Collecting tax from the wealthy is not as straightforward as it sounds.

 I refer to Debra Satz’s review of Peter S. Goodman’s “Davos Man” “Democracy is under threat. Are billionaires to blame?” Outlook, Washington Post, March 6. 

It states: “Economists Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman estimate that at marginal tax rate of 10 percent for wealth over $1 billion would have raised $250 billion from the richest Americans in 2018”.

That could help feed a false illusion about how to resolve problems which of course should bother all of us, such as excessive inequalities.

BUT, all the wealth of the wealthy is stored in assets that have either been valued higher by other people’s money or, for which the wealthy when buying these, returned to the economy their money. So, this tax would require to collect $250 billion from the not-so wealthy, by having them buy the wealthy’s assets. 

What the implications of that would be is hard for me to estimate, but they should neither be ignored or underestimated. 

For a starter, what would the buyers otherwise had done with their money? 

Are we sure bureaucrats know better how to use it? 

What will become of yacht builders and yacht crews, if the yachts are the high-profile assets all wealthy decide to sell?