Why Elizabeth Warren Is Wrong on a Wealth Tax

I am a great fan of Liz Warren and agree with her on most everything, but she’s wrong on this one.

A wealth tax is divisive

Why the wealthy, Liz and most particularly why a tax on net worth? That smacks of closing barn-doors after the horses are gone and trying to get back at a class of Americans we mismanaged tax-wise.

America is divisive enough at the moment and the last thing we need to do is set one class against another.

We know how to get out of a pickle

I never really understood what being in a pickle meant, but it’s a common term for trouble. How could you possibly get inside a pickle? Is it green in there?

No matter, getting out of this pickle in which we find ourselves takes nothing more than a sense of history—and not very ancient history at that.

The graduated income-tax

Let me introduce you. In 1960 the top tax rate was 91%. Only Warren Buffett and I are old enough to remember that. And there’s a common misunderstanding about that.

It did not mean that wealthy people paid 91%. …