Time to tax billionaires

How rich does anyone need to be?

States should tax billionaires because that’s where the money is, says the writer. PHOTO ILLUSTRATION: PEXELS
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Mr Elon Musk has a gift for prompting questions about how we should order our world. His latest contribution to the debate is a threat to shift incorporation of his electric carmaker, Tesla, from Delaware to freedom-loving Texas, after a Delaware judge annulled his US$55.8 billion (S$75 billion) pay deal – the largest in American corporate history, or possibly all history.

The questions this time: How rich does anyone need to be? Should countries raise taxes on billionaires? I reckon so. It would improve our societies and reduce ordinary people’s taxes. Exactly how to do it differs by jurisdiction, but the starting point is to establish the principle of taxing billionaires.

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