Not on this planet. The wealthiest of our wealthy, a just-released report from Americans for Tax Fairness points out, are doing their best to keep these good times — for America’s rich — rolling.
There are now 813 billionaires with $5.7 trillion in wealth, making the ten-figure club even more powerful economically and politically. We need a progressive taxation system to reverse inequality.
This study, writes reviewer Rosen, "assesses the growing gap between that super-rich millionaires and billionaires and ever-increasing number ordinary people who populate the planet."
While most Americans predominantly live off the income they earn from a job—income that is taxed all year, every year—the very richest households live lavishly off capital gains that may never be taxed.
Tax justice activists are pursuing the tax scofflaws. To escape taxes, it may not be enough for Jeff Bezos to move to Florida. He may have to move to Mars.
Congress hiked the nation’s top-bracket tax rate to around 90% for two decades to see the emergence in the United States of the world’s first mass middle class.
We need to greatly expand the role of fiscal policy relative to monetary policy and address inflation while also promoting low unemployment, needed new investments, decent wages and a much fairer distribution of income and wealth.
Instead of debating tweaks at the edges of our tax system, what we should be doing is stretching ourselves to imagine a world where billionaires are impossible.
We are tempted into believing that a system can be defended that allows a man to accumulate more than $100 billion. It can’t.
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