Over $70T of inherited wealth over next decade will widen inequality, economists

Capitalism, Socialism, and Inequality

• Several comments frame rising inherited wealth as a natural outcome of capitalism; the proposed countermeasures are progressive taxation and strong public education.
• Others argue socialism/communism perform worse (corruption, shortages, lack of incentives), though some distinguish social democracy from “actually existing” state socialism.
• European social democracies are cited both as evidence that socialism-ish systems can be rich and as examples where history/colonialism, not just policy design, drove wealth.

Effectiveness and Design of Inheritance/Wealth Taxes

• One major thread: inheritance and wealth taxes have often been tried (France, Sweden, others) and rolled back as ineffective or distortionary; skeptics point to capital flight, tax havens, and corruption.
• Others counter that this is precisely why global or at least bloc-wide (US/EU) progressive wealth taxes are needed; unilateral moves fail because “capital has no nation.”
• Many proposals discuss high tax-free thresholds (e.g., first $1–2M per heir or per lifetime), then steeply progressive rates up to near-100% on very large bequests, often combined with sovereign wealth funds or per‑adult “inheritance” at 21.
• Practical issues raised: asset valuation, easy avoidance via trusts/gifting, and the risk that mid‑upper‑middle inheritors get hit while billionaires don’t.

Housing and Intergenerational Wealth

• Strong view that in much of Europe, inheritance is the only realistic path to home ownership; critics say this is a housing supply and asset-bubble problem, not a justification for untaxed inheritance.
• Housing is described as a core wealth engine and de facto retirement plan, with policy (e.g., “property ladder”) built around constant price appreciation, which shifts wealth from younger to older cohorts.
• Suggested fixes: land value taxes, deregulated/streamlined building, anti‑NIMBY rules, large-scale public/social housing, and heavier taxation of multiple/investment properties.

Is Inequality Itself the Problem?

• One camp says only overall living standards matter; inequality per se is “not an intrinsic bad.”
• Others argue extreme wealth inequality implies extreme power inequality, political capture, and eventual instability/violent redistribution; communism or other radical shifts are seen as a likely backlash if current trends persist.

Inheritance, Compounding, and Fairness

• Debate over whether inheritance increases inequality or simply preserves it: critics highlight compounding returns (r>g) and multi‑generation examples where capital income outpaces a lifetime of labor.
• Moral views diverge: some see inheritance tax as “mafia theft” or “grave robbing”; others emphasize that unearned wealth corrupts, entrenches dynasties, and that society has a claim once needs are comfortably met.