There They Go Again with the 'Tax the Rich' Ruse
Stephen Moore
Posted: Nov 09, 2021 12:01 AM
Be honest. Does anyone really believe that any of these new schemes that President Joe Biden conjures up every few days to "tax the rich" will cause Bill Gates, Elon Musk or Warren Buffett to pay more taxes?
It's clear why the superrich are a tempting target to, as Biden puts it, "pay their fair share." We have billionaires with almost unfathomable riches. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, calls their wealth "obscene."
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has attained a wealth that exceeds some countries. Amazon's stock is now worth close to $1 trillion. He owns perhaps 15% of the stock, which would mean his net worth is somewhere near $150 billion. But as he has correctly pointed out, it also means that he has collectively created some $850 billion of wealth for all of the millions of people who own Amazon stock -- which is probably close to one-third of all Americans.
That's not all. Amazon has added, conservatively speaking, $1 trillion of consumer surplus for all of the tens of millions of people in the United States and around the world who go online and click to buy products on Amazon. A "consumer surplus" is the value of a product that people buy beyond the price they pay for it. If I can buy a can of tennis balls for $3 but I derive $10 of pleasure from playing with those balls, that $7 difference is my net benefit. Multiply that by the billions of purchases people make from Amazon every day.
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https://townhall.com/columnists/stephenmoore/2021/11/09/there-they-go-again-with-the-tax-the-rich-ruse-n2598773
