None of what follows is radical. All of it has precedent — in American history, in functioning democracies around the world, or both. The question is not whether it's possible. It's whether there is the political will.
A top marginal income tax rate of 70–90% on incomes above $10 million is not extreme by American historical standards — it is normal. The U.S. economy grew fastest when these rates were highest. [6]
Billionaires avoid income taxes by borrowing against assets rather than selling them. A modest annual wealth tax on fortunes above $1 billion would capture what income taxes miss. Senator Elizabeth Warren's proposed 2% wealth tax on fortunes above $50 million would raise $3 trillion over 10 years. [19]
The "Buy, Borrow, Die" strategy lets billionaires access wealth tax-free by borrowing against holdings and passing assets to heirs at stepped-up basis. Taxing unrealized gains at death and treating borrowed wealth as income would close this gap. [13]
Overturn or legislate around Citizens United. Public financing of elections, strict contribution caps, and mandatory disclosure of dark money sources would reduce the ability of billionaires to purchase political outcomes. [7]
The Sherman Antitrust Act was passed in 1890 because the government recognized the danger of wealth consolidation. Today's tech giants — Google, Amazon, Meta — present similar monopoly risks. Meaningful antitrust enforcement is long overdue. [20]
Union membership correlates strongly with income equality. When workers can collectively bargain, they capture more of the value they produce. Protecting the right to organize, raising the federal minimum wage, and supporting profit-sharing policies all reduce the extraction gap. [2]
In 1933, Congress considered a constitutional amendment to limit personal wealth to $1 million. In 1935, Huey Long proposed the "Share Our Wealth" plan, capping personal fortunes at $50 million (approximately $1 billion today). These ideas were not fringe. They were mainstream policy debates in living memory. [14]
We are not inventing something new. We are demanding something that generations before us already recognized as necessary.