Proposed California ‘wealth tax’ may backfire on liberal politicians as state’s revenue base dries up
Policy without accountability is dangerous.
The Golden State prides itself on its egalitarianism and willingness to make some of the rich in California squirm.
This desire to take billionaires down a notch is evidenced by the “wealth tax” currently generating debate among financial pundits and gathering signatures in an aggressive ground game before a November vote, if it makes the ballot. The wealth tax proposal has a strange side effect: it boosts the wealthiest cream of the crop and punishes those below them. After all, there’s pride as well in being one of the special few who can manage to keep their heads above water in a political environment that punishes wealth creation.
Take San Francisco: the city’s population growth has been more or less flat over the last few decades, yet its wealth has positively exploded. Just spit-balling: for every three slightly above-average citizen profiles the city bleeds, it gains one high-income, far above-average human capital powerhouse with an advanced degree.
The 2026 Billionaire Tax Act is a “one-time tax” distillation of this same process. The rich who can weather a levy on capital assets without missing a beat, as it applies to both their personal and business endeavors, will gain relative status over those who feel compelled to “flee” to a friendlier red state locale. While in absolute terms they’ve taken a financial hit, they can rest easy knowing they’ve cleared the field of several elite peers and even industry competitors.
As economist Robert H. Frank has noted, Charles Darwin has as much to teach us about economics as Adam Smith. The elk with the larger antlers wins, with nary a care for any general condition of very large antlers on elks (or the elk equivalent of a “pro-business” regulatory and political environment).
A shrinking pool of billionaires to tax
“If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere.”
There’s a reason the above phrase applies to business-unfriendly New York City, and not Lubbock, Texas. In the second quarter of the 21st century, those words have found a second home in California’s tech sector as well.
Nvidia’s Jensen Huang, who sits at the helm of the most valuable company in the United States, is notable for shrugging off this wealth tax proposal.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang (Ng Han Guan/AP)
“We chose to live in Silicon Valley, and whatever taxes, I guess, they would like to apply, so be it,” Huang told Bloomberg in early January. “I’m perfectly fine with it.”
Startup Y Combinator’s Garry Tan and Sequoia’s Michael …
Policy without accountability is dangerous.
The Golden State prides itself on its egalitarianism and willingness to make some of the rich in California squirm.
This desire to take billionaires down a notch is evidenced by the “wealth tax” currently generating debate among financial pundits and gathering signatures in an aggressive ground game before a November vote, if it makes the ballot. The wealth tax proposal has a strange side effect: it boosts the wealthiest cream of the crop and punishes those below them. After all, there’s pride as well in being one of the special few who can manage to keep their heads above water in a political environment that punishes wealth creation.
Take San Francisco: the city’s population growth has been more or less flat over the last few decades, yet its wealth has positively exploded. Just spit-balling: for every three slightly above-average citizen profiles the city bleeds, it gains one high-income, far above-average human capital powerhouse with an advanced degree.
The 2026 Billionaire Tax Act is a “one-time tax” distillation of this same process. The rich who can weather a levy on capital assets without missing a beat, as it applies to both their personal and business endeavors, will gain relative status over those who feel compelled to “flee” to a friendlier red state locale. While in absolute terms they’ve taken a financial hit, they can rest easy knowing they’ve cleared the field of several elite peers and even industry competitors.
As economist Robert H. Frank has noted, Charles Darwin has as much to teach us about economics as Adam Smith. The elk with the larger antlers wins, with nary a care for any general condition of very large antlers on elks (or the elk equivalent of a “pro-business” regulatory and political environment).
A shrinking pool of billionaires to tax
“If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere.”
There’s a reason the above phrase applies to business-unfriendly New York City, and not Lubbock, Texas. In the second quarter of the 21st century, those words have found a second home in California’s tech sector as well.
Nvidia’s Jensen Huang, who sits at the helm of the most valuable company in the United States, is notable for shrugging off this wealth tax proposal.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang (Ng Han Guan/AP)
“We chose to live in Silicon Valley, and whatever taxes, I guess, they would like to apply, so be it,” Huang told Bloomberg in early January. “I’m perfectly fine with it.”
Startup Y Combinator’s Garry Tan and Sequoia’s Michael …
Proposed California ‘wealth tax’ may backfire on liberal politicians as state’s revenue base dries up
Policy without accountability is dangerous.
The Golden State prides itself on its egalitarianism and willingness to make some of the rich in California squirm.
This desire to take billionaires down a notch is evidenced by the “wealth tax” currently generating debate among financial pundits and gathering signatures in an aggressive ground game before a November vote, if it makes the ballot. The wealth tax proposal has a strange side effect: it boosts the wealthiest cream of the crop and punishes those below them. After all, there’s pride as well in being one of the special few who can manage to keep their heads above water in a political environment that punishes wealth creation.
Take San Francisco: the city’s population growth has been more or less flat over the last few decades, yet its wealth has positively exploded. Just spit-balling: for every three slightly above-average citizen profiles the city bleeds, it gains one high-income, far above-average human capital powerhouse with an advanced degree.
The 2026 Billionaire Tax Act is a “one-time tax” distillation of this same process. The rich who can weather a levy on capital assets without missing a beat, as it applies to both their personal and business endeavors, will gain relative status over those who feel compelled to “flee” to a friendlier red state locale. While in absolute terms they’ve taken a financial hit, they can rest easy knowing they’ve cleared the field of several elite peers and even industry competitors.
As economist Robert H. Frank has noted, Charles Darwin has as much to teach us about economics as Adam Smith. The elk with the larger antlers wins, with nary a care for any general condition of very large antlers on elks (or the elk equivalent of a “pro-business” regulatory and political environment).
A shrinking pool of billionaires to tax
“If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere.”
There’s a reason the above phrase applies to business-unfriendly New York City, and not Lubbock, Texas. In the second quarter of the 21st century, those words have found a second home in California’s tech sector as well.
Nvidia’s Jensen Huang, who sits at the helm of the most valuable company in the United States, is notable for shrugging off this wealth tax proposal.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang (Ng Han Guan/AP)
“We chose to live in Silicon Valley, and whatever taxes, I guess, they would like to apply, so be it,” Huang told Bloomberg in early January. “I’m perfectly fine with it.”
Startup Y Combinator’s Garry Tan and Sequoia’s Michael …
0 Comments
0 Shares
54 Views
0 Reviews
