Opinion - America has a billionaire problem — we need a wealth tax to fix it
We are living through an experiment in billionaire governance.
President Trump has stuffed his administration with the wealthiest individuals in modern history and handed unprecedented power to billionaires like Elon Musk and 13 Cabinet members who are now actively leveraging their newfound power to further enrich themselves. At the same time, Republican congressional leaders are moving forward with a tax package that will disproportionately benefit the ultra-wealthy.
Transparently, I'm wealthy and I oppose this type of handout. Time and again, I have seen how the richest of the rich lobby for tax cuts they promise will trickle down. That has never happened and this time will be no different.
The good news is that the American public is souring on this arrangement and seeing through their greedy charade.
Approximately 300,000 American households with wealth exceeding $50 million are sitting on over $35 trillion — a total that is equivalent to the entire U.S. national debt and more than the value of all the goods and services produced in America.
Such excessive concentration of wealth is the biggest threat facing our nation. It bestows a dangerous degree of economic and political power on a select few and arms them with the ability to distort our democracy and our economy for personal gain.
As billionaires tighten their grip on our economy and political system, lawmakers must consider sweeping tax reforms to counter this threat. And they need not worry about raising taxes on middle-class Americans or even households earning above $400,000; the immense concentration of wealth at the very top means that focusing solely on the top 0.1 percent of Americans would generate substantial revenue while leaving 99.9 percent of Americans completely untouched.
One mechanism for achieving this goal is a wealth tax on the ultra-wealthy. The venerable Tax Policy Center recently released an analysis of a policy called the 'Five and Dime tax.' This proposal would impose a 5 percent tax on household wealth exceeding $50 million and a 10 percent tax on household wealth over $250 million. This tax would raise $6.8 trillion over ten years, slow the rate at which our nation mints new billionaires, and reduce billionaires' share of total national wealth from 4 percent to 3 percent.
Lawmakers would have options about how to spend the revenue this tax raises — on middle class tax relief, debt reduction, or high-return public investments, helping working families afford childcare, affordable housing, infrastructure, and strengthening climate initiatives.
Ultimately, taxes on the ultra-rich could transform American society for the better and grow our economy by discouraging unproductive financial behaviors and promoting fair competition — leading to a more dynamic and efficient system.
Critics will inevitably claim such a tax would promote high levels of avoidance or prove impossible for the IRS to implement. And while there are challenges for administering any bold proposal, the opportunity to rebalance our economy and democracy in favor of working families is reason enough to work through those hurdles.
The American people certainly agree. A recent poll of voters in California's 13th District, which elected President Trump and Rep. Adam Gray (D) in 2024, found that nearly two-thirds support taxing billionaires and 63 percent back the Five and Dime tax.
After witnessing the consequences of billionaire governance firsthand under this administration, Americans understand what's at stake. Now it's time for lawmakers who care about our country's future to embrace solutions that empower everyone, not just those at the top.
Alan Davis is a philanthropist, tax expert, and director of the WhyNot Initiative, the social justice program of the Leonard and Sophie Davis Fund. He is the co-director and co-founder of the Extreme Wealth Center.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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