Candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination like Sen. Bernie Sanders say that "Billionaires should not exist" and the wealth disparity in America is "a moral and economic outrage." California businessman Tom Steyer-who happens to be a billionaire-says that "Senator Sanders is right," while Sen. Elizabeth Warren laments the "Extreme concentration of wealth" in America.
As Bourne writes at Cato: "Evidence from both here and abroad shows major social programs, not least Social Security, increase measured wealth inequality because they leave the non-rich with 'proportionately less to save, less reason to save, and a larger share of their old-age resources in a nonbequeathable form than the lifetime rich.' Economists Baris Kaymak and Markus Poschke estimate that the expansion of Social Security and Medicare caused about one-quarter of the rise in the top one percent wealth share over recent decades."
How about a wealth tax? Depending on its design, it could certainly hurt wealth accumulation.
The negative impact of the wealth tax wouldn't be concentrated on wealthy people.
So whether a wealth tax will create a real disincentive to accumulate capital or force rich taxpayers to send a larger share of their money to the IRS, less capital will be available for everyone in the economy to use for their own businesses and training.
The cost of implementing a wealth tax and annually assessing assets often costs more than the tax actually raises in revenue.
It's not surprising that the country dropped its wealth tax in 2018.
https://reason.com/2019/10/24/democratic-wealth-tax-proposals-demonstrate-economic-ignorance/
As Bourne writes at Cato: "Evidence from both here and abroad shows major social programs, not least Social Security, increase measured wealth inequality because they leave the non-rich with 'proportionately less to save, less reason to save, and a larger share of their old-age resources in a nonbequeathable form than the lifetime rich.' Economists Baris Kaymak and Markus Poschke estimate that the expansion of Social Security and Medicare caused about one-quarter of the rise in the top one percent wealth share over recent decades."
How about a wealth tax? Depending on its design, it could certainly hurt wealth accumulation.
The negative impact of the wealth tax wouldn't be concentrated on wealthy people.
So whether a wealth tax will create a real disincentive to accumulate capital or force rich taxpayers to send a larger share of their money to the IRS, less capital will be available for everyone in the economy to use for their own businesses and training.
The cost of implementing a wealth tax and annually assessing assets often costs more than the tax actually raises in revenue.
It's not surprising that the country dropped its wealth tax in 2018.
https://reason.com/2019/10/24/democratic-wealth-tax-proposals-demonstrate-economic-ignorance/
No comments:
Post a Comment