Today’s links Washington State’s capital gains tax proves we can have nice things: We just need to tax the rich. This day in history: 2008, 2013, 2018 Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming/recent appearances, current writing projects, current reading Washington State’s capital gains tax proves we can have nice things (permalink) Washington State enacted a 7% capital gains tax levied on annual profits in excess of $250,000, and made a fortune, $600m more than projected in the first year, despite a 25% drop in the stock market and blistering interest rate hikes: https://www.theurbanist.org/2023/06/01/lessons-from-washington-states-new-capital-gains-tax/ Capital gains taxes are levied on “passive income” – money you get for owning stuff. The capital gains rate is much lower than the income tax rate – the rate you pay for doing stuff. This is naked class warfare: it punishes the people who make things and do things, and rewards the people who own the means of production. The thing is, a factory or a store can still operate if the owner goes missing – but without workers, it shuts down immediately. Everything you depend on – the clothes on your back, the food in your fridge, the car you drive and the coffee you drink – exists because someone did something to produce it. Those producers are punished by our tax system, while the people who derive a “passive income” from their labor are given preferential treatment. The Washington State tax is levied exclusively on annual gains in excess of a quarter million dollars – meaning…Pluralistic: Washington State's capital gains tax proves we can have nice things (03 June 2023)