|   You know what’s not cool anymore? Billionaires. Their very existence is now the subject of political debate, sparked most recently by tax-the-rich proposals from two prominent politicians. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) proposed placing a 2 percent tax on wealth over $50 million and 3 percent on assets over $1 billion. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) said she wants to increase the marginal tax rate on those earning more than $10 million a year. Their ideas went viral, starting a mainstream conversation about inequality and wealth. Emily Peck, a HuffPost reporter who covers economics, dug in. How’d you get the idea for this story?
The idea that billionaires are basically a bad thing for democratic societies -- increasing inequality by sucking up all the money -- isn’t new, but it had been popping up in more mainstream places. Democratic New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez recently said “every billionaire is a policy failure.” That grabbed headlines. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) proposed a wealth tax, which is being hotly debated by economists and pundits and the super-rich. Plus, the value of billionaires and the need for the rich to pay higher taxes was a topic of conversation on Twitter and at the World Economic Forum in Davos.When you called up experts how seriously did they take up your theory about banning billionaires?
First, I’d say the idea isn’t quite to “ban billionaires,” but to tax them out of existence. And you’d be surprised to learn that no one laughed me off. For a long time, the policy in the US was indeed to tax away extreme wealth. Tax rates on the nation’s richest reached 91 percent at certain points in the twentieth century and the idea that extreme wealth was harmful was embedded into policy.What surprised you as you reported it out?
The idea that billionaires are a policy creation -- not solely the product of individual dynamism -- was something I hadn’t quite grasped until I dug in. There’s nothing god-given about certain people (almost entirely men) having just inconceivable amounts of money. Through a raft of different policies -- tax rates, regulations, intellectual property protections -- we in the United States have essentially created them.What kind of reader reaction did you get, if any?
Most readers, who obviously aren’t billionaires, were into it! I did get a few angry emails and tweets. In one case, someone worried I was advocating that we literally kill billionaires. To be clear: I am not.Anything you want to add?
For a long time in the U.S. we have cut the social safety net in order to lower taxes for rich people’. To be frank, that was cruel and detrimental to most Americans. I’m hopeful that the current conversation is moving us past those outdated views. HuffPost is now a part of Oath and a part of Verizon. On May 25, 2018 we introduced a new Oath Privacy Policy which will explain how your data is used and shared. Learn More.The internet's best stories, and interviews with the people who tell them. Like what you see? Forward it to a friend. Or sign up! Can't get enough? Check out our Morning Email. ©2018 HuffPost | 770 Broadway, New York, NY 10003
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