It may not change his lifestyle, but it’s still a motivating achievement.
If a world-class marathon runner is 4 minutes ahead in a race, and can see the finish line, do they start walking? Or do they try to push themselves even harder to see how much more they can win by?
People are competitive, and are always motivated by achieving “more”, even if it doesn’t change the outcome for them. Does society benefit by billionaires pushing for more? I’m not sure, but I don’t think that the answer is clearly “no”.
So then, just like a marathon, instead of a timeclock to beat, the government can have an agency that tracks lifetime wealthy -- then the wealthy can brag over who would have had the largest pot of gold if they didn't dispose of the money immediately for tax reasons.
Does society benefit by billionaires pushing for more? I’m not sure, but I don’t think that the answer is clearly “no”.
I think the correct question is "Is there a net benefit to society", not any benefit at all.
If a world-class marathon runner is 4 minutes ahead in a race, and can see the finish line, do they start walking? Or do they try to push themselves even harder to see how much more they can win by?
People are competitive, and are always motivated by achieving “more”, even if it doesn’t change the outcome for them. Does society benefit by billionaires pushing for more? I’m not sure, but I don’t think that the answer is clearly “no”.