Friday, September 25, 2020

i agree that he's right that a wealth tax - as presented by elizabeth warren - is indeed a dumb idea. she presents it as a way to prevent avoidance, but she's absolutely wrong - it's a way to maximize avoidance.

so, if you want to pretend you're taxing the rich without actually taxing the rich, that's what you do, you talk about a wealth tax. that's why you hear it from the mouthpiece of the boston upper crust - which is what warren actually is, after all. and, it's probably why you hear it from justin trudeau, too.

but, the idea that there's not enough wealth at the top to tax is pretty dumb, itself. you just need to go after it where it exists - in the market, in property, etc. what's true is that rich people don't tend to work, so you can't really tax their incomes. but, you can tax their property, you can tax their financial transactions, you can tax their luxury purchases and you can tax their corporations. and, you can stop giving them so many loopholes to weasel their way out of it.

and, if they'd rather leave than pay their fair share then good riddance to them.