> The estate tax has been nearly the best way of reducing wealth inequality, second only to the income tax.
That's an assertion that's often repeated axiomatically by non-economists, but it's not borne out by the data. Aside from the fact that the estate tax raises embarrassingly little revenue[0], the number of individuals who actually pay the estate tax is pretty low. Furthermore, it's inherently a tax that doesn't capture the true benefits of inherited wealth, and there's no way to to turn death into a taxable event that does - even if you imposed an estate tax of 100%.
Friedman has written an entire book explaining why the estate tax is inherently broken and unfixable. His criticisms of the estate tax are only controversial politically; they are generally accepted by economists, even those that don't advocate repealing the estate tax for other reasons.
> and there is a dearth of economic data pointing to it being only beneficial to society.
I'd agree that there's a dearth of economic data pointing to the benefits of an estate tax.
[0] $19.3 billion, which is about half a percent of total federal revenue, and not nearly enough to make a dent in wealth inequality
That's an assertion that's often repeated axiomatically by non-economists, but it's not borne out by the data. Aside from the fact that the estate tax raises embarrassingly little revenue[0], the number of individuals who actually pay the estate tax is pretty low. Furthermore, it's inherently a tax that doesn't capture the true benefits of inherited wealth, and there's no way to to turn death into a taxable event that does - even if you imposed an estate tax of 100%.
Friedman has written an entire book explaining why the estate tax is inherently broken and unfixable. His criticisms of the estate tax are only controversial politically; they are generally accepted by economists, even those that don't advocate repealing the estate tax for other reasons.
> and there is a dearth of economic data pointing to it being only beneficial to society.
I'd agree that there's a dearth of economic data pointing to the benefits of an estate tax.
[0] $19.3 billion, which is about half a percent of total federal revenue, and not nearly enough to make a dent in wealth inequality