Artículo de revista
Hyper-fortunes and superrich: why does wealth tax make sense
Fecha
2020Autor
López, Ramón E.
Sturla, Gino
Institución
Resumen
This article proposes a model to estimate the wealth of the richest groups in society
and to design an efficient wealth tax system. For design and implementation
issues, it reviews comparative international experience and provides an analytical
discussion of the effects of a wealth tax, reviewing the main criticisms that orthodox
economists have levelled against it. The methodology used to calculate wealth
involves first-order approximations and Pareto criteria to compensate for data
shortcomings. This article also presents a tax system which corrects the problems
that have arisen when implementing this type of tax in other countries. The model is
applied to the reality of Chile, which, like other countries in the region, suffers from
structural inequality in both income and wealth, which has been amplified by the
effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.