By itself, a tax like this one wouldn't do a thing to shift the current balance of power between capital and labour. Increasing inheritance taxes and enforcing stricter antitrust, anti-monopoly policies would be way more efficient in fighting the real causes of wealth inequality

"Zucman’s project is that every billionaire should pay total annual taxes equalling at least 2 per cent of their wealth. That, he explained, is the level where they would pay the same tax rate as everyone else. If someone already pays 2 per cent through income and other taxes in their own country, “you are good, there’s nothing more to pay”. If they pay less, then any country where they do business could levy additional taxes to reach 2 per cent. For instance, Brazil or France could tax Amazon’s founder Jeff Bezos, as his company operates there.

“It’s a bold proposal, yet modest at the same time,” said Zucman. He explained that his “starting point” was learning from the “failure” of most previous European wealth taxes. Whereas they hit millionaires, his would exempt even those with wealth of €4.8mn (the threshold for entering the global 0.1 per cent).

This is hardly the Bolshevik revolution. Indeed, 2 per cent wouldn’t even reduce inequality, as billionaires’ wealth has been growing by 7 per cent a year. Piketty, who supports his former protégé’s plan, grumbles that it’s only “a useful first step”.

The EU has long backed Zucman’s research. But his big breakthrough came last year, when Brazil, host of the G20 summit, invited him to present his plan to the assembled finance ministers. Brazil twisted the arms of even Argentina’s libertarian president Javier Milei to agree to a shared declaration: “With full respect to tax sovereignty, we will seek to engage cooperatively to ensure that ultra-high-net-worth individuals are effectively taxed.”"

https://www.ft.com/content/859ef96a-daa8-4fcc-96ab-a3a9465a441a

#Inequality #Billionaires #WealthTax #FiscalPolicy #Taxes #PoliticalEconomy