Compassion for the Superrich

This gives an idea of the reality of the estate tax: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/18/your-money/taxes/18wealth.html And remember, people at this level of wealth generally do not pay much tax while alive: the capital gains rate is only 15%. Given that a certain amount of taxation is necessary for even the basic functions of government, I favor a higher estate tax and a broader one. Why should the children of the wealthy pay less tax on their inheritance, money they did nothing to earn, than professionals pay on income received for productive work? This is unjust on its face. Additionally, while one could make a pragmatic case for low income/capital gains taxes on self-made financial successes, based on the assumption that they will use their money to generate high returns on capital and thereby accelerate economic growth--one cannot make a similar case for their progeny. Any estate over a million ought to be taxed at 40% for each dollar over a million and at 50% for each marginal dollar over 10 million and at 70% for any amount over 100 million. And loopholes ought to be closed. Ultimately, this may enable reduced taxes on economically productive activity. In any case, the decent billionaires give it away before or when they die, like Carnegie, Gates, Buffet, and a number of other, mostly American, serious power players.