But the article lays out wealth as a baseline, stating that taxes paid are a small percentage of the wealth increases. Wealth is mostly unliquidated because it is stock.
If I'm understanding the argument correctly, the proposition is that we should ( morally, not legally ) have levied additional taxes on these folks because their net worth has gone up as calculated by the value of things they own, like stock. I find that surprising and somewhat unintuitive. Thanks for clarifying.
I think you're correct in how you're characterizing the general consensus around wealth tax - that people should be taxed based on all accumulated wealth, including unrealized gains. I don't know how practical that is. I think an approach that frames it as 100% capital gains and/or marginal income tax rate on equivalent to the first 2-3% of your total gross wealth is more workable.
If I'm understanding the argument correctly, the proposition is that we should ( morally, not legally ) have levied additional taxes on these folks because their net worth has gone up as calculated by the value of things they own, like stock. I find that surprising and somewhat unintuitive. Thanks for clarifying.