86. What’s Wrong With The Wealth Tax?

With everything going on with the election, and all the hype around Elizabeth Warren's wealth tax, I felt it would be good to weigh in on this idea. One of the listeners mentioned this on Twitter and I thought it would be a good topic to dive into to see why it's not a good idea.

"I think there's a lot to be said for changing the balance of what we tax: wealth versus work."
-Pete Buttigieg

What is wealth?: Wealth is everything you are on. It is not simply cash in the bank ready to be taken by the government. Nor is it income.

GDP growth: GDP growth is the main factor that plays into the fact that we have continually increased tax collections year after year whether taxes are cut or raised. if the government wants more money, they simply need to grow the pie. It doesn't matter what their slices if that isn't happening.

Billionaires are people: That means, they will react like people. If you were getting bullied, you wouldn't just stand there and take it. Either you would fight back or go somewhere else. When they're already shouldering the bulk of taxes paid, billionaires won't stand to have their wealth liquidated and taken overtime by further taxation. instead, they will most likely pick up and leave, or find ways around the world tax. Plenty of billionaires have already spoken out and are pushing back against the candidate from the party that they generally agree with.

More on Warren’s Wealth Tax and Medicare Plan here.