Elizabeth Warren’s Wealth Tax Will Make Income Inequality Worse, Not Fix It

Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren wants a wealth tax.  Rising income inequality is indeed a problem for economic growth, but taxing wealth could exacerbate the problem, not fix it.

America's wealthiest men and women often invest in new business capital, resulting in innovation and jobs that American consumers and workers largely benefit from.

Since most of the estimated wealth of billionaires is invested in companies that innovate and create jobs, Warren's wealth tax could — if it successfully seizes a large amount of assets from the world's best allocators of capital — lead to less investment, ultimately harming workers and consumers.

Has a wealth tax ever been an effective means of promoting economic growth?  France's wealth tax led to the exodus of 10,000 millionaires in 2015 alone.  President Emmanuel Macron ended the country's wealth tax in 2017 because of the havoc it wreaked on the French economy.

There is a better model — taxing consumption, not income or wealth.