A clear-eyed view of past experience shows that where wealth taxes have been tried, they have usually been abandoned—and for good reason. As policymakers in California, New York, France, and elsewhere revisit this old idea, they should heed the lessons of this history.
MADRID—Around the world, wealth taxes have become a major topic of political debate. Proposals for a supranational wealth tax in the European Union, a billionaire tax in California, and the floating of similar measures in New York, France, and Denmark all reflect a growing conviction that extraordinary concentrations of wealth warrant extraordinary responses.