Reply #91: Inflation makes this punitive and unproductive...

[JackRiddler]

Example: You can "own" a million dollars just cos you bought a relatively small, cheap house in New York 40 years ago, and yet not have the income to handle a $50,000 charge - you'll be forced to sell.

Taxes need to focus mainly on either income or spending. As for wealth tax, I think one-time outright expropriation of all wealth over $30 million and its redistribution (preferably via investment in the conversion of the economy to an ecological, hydrocarbon-free basis) is more like what might bring a modicum of justice to the country.