We need a 5% wealth tax on America’s 938 billionaires. Over a ten-year period, this bill would raise much-needed $4.4tn for public coffers
Never before in American history have so few had so much wealth and power. Today, the top 1% owns more wealth than the bottom 93%. One person, Elon Musk, worth $805bn, owns more wealth than the bottom 53% of American households. And that inequality is getting worse. Last year alone, after receiving the one of the largest tax breaks in history from Donald Trump, 938 billionaires in America became $1.5tn richer. Since he was re-elected, Trump and his family have become $4bn richer.
Never before in American history have we had such concentration of ownership. While profits soar, a handful of giant corporations dominate virtually every sector of our economy, charging higher and higher prices for the products they sell. Four Wall Street firms combined – BlackRock, Vanguard, Fidelity, and State Street – are the major stockholders of more than 90% of American corporations.