(Bloomberg) — Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates, the world's richest person, said the economy is strong and that it's "just nonsense" to suggest tax rates restrain growth by discouraging innovation.

The world's largest economy is struggling to gain momentum, and tepid wage growth continues even as the unemployment rate is at the lowest level since May 2008.

Gates, whose net worth is estimated at $86 billion, according to the the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, said a person making $40,000 a year is better off now than someone making an equivalent salary decades ago because inventions like the Internet boost the quality of life.

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