Would the crudest flat rate scheme be unappealing to people just above the threshold to which it applies? Sure. I don't think anyone's seriously advocating for

Would the crudest flat rate scheme be unappealing to people just above the threshold to which it applies? Sure. I don't think anyone's seriously advocating for Bezos and the successful small business owner to be paying the same rate. AnthonyMouse created a strawman to fight; getting from "very wealthy" to "only the top 100 billionaires" is kinda crazy. To use that to assert that the math just doesn't work on using a wealth tax to fund universal inheritance is kinda untenable. I think "wealthier than 99% of people in a rich country" is fair to call "very wealthy" but I can see how others would differ. I also hope you can see how the person with >10M in net worth would not be happy to pay 1.2% but can likely swing it (and under this crude hypothetical, stops paying it if they fall to merely being richer than 98.9% of their peers), but that the 100k would be life-changing and transformative for young people. Piketty's proposals for a wealth tax have varied over the years, but have at points in the past included 1% above 1M euros, 2% above 5M euros, 5-10% above 1B euros. He's trying to re-imagine a more equal society; the redistribution can't be small.