Six Nobel Economists Back California's Billionaire Tax
Economics Nobel Laureates' Letter Supporting the California Billionaire Tax [pdf]
Six economics Nobel laureates—including Daron Acemoglu, Esther Duflo, Paul Krugman, and Joseph Stiglitz—endorse Proposition 40, a 5% one-time wealth tax on California's 250 billionaires that would raise about $100 billion for Medicaid. They note billionaires paid just 1.6% of their $1.4 trillion wealth gain in state income tax from 2019-2025, while Sergey Brin alone has spent over $100 million to defeat the measure.
As Californians head to the polls, their vote may well come to be seen as a turning point in the battle between democracy and oligarchy.