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A Global Wealth Tax is a Terrible Idea
Yes, the wealth gap is obscene. No, a global wealth tax won’t help. But there is something that will.
The eye-popping news that the world’s 10 richest men doubled their wealth during COVID-19 was met with near-universal horror and approbation this week.
As well it should have been.
The wealth gap was already well beyond obscene, beyond even the wildest dreams of would-be world conquerers and robber barons like Alexander the Great, Charlemagne, Andrew Carnegie, Attila the Hun, and Steve Jobs- combined.
It should have been obvious from the very first, and indeed it was obvious to some, that everything the world did in an attempt to mitigate COVID-19 worsened inequality and poverty worldwide. Two years in and it’s clear: The ultra rich- the 1% of the 1%- got much, much richer and the poor got that much poorer.
By almost any metric, the news is grim. Poorer countries suffered from lack of access to critical treatments and vaccines; economically disadvantaged public school children suffered a catastrophic learning loss at a rate far exceeding that of their wealthier counterparts.
Wealthier children from families with the means to send them to private schools suffered very little in the way of learning loss as private schools predominantly stayed open even…