax of 3%. 

With this combination of taxes, we could raise close to the £340bn raised by our complex system of income taxes, hand huge extra wealth to working people and eliminate those poverty traps overnight. Here is how the numbers work out:

Analysis

The key to this policy was providing drastically reduced income taxes. How low rate do I mean? These are the rates I explored:

You can see the full analysis in this spreadsheet.

The key is to reduce income tax so people are rewarded better for their hard work. Here is the matrix of scenarios with different tax rates for income and wealth:

These scenarios need to be modelled in a macroeconomic setting to see how they affect spending, emotions and general population behaviour.

My current ideal is 3% income tax coupled with 3% wealth tax, which would raise an estimated £314bn.

I would love to hear thoughts on this proposal. Consequences, problems, opportunities, any thoughts.

I personally believe that handing the middle and lower classes a massive incentive to spend and earn more would benefit the economy and immediately add several points of GDP growth. 

This solution also has one massive plus: destroying the massive advantage of being on benefits vs earning a low wage. If this works as intended, it would result in less government expenditure and an increase in employment.

The other potential consequence is the increased amount of assets/stock traded as a result of the wealth tax.

The abolition of daft taxes like National Insurance and Capital Gains Tax will also go a long way to simplify life and eradicate tax avoidance schemes.

The ultra low rates of these taxes make for an incredibly attractive way to support government while massively boosting trade and the general economy. 

What do you think?

If you are interested, you can work out how this proposal would effect you below:

UPDATE: After speaking to some economists on the effect of this policy, the increase in GDP/spending would require less of a tax rate, so I have revised everything above to 3% income tax and 3% wealth tax.

FAQ

Q: What about companies? A: Companies currently pay Corporation Tax on profits (revenue less expenses) at a rate of 20%+. Under this proposal they would pay 3% on revenue. So yes, those with fine margins would be inconvenienced disproportionately. But what you will find is prices for those products would increase by 3% (or those businesses were not sustainable in the first place). The key is companies like Vodafone, Google and Amazon would pay a fair amount of tax, and have no chance to avoid taxation.

Q: Flight of wealth will occur. A: No it won't. 50% of wealth is in UK property; that isn't going anywhere. Plus most wealth is registered: cash in bank, property, shares/bonds, insurance. The idea is to make taxation low rate and fair. If the wealthy 'fly away' because of a 3% tax, they really were doing nothing with their wealth. The intelligent wealthy would be earning upwards of 10% per annum at present, so this would be chump change to them, BUT a fairer amount of tax would be paid. If anyone can send me a scenario where it is more beneficial for the wealthy to go elsewhere, I would be pleased to see those theories. I want to make sure this policy is watertight.

Q: The elderly will be worst affected, especially those who are retired. A: A key part of this policy is to remove unneccesary 'tinkering' policies, like the loan schemes this current government are trying to instigate. But tinkering would be needed to protect the elderly. Ideally, I would want to provide a means-tested benefit linked to the average true cost of living, so our elderly do not suffer from inflationary energy and housing costs.

Q: Are all assets included in the wealth tax? A: No, perpetually depreciating assets like volume-manufactured cars should be excluded. Maybe a threshold of cars worth less than £70k should be excluded, with the effects modelled out to see the effects. Limits like this should be revisited often to provide for a fair outcome.

Q: What happens to benefits? A: Currently, benefits would remain the same; however a massive review of benefits needs to be conducted. This is a solution to the problem of how to get people off benefits, as a 3% income tax is so much better than the current income tax and national insurance combination that penalises hard work. I would go further to provide Local Housing Allowance in a more straightforward manner to those on low incomes and deliver that LHA through PAYE.

Everybody of a certain age has seen the Tom Hanks movie, Big. That is the experience you should get in a toy shop. Like you want to come back and play and when you have enough pocket money (or suddenly become rich overnight) return to buy everything!

At the very least, toy shops should have: