, Columnist
Bill Gates Is Right to Support a Wealth Tax
The money he pays could go to important projects that he wouldn’t fund himself.
Come on, tax me.
Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg
This article is for subscribers only.
In his new book on how to fix inequality, French economist Thomas Piketty may have gone a little too far with a call for a 90% wealth tax for billionaires and multimillionaires, but putting a tax on huge fortunes may well make sense. Bill Gates, the second richest man in the world, thinks so. His case makes it clear why governments should go for it.
Gates said in a Bloomberg interview that he “wouldn’t be against” a wealth tax, even though he doesn’t believe the U.S. will introduce it. As an alternative, he proposed raising the estate tax to 55% for the top bracket from the current 40%.