Passing the Billionaire Tax proves that the Billionaire Tax should not be passed

From the approving letter signed by Diamond, Krugman et al:

Proposition 40 offers the first opportunity for the people to start reining in the power of billionaires. It isn’t just critical for Californians. If the state that houses some of the country’s most powerful billionaires votes to tax their wealth, it will kickstart a movement to tax ultra-high-net-worth individuals in other states — and eventually at the federal level and in other countries. As Californians head to the polls, their vote may well come to be seen as a turning point in the battle between democracy and oligarchy.

Democracy Yay! Oligarchy, Yah, Boo, Sucks!

This extreme wealth has translated into extraordinary power, in California just like in the United States more broadly. During the 2000 federal election cycle, billionaires accounted for about 1% of total donations; in 2024 this number had risen to 19%. The Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, X are all owned or controlled by prominent billionaires. Sergey Brin alone has already spent more than $100 million to defeat the California billionaire tax.

Tsk, eh?

Our own point here has long been that if government only did the things that really must be done, can be done no other way, that we all agreed upon, then there would be no reason at all to try to buy politics or government. Thus minarchy is the solution.

But think of the logic they’re attempting to deploy here. Billionaires have too much political power so we should have a vote on taking their money away. There’s an element of the Willie Sutton Principle here, that’s where the money is. If the Billionaire Tax passes then that shows that the billionaires do not, in fact, have all that much political power. They’re unable even to repell a Viking attack on Lindisfarne to pay for more of that Nordic social democracy. So, not much power at all then.

That is, if the Billionaire Tax passes then that’s proof perfect that there’s no need to pass the Billionire Tax. For if they’ve not the political power to repel such a raid what political power is it we’re trying to deny them?

Tim Worstall