If you can explain why the tax structure exerts any significant negative reinforcement on the decision to train players, I'd be willing to consider the argument. I have to say I've lost count of the number of posts saying "I really would like to train players, but why spend four seasons to do so if I only get 97% of their slae price", but it's easily in the zeroes of posts.
I buy a player today, if I need to make back at least 80% of the money I need to wait a month or 2 depending on how many players I've sold before. For each purchase, you're making reselling the purchased player less economically viable for a period of time. So if people take longer to relist players they bought, there are less players on the market. The number of players in the game does not change, the number of players on the transfer list however does and this affects price formation. Fewer players on the market means the market becomes more opaque and that given a certain skillset it is harder to establish a fair market price because fewer transactions occur. People will bid up their own estimate of the value of a player, but with fewer comparables and with meaningless estimates provided by the game it is harder to do this properly.
You know, although I of course will point out that your response had nothing to do specifically with negative reinforcement on the decision to train players, nonetheless it's an interesting thought. There's also a corresponding counter-point that, since this seems to be specifically targeted to people who intentionally are buying players with the goal of selling them quickly, it may very well mean that the prospect of the tax might make them instead choose not to buy the player, leaving one less person bidding on him. Alternately, the manager may decide that the financial hit is worth the short-term benefit of having the player for that short period of time.
As long as prices rise or fall in line with demand, and the players have the ability to create the supply or not, the economy is at least fair.
Yes and if you expect people to be ok with waiting a couple of years to overhaul their strategy I think you're deluding yourself about the effect that the length of the adjustment will have (for example on managers quitting the game). Which is why inflation and deflation in the game is a problem given that revenues are capped.
That's kind of the pace the game moves at. BB-Charles preached about the value of SB, and then it was made more effective, and then the impact of it and JR in salary and in potential cost was slashed, but still if you look at the TL at the moment for IS at 15+, ID at 15+ or RB at 15+, you have over a hundred choices for each. Look for SB at 15+, there are two. Which is why I would certainly be in favor of revamping training, revamping the draft to include more skilled but low potential players who could be useful players immediately, stuff like that.
Different strategies are rewarded at different times, but in the end it's simple: you have a team, you have your sources of income and expenses, and figure out how to beat the other teams in your level and then the teams at the next level.
I don't think anybody is disputing that at some point some kind of equilibrium will be found. Some people do wonder if it is worth to let it go unchecked and accept the possible consequences (mainly in terms of users retention).
User retention is the ultimate red herring, though. Sure, if prices rise, some may leave for that. When prices fall, some may leave for that. If prices are fixed, some may leave for that. If users feel it's too hard to move up, they may leave. If they feel it's too hard to stay up, they may leave. If they feel it's not changing fast enough, they may leave. If it changes too much, they may leave. So all you can do is make the game the best and fairest it can be, and hope that the people will enjoy that enough to stay.