“I can afford to pay more, and I know others can too.” Those are the words of billionaire businessman and philanthropist Eli Broad in a recent opinion piece written for the New York Times. As is well-known now, Broad is very publicly endorsing a wealth tax that would be levied on superrich individuals like himself. He unwittingly explains why such a tax would be so harmful.
As Broad makes plain, he has enormous amounts of unspent wealth that would make a higher tax bill easy to pay. Broad's unconsumed wealth rates serious thought when it's remembered that there are no companies and no jobs without investment first. It's all a reminder of the singular importance of the ultra-rich when it comes to economic growth: they have millions and sometimes billions that they haven't consumed, and that they must allocate. Short of stuffing the wealth under a mattress, those abundant funds have the potential to be invested in today's and tomorrow's companies.
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