Opinion: Raising taxes on the rich would help reduce wealth gap
CNNAug 27, 2020
A report published on Monday by Oxfam found that the richest 1% acquired nearly two-thirds of all new wealth worth $42T created over the past two years.
During the pandemic and cost-of-living crisis ongoing since 2020, the fortune of the world’s wealthiest individuals reportedly soared by $26T, while the net worth of the remaining 99% of the world’s population rose by $16T.
The growing gap between the rich and poor, in wealth and income, is bad for everyone. When power and wealth are concentrated in a few hands, it usually leads to corruption, exploitation of the masses, and loss of faith in political and economic systems. The first step to reducing racial, social, and economic inequality is to pour more money into the hands of those who need it most.
While many have hit the panic button on widening income inequality reports, taxing the super-rich is not the solution to alleviate poverty, hunger, illiteracy, or unemployment. A wealth tax would do nothing to help low- and middle-income earners. Penalizing high-net-worth individuals, however, would drive out the wealth creators, bring in less revenue, and weaken the economy over time.
There's a 50% chance that the world will create the first Trillionaire by Jun 21, 2031, according to the Metaculus prediction community.