A new report from Americans for Tax Fairness found that America’s richest families accumulated $8.5 trillion in untaxed capital gains in 2022
America’s wealthiest families held an astounding $8.5 trillion in untaxed profits in 2022. According to a report from the nonprofit Americans for Tax Fairness, which analyzed Federal Reserve data, “one in every six dollars (18 percent of the nation’s unrealized gains is held by these roughly 64,000 ultra-wealthy households, who make up less than 0.05 percent of the population.” The report comes as the Supreme Court gears up to decide a case that could preemptively block any efforts to tax the wealth of billionaires.
The data looks at “quiet” income generated by “centi-millionaires,” Americans holding at least $100 million in wealth, and billionaires through unrealized capital gains. Those gains accumulate, untaxed, as assets and investments like stocks, real estate, bonds, and other investments increase in value. If those assets are not sold — or “realized” — they are not taxed, yet America’s wealthiest families can leverage that on-paper value increase to secure favorable loans with low-interest rates in lieu of using taxable income to finance their lifestyle.
“Of the $139 trillion in America’s national wealth, almost three-quarters (73 percent) is held by the richest 10 percent of households, over one-third (35 percent) by the richest 1 percent, and an astounding 11 percent — $15.2 trillion — is held by the handful of fortunate households that make up the billionaire and centi-millionaire class,” the report says. “The wealthiest 1 percent of households hold 44 percent of national unrealized gains ($21.2 trillion), with billionaires and centi-millionaires alone controlling 18 percent ($8.5 trillion).”
Societies should not allow billionaires as long as there are people who can’t even get food on the table. It’s just morally and ethically wrong. Some would even say unchristian.
The answer is simple. Butcher the billionaires and their fortunes. Eat the rich and use the money for social work.
They hit a billion (or really $100 million), loose all assets (aside from a small seed amount), get another star on their chest, and try to do it again. Those who care about the rat race will jump through hoops for what they value, while the rest of us are able to maintain a healthy work/life balance.
My cyberpunk solution is that once you cross the billion dollar net worth threshold, it becomes legal for a team of any size or an individual to register with the billionaire hunting office.
If a registered person or group is successful in killing the billionaire, all of their assets (including any managed by a trust on their behalf) are seized, liquidated, and distributed to the group.
Anyone paid to protect them, anyone affiliated with an organization paid to protect them, or anyone (regardless of affiliation or payment status) within a certain physical proximity to the billionaire is fair game.
Way to convoluted and will eventually hurt bystanders. Just tax all after the first billion with 100%.
But that doesn’t net us an afternoon romp staring Kurt Russell.
Does that imply that any billionaire hunter / team is also fair game for the billionaires to hunt down? Sounds like a bad plan, where the billionaires can legally kill.
As much as I understand Jesus was a socialist, even he couldn’t write rules to live by that can’t be bent, manipulated, and plain broken. Morals and ethics are a feeble reed to lean upon.