> If wealth in excess of a billion is taxed 50% annually,
So you would take that wealth away from productive application?
So you would take that wealth away from productive application?
Building high speed rail, hospitals and schools. Paying teachers more, universal healthcare, better roads and airports and less free pipes.
Those are all fantastic things that benefit everyone while also creating jobs and spreading the wealth around.
Even Bill Gates has said his taxes should be higher [1]
https://www.investopedia.com/news/bill-gates-says-he-should-...
More generally, I'd say the burden is on you to demonstrate the exact mechanism by which productivity would be affected.
If you have above a certain amount of wealth, it is usually tied up in investments, sometimes money you have lent to the government (bonds, treasuries) and other times equity. Those are productive applications.