Why a Wealth Tax is a Really Bad Idea: Jonathan Williams and Nick Stark in the Daily Caller

Jonathan Williams, ALEC Executive Vice President of Policy and Chief Economist, co-authored a guest column in the Daily Caller with ALEC Tax and Fiscal Task Force Director Nick Stark explaining the pitfalls of a wealth tax.

It’s that time of year where tax plans are being proposed in legislatures all across the country. As Rich States, Poor States: ALEC-Laffer State Economic Competitiveness Index has covered for 15 years, not all tax plans are created equal. And as a few recent proposals show, not even the bad tax plans are created equal.

While states all across America are moving to reduce their tax rates in an effort to become more competitive for job creation and growth, a “Poor State Alliance” of eight states has emerged and is looking to move radically in the other direction. California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, New York and Washington have picked up where Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren failed at the federal level and recently announced legislation that would implement a wealth tax — as if most of these states weren’t hemorrhaging enough residents already.

You may remember that Sens. Sanders and Warren proposed a federal wealth tax while unsuccessfully running for the 2020 Democratic Presidential Nomination. The proposal ended up being part of President Joe Biden’s failed “Build Back Better” plan in the fall of 2021.

Click here to read full guest column.