Thomas Piketty’s book Capital in the Twenty-First Century seized global attention a decade ago with its call for a global wealth tax. Yet politically, the idea now appears to be struggling.
A US plan to tax wealthy people’s investments is unlikely to pass Congress, the UK Labour party this year scrapped its commitment to the taxes and France ditched its wealth tax in 2018.
Opponents include the French president Emmanuel Macron, who replaced the French wealth tax with one on real estate with the aim of fostering international investment in the country. Critics have also looked to the example of Norway, where a tax on the country’s billionaires has led dozens of them to decamp to Switzerland.