On Thursday, billionaire Richard Branson asked, quite literally, for his taxes to be increased. The famed founder of Virgin Records and Virgin airlines has a net worth in excess of $4.1 billion and he now believes that it’s time for the ultra-wealthy to start addressing some of the world’s problems, including mounting inequality.
It’s not just Branson who’s asking to be taxed at a higher rate either. 48 millionaires wrote a letter to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo urging him to increase taxes on multi-millionaires. Currently, New York is facing a $2.3 billion deficit. However, increased taxes on the ultra wealthy would likely generate $2 to $3 billion in extra revenues.
The letter noted: “Paying higher taxes will not affect our individual standards of living one bit. Most of us will literally not notice the difference.”
It’s a pretty generous offer by the millionaires. But don’t mistake their efforts as simple altruism. The millionaires noted that raising taxes would be in their own self-interest. The letter argued that raising taxes would be in the long-term economic interest of everyone, including the millionaires themselves.
So why are millionaires and billionaires suddenly calling for increased taxation? Currently, wealth inequality in the United States is approaching levels last seen before the onset of the Great Depression. Meanwhile, the deficit continues to explode and debt levels have topped $22 trillion.
In this context, a survey found that 78 percent of Americans report that they are living paycheck to paycheck. That probably helps explain why consumer debt is reaching historic highs, with nearly $4 trillion outstanding.
