Eve is here. In today's link, I linked to a radical New York Times op-ed by Gabriel Zakman, which is significant in that it summarizes Zakman's article and brings it outside the New York Times paywall.Zukman is a relatively young scholar following in the footsteps of inequality trackers. Emmanuel Saez and Thomas Piketty He warned loudly early on about rising income and wealth inequality. Several years ago, Mr. Zukman made an important contribution with his book „The Hidden Wealth of States,'' which chronicled the vast amounts of money wasted in tax havens by billionaires and would-be millionaires.
Written by Jake Johnson. It was first published in common dreams
Ann analysis A report released Friday by prominent economist Gabriel Zucman shows that in 2018, U.S. billionaires paid a lower effective tax rate than working-class Americans for the first time in the country's history. This data point sparked a flurry of new demands for bolder taxes on the United States. Super rich.
was announced on new york times Zucman's analysis, headlined „It's Time to Tax Billionaires,“ notes that billionaires „live off wealth“ primarily through stock holdings, rather than wages and salaries, and have vast assets. They point out that they pay very little tax compared to the rest of the world.
Currently, stock gains are not taxed in the United States until the underlying assets are sold, which is why stocks such as Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, two of the frequent contenders for the title of richest person on the planet, are currently not taxed. Billionaires such as Mr.) have very little taxable income.
“But they can still borrow their assets and make amazing purchases,” Zukman pointed out. „Mr. Musk, for example, used Tesla stock as collateral to scrape together about $13 billion in tax-free loans to buy Twitter.“
To reverse decades of rising inequality, Weakening of democratic institutions and spoiled On important programs such as Social Security, Mr. Zucman advocated for minimum taxes on billionaires in the United States and around the world.
„The idea that billionaires should pay a minimum income tax is not a radical idea,“ Zucman wrote on Friday. “Fundamentally, we continue to allow the world's richest people to pay a lower rate of income tax than almost everyone else. In liberal democracies, we must eradicate the inequalities that undermine our societies.” There is a growing wave of political sentiment focused on a coordinated minimum tax on the super-wealthy. But it is a necessary first step.“
„This concern is overblown,“ Zucman wrote, noting that accommodating those advocating a minimum tax is unrealistic because „it is difficult to assess the value of wealth.“
„According to my research, about 60% of the wealth of US billionaires is in stocks of publicly traded companies,“ the economist said. “The rest is mostly private company ownership, and a monetary value can be assigned by looking at how the market values similar companies.”
Since 2018, the last year examined in Zucman's analysis, the wealth of the world's billionaires has continued to explode, while workers' wages have fallen. almost stagnant. As of last month, 2,781 millionaires recorded in the world Total assets are $14.2 trillion.
The United States has more billionaires than any other country, with 813 individuals worth a combined $5.7 trillion.
„The ultra-rich pay less tax than the bottom half of income earners. That's irrational!“ Rakeen Mahboud, Chief Economist Cooperation with foundation construction, I have written In response to Mr. Zucman's analysis. „We need to raise taxes on the wealthy and big corporations. We've had enough of storing wealth. It's past time to take back what's ours.“
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (DR.I.), Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee; called Zukman called the numbers „shameful“ and said, „We can not only fix this, but we can make Social Security and Medicare safe and sound as far as the eye can see.“