16 wealthy French people say ‘ please tax us’

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As the Canadian Globe & Mail notes:

Some of France's richest people, including the billionaire heiress of L'Oreal SA and the head of oil major Total SA, urged the government to tax them more to help solve the country's financial problems.

The move does, of course, follow Warren Buffett's recent similar call in the USA.

I note the call is nuanced to be:

a “special contribution” that would target wealth without forcing the rich to quit France for overseas tax havens.

If it's mandatory I can live with that.

But I note some can't. As the FT notes of the move:

Notable for their absence from the French appeal, however, are most of the wealthiest families. An adviser to one said that a tax on the rich made no sense.

“We will not solve the problem of France's public finances with a tax on the super rich,” he said. “We have to reduce public spending.”

I wonder of the FT meant that to sound like class warfare, but it sure as heck does. More than that though, it's also crass economics. Maybe they go together. No wonder Marx seems to be back in town.


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