The world’s 3,000 billionaires should pay a minimum 2% tax on their fast-growing wealth to raise £250bn a year for the global fight against poverty, inequality and global heating, ministers from four leading economies have suggested.

In a world of populist policies, the notion of taxing billionaires to alleviate the financial burdens of the middle class stands as a tempting narrative. Advocates tout it as the quintessential solution to income inequality, promising a redistribution of wealth that lifts the masses from their fiscal woes. However, this narrative, so alluring in its simplicity, crumbles upon closer examination, revealing a multitude of complexities and pitfalls that belie its benefits.

Silicon Valley is an embarrassment of riches for some and a struggle to get by for many who live there, but a new report puts the gap between rich and poor in the cradle of technology and innovation into stark relief: Just eight households in the region hold more wealth than the 500,000 at the other end of the earnings scale.

No billionaires at all! Not American ones, at least. That’s the newly proclaimed policy of Bernie Sanders, who most definitely is not challenging the Democrats to nominate him for president in 2024, as he did in 2020. Nope, Bernie is perfectly comfortable with the policies being followed by President Biden’s handlers. Presumably, in exchange for not rocking the boat as he did in 2020, forcing the party’s controllers to pick an already senescent Joe Biden just because he was easy to control with all these bribes that could be exposed when needed (cough! Stay tuned as Biden’s desire for re-election now appears to be a kamikaze mission), Bernie has assurances that the hard left vector will continue no matter who is leading the party as presidential nominee in 2024.

Silicon Valley billionaires: the grass may not be greener in Texas for much longer. California lawmakers are considering a "wealth tax" that would not only introduce a 1.5% tax on net worth in excess of $1 billion by 2024, but also allow the state to pursue that tax for former residents who flee the state for tax-friendly locations like Florida or Texas.

In a Pew poll conducted last fall, 61% of all respondents agreed that there was too much income inequality in America these days. Virtually everyone can feel that the difference between the wealthiest Americans and the poorest is growing out of control, but we don't understand how big that gap is, or how fast it's expanding, or how many Americans are losing money because of it.