French Lawmakers Vote Against Wealth Tax on Super-Rich
Posted2 months agoActive2 months ago
lemonde.frOtherstory
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Wealth TaxFrench PoliticsEconomic Policy
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Wealth Tax
French Politics
Economic Policy
French lawmakers voted against implementing a wealth tax on the super-rich, sparking debate about economic inequality and the effectiveness of tax policies.
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So I don't know much about the French situation being more than a continent away, but in principle a 2% wealth tax can't fix a budget hole. It is also confiscatory, making it ultimately a tool of social engineering rather than revenue raising. It is a policy to eliminate large pools of assets. Things that get eliminated can't be taxed sustainably.
Whether you agree with it or not will vary greatly depending on the effectiveness of your country's government, the wealth gap, your country's currency purchasing power, your general political alignment, and a whole slew of other factors.
I doubt it. Taxing high asset people:
- Doesn't create more stuff.
- Doesn't cause them to consume less stuff.
With that in mind, in terms of inflation it's just going to express itself as less investment leading eventually to higher prices. If the government is dumping money into the system it isn't causing the ultra-wealthy to be less competitive using it to buy consumer goods. There'll maybe be an early bump as the seeds of future prosperity get consumed instead of planted but the net long term effect is not going to be wealthy people eating any of the costs of inflation.
First, it's an abuse of "voting" because the class that is being regulated is not represented equally in the vote.
Second, In the USA, our federal government would have a 0-star rating on charity navigator. Nearly all taxes simply go to pay down bad business deals or provide bailouts for billionaires and is largely a wealth transfer system to the 1%ers, meanwhile a massive campaign is ran that paying taxes is actually doing something. I can't speak to the French situation.
You're "good" with a wealth tax, or with it being voted against?
I'm in favor of a wealth tax, say 1% on wealth over $10M. To see historical rates in the US and to play with possible taxes, see https://taxjusticenow.org