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Lots of economists like wealth taxes, too. <--- Can you cite some of them please?
by harryh 13y ago
Lots of economists like wealth taxes, too. <--- Can you cite some of them please?
- leot 13y agohttp://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2013/06/property-taxes http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2013/06/property... http://www.econ.nyu.edu/user/wolffe/ http://www.econ.nyu.edu/user/wolffe/
- mjn 13y agoThere's a huge literature on optimal tax policies, usually focused on more specific questions, so I'm not aware of a good survey paper on what economists think of wealth taxes generally. However, two specific questions you could look into, each of which have significant supporters on both sides: 1. What are the relative merits of inheritance taxes and wealth taxes, from the perspective of economic efficiency and/or intergenerational egalitarianism? 2. What are the relative merits of wealth taxes vs. capital-gains taxes? Roughly, is it preferable to tax capital annually based on its current value, or to tax realized gains in capital at the time of realization? The current real-world situation is that inheritance and capital-gains taxes are fairly common, while wealth taxes are uncommon, and there's some disagreement over whether that is the right choice.