opponents of the minimum wealth tax totally lack historical perspective ... It is unrealistic to imagine that the working class and the middle class will calmly accept additional taxes or cuts to public spending. So long as the wealthiest individuals pay taxes that are trivial relative to their net worth, no one will accept the slightest sacrifice. Just as in the decades that came before 1789
If one builds a fortune while relying on the country’s infrastructure, education, and health systems, there is no reason that one should so readily escape the collective obligations that fund these systems
By opposing the 2% minimum wealth tax on billionaires, after the measure was adopted by France's Assemblée nationale (lower house of Parliament), the upper house, the Sénat, has shown …
Wealth is collective: It depends on the involvement of thousands of employees, not a handful of individual geniuses
According to Challenges magazine, which is hardly a bastion of left-wing thought, France’s 500 highest fortunes rose from €200 billion to €1.2 trillion between 2010 and 2025 – a 500% increase. With a 2% annual wealth tax, it would take a century to make them go back to their 2010 level. That’s assuming they receive no income in the meantime, which would make little sense, given that these fortunes have grown by 7% to 8% per year over the past 15 years
Bloc National (1919-1924) – one of the most right-wing legislatures in the French Republic’s history – that would raise the tax rate to 60% in 1920, and then to 75% in 1923
