Elizabeth Warren reportedly wants to enact a 'wealth tax'

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) is set to propose a new tax on the wealthiest Americans as she plots her 2020 campaign.

Emmanuel Saez, an economist who has advised Warren on the plan, told The Washington Post the senator will propose an annual "wealth tax" of 2 percent on Americans with more than $50 million in assets and 3 percent on Americans with more than $1 billion in assets. He said the proposal, which would affect approximately 75,000 families, would bring in $2.75 trillion over the next decade.

“The Warren wealth tax is pretty big," Saez told the Post. "We think it could have a significant [effect] on wealth concentration in the long run." Warren has reportedly considered a variety of different proposals, including a 1 percent tax on income above $10 million.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

The Massachusets senator, who in December announced an exploratory committee ahead of the 2020 presidential race, has not confirmed any of the details of this reported plan. In announcing her committee, Warren made clear that income inequality will be a key issue in her campaign, saying that "America's middle class is under attack" because of "billionaires and big corporations" who "decided they wanted more of the pie."