Summers Wants to Target the Rich, But Not Through a Wealth Tax

Former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers proposed a suite of steps the U.S. government can take to raise trillions of dollars more in revenue from the rich without adopting a wealth tax.

They include higher levies on capital gains, the closure of loopholes and shelters disproportionately used by the wealthy, and stepped-up Internal Revenue Service oversight of tax returns, especially those filed by the rich.

Larry Summers

Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg

In a paper being presented at a Brookings Institution conference on Tuesday, Harvard University economist Summers and his co-authors argue that their “pragmatic approach” is superior to the wealth taxes championed by Democratic presidential candidates ...