Why a National Wealth Tax Would Backfire on Every American Investor

A Corporate CEO Is Now Your Tax Policy Advisor?

I want to talk about something that caught my attention recently. Scott Kirby, the CEO of United Airlines, sat down for an interview and decided to wade into economic policy. He called for a national wealth tax and argued that inheritance above certain levels should be taxed at 100%. One hundred percent. He even acknowledged that a state-by-state approach would not work because people would simply move.

So his solution is to go national. Take it to the federal level so there is nowhere left to run.

I have to be honest with you. I am not sure who he is pandering to, but this idea is not just bad policy. It is a proven failure.

Europe Already Ran This Experiment. It Failed.

This is not theoretical. France tried a wealth tax. Other major European nations tried it. These are countries that have practically made a sport out of finding new ways to tax their citizens. And even they had to repeal it. Why? Because wealth taxes are unworkable. Period.

The core problem is simple:

• Wealthy individuals are mobile. They can and will leave. Capital follows favorable conditions. That is not a loophole. That is human nature.
• Valuation is a nightmare. How do you tax a private business, a piece of art, a stake in a startup? Liquid assets are one thing. Real-world wealth is far more complicated.
• Revenue projections never materialize. The people you are targeting restructure, relocate, or reduce taxable assets before the ink is dry.

Scott Kirby might recall what happened during the Obama administration when we had the highest corporate tax rate in the developed world. Companies did not sit still and write the check. They executed what are called tax inversions, where a large American company would engineer an acquisition by a smaller foreign company and shift headquarters overseas. Dublin, Ireland was practically built on this dynamic. Their 12% corporate tax rate looked like paradise compared to what we were charging here.

Raise taxes to punitive levels and capital does not stay. It leaves. Every time.

The Real Problem With Our Tax Code

Here is where I actually agree that something is broken, just not in the way Kirby is framing it.

Our tax code is a 70,000-plus page disaster, and it is a disaster by design. It is not complicated because taxation is complicated. It is complicated because complexity is where political power lives.

Think about it:

• A salaried worker or small business owner gets taxed at a far higher effective rate than a hedge fund manager benefiting from carried interest treatment.
• Why does that disparity exist? Because one group writes checks to politicians and the other does not.
• Every loophole in that 70,000-page monstrosity represents a transaction between a connected interest and a willing legislator.

And here is my warning about what happens if a wealth tax ever does get pushed through at the national level. They will not keep it clean. Within the first budget cycle, the loopholes will start appearing. There will be exceptions and carve-outs and special provisions. How do you get one of those exceptions? You already know the answer. You pay for it.

What Should Actually Change

I believe the tax code should be simple. One page. Flat. Equal treatment under the law for every American regardless of income source or political connections.

• Equal taxation means the same rules for a teacher, a small business owner, and a hedge fund manager.
• Simplicity eliminates the room for corruption that a 70,000-page code invites.
• Competitive rates keep capital and talent inside the country rather than driving it to Dublin or the Cayman Islands.

A wealth tax does not fix inequality. It just creates a new category of loopholes for the already-connected to exploit while everyone else foots the bill. We have seen this movie before. I know how it ends.