After a few generations of this, almost all of the nation's wealth will be in the hands of a few thousand families.
Dynastic wealth runs counter to the ideal of America as a meritocracy. It makes a mockery of the notions that people earn what they're worth in the market, and that economic gains should go to those who deserve them.
It puts economic power into the hands of a relative small number of people who have never worked, but whose investment decisions will have a significant effect on the nation's future.
And it creates a self-perpetuating aristocracy that is antithetical to democracy.
The last time America faced anything comparable to the concentration of wealth we face now, occurred at the turn of the last century.
Then, President Teddy Roosevelt warned that "a small class of enormously wealthy and economically powerful men, whose chief object is to hold and increase their power," could destroy American democracy.
Roosevelt's answer was to tax wealth. The estate tax was enacted in 1916 and the capital gains tax in 1922.
But since then, both have been eroded. As the rich have accumulated greater wealth, they have also amassed more political power, and they've used that political power to reduce their taxes.
Teddy Roosevelt, a Republican, helped create a movement against dynastic wealth. Trump and today's congressional Republicans will not follow in his footsteps. I doubt even today's Democrats would do so if they had a chance. Big money has become too powerful on both sides of the aisle.
But taxing big wealth is necessary if we're ever to get our democracy back, and make our economy work for everyone rather than a privileged few.
Maybe Gary Cohn is correct that only morons pay the estate tax. But if he and his boss were smart and they cared about America's future, they'd raises taxes on great wealth. Roosevelt's fear of an American dynasty is more applicable today than ever before.
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