Source: Reason
by Veronique de Rugy
“There’s an old saying: Those who can, do; those who can’t, teach. A similar idea underscores the debate over wealth taxes in California and elsewhere: Those who can, build companies. Those who can’t, devise ways for the government to take shares in what others have built. This new version might sound unfair until you listen to Rep. Ro Khanna’s (D–Calif.) pitch for an allegedly onetime, 5 percent wealth tax on California billionaires, tied to November’s vote on Proposition 40. Space constraints prevent us from surveying all that’s wrong with wealth taxes here. But as a reminder, they raise very little income for the government, are an administrative nightmare, could be unconstitutional, and create enormous disincentives to build the kind of wealth that creates jobs and funds government services through other taxes in the first place.” (08/20/26)
https://reason.com/2026/08/20/a-wealth-tax-built-on-billionaires-who-arent-really-billionaires/