FT column: not every billionaire is a policy failure (opens the source in a new tab)
- In an FT column, Tej Parikh argues the slogan “every billionaire is a policy failure” is too blunt: how a fortune was made matters more than its size.
- He notes that UBS counts about 70% of the world’s billionaires as self-made, and says the real problems are rent-seeking, inheritance and tax loopholes such as “buy, borrow, die”.
- Wealth taxes, he warns, can drive out founders and deter investment, with California voting next month on a one-off 5% levy. He prefers tighter donation rules, antitrust and closed loopholes.
- 70%
- of billionaires are self-made, per UBS
- 5%
- California one-off levy on the ballot
Why it matters The column moves the debate from how much someone owns to how they got it. Whether you agree or not, the test is whether a tax hits rents and loopholes or the founders who build companies.
Other side Critics would say even self-made fortunes concentrate political power, and that loopholes are hard to close in practice, which is why some favour taxing wealth directly.