It’s Time for Wealth Taxes on the Super-rich

It’s Time for Wealth Taxes on the Super-rich

Elon Musk’s estimated wealth is between $648 to $754 billion. Leading economists estimate that in 2019 23% of Americans had zero or negative wealth.  33% had less than $10,000, 50% had less than $57,000. The top .1% had over $19 million. These alarming numbers tell us there are good reasons for a wealth tax on the super-rich.

Highly reliable data shows that from 1990 to 2019 the bottom 50% got crunched while super-rich wealth zoomed up as the result of a super-rich campaign to rig the system. The bottom 50% lost two thirds of their wealth while super-rich wealth went up 3.1 times. The billionaire group did even better, their wealth went up 4.2 times. The chart below documents these bleak results.

Bottom 50% and top.1% Wealth Growth 1990 to 2019 (1990 white bar on left, 2019 orange bar on right)

Next week we will explore why strong medicine is needed

For background go to www.growthemiddleclass.com

William Mitchell