According to The Guardian, over 250 billionaires and millionaires, including well-known individuals like Valerie Rockefeller, screenwriter Simon Pegg, actor Brian Cox of Succession, and Disney heir Abigail Disney, are pushing political leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos to enact wealth taxes.
This appeal is summarized in the open letter “Proud to Pay.”
The letter calls on world leaders to tax the richest people, stressing that while such measures won’t have a major effect on their lifestyles, they can turn excessive private wealth into an investment for the future of democracy as a whole.
The signatories, who represent 17 nations, declare that they are aware of their privilege and that immediate action is necessary to address inequality because it seriously jeopardizes social, cultural, and environmental stability.
According to a recent survey of the ultra-wealthy, 74% of respondents support greater wealth taxes as a means of addressing the issue in the cost of living and improving public services.
More than 2,300 G20 citizens with more than $1 million in investable assets—aside from their homes—have responded to the Survation for Patriotic Millionaires poll.
Remarkably, 58% of respondents favor imposing a 2% wealth tax on individuals who own more over $10 million, and 54% believe that excessive wealth poses a threat to democracy. The urge to correct economic imbalances is being felt globally, as seen by the growing sentiment among the wealthy.
Guy Singh-Watson, the creator of Riverford, a vegetable box delivery service, expressed his dissatisfaction with the lack of initiative in raising taxes on the extremely wealthy.
According to the survey, there seems to be agreement for these kinds of policies even among the wealthy, which emphasizes how urgent it is for elected officials to take action.
The Trades Union Congress (TUC) last year proposed the potential effects of a “modest” 1.7% wealth tax in the UK on the richest 140,000 persons, raising almost £10 billion.
