Elizabeth Warren's wealth tax is bad politics and worse policy

Even Denmark, Finland, Iceland, and Sweden think this is a bad idea

Elizabeth Warren.
(Image credit: Illustrated | JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty Images)

Most Americans have never heard of Lloyd Blankfein or know he ran Goldman Sachs during the financial crisis. But Blankfein continues to be a popular villain for populists on the left and right. For instance, he appeared in Donald Trump's closing 2016 commercial attacking the "global political establishment."

And he also pops up in Elizabeth Warren's new ad featuring billionaires who dislike her wealth tax idea. Along with Blankfein, Warren highlights criticism from investor Leon Cooperman, venture capitalist Peter Thiel, and financial entrepreneur Joe Ricketts. Warren's closing zinger: "All we're saying is when you make it big, pitch in two cents so everybody else gets a chance to make it." Or in other words, "Okay billionaire."

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James Pethokoukis

James Pethokoukis is the DeWitt Wallace Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute where he runs the AEIdeas blog. He has also written for The New York Times, National Review, Commentary, The Weekly Standard, and other places.