Could the Ideal Estate Tax Rate be 100%?

If the Republicans ever agree on a tax bill (dream on!) the federal estate tax may die for longer than it did in 2010. But the urge to tax inherited wealth never dies – especially, it seems, in the U.K.

Excerpts from a Guardian op-ed, Why not fund the welfare state with a 100% inheritance tax?

Yes, the desire to pass on property to your descendants may be natural – but why should we be slaves to our biology? Social progress has frequently depended on our ability to transcend individualistic urges and work together for the common good.

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Cultural norms teach us that the inheritance of private property is the default and any expropriation of this wealth must be justified. It should be the other way round.

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A 100% estate tax (perhaps with a small allowance for objects of sentimental value) isn’t a policy we can expect to see in a party manifesto any time soon. It’s well outside the current spectrum of mainstream political opinion. Questioning the status quo is always going to be a somewhat uncomfortable process, though, and all kinds of major social changes seemed impossible until suddenly they weren’t.

The crack about "slaves to our biology" is interesting. Would adopted children still get inheritances?

Confiscation of wealth at death would promote every possible method of lifetime transfer. With lifespans lengthening, that might not be such a bad idea. Why should someone age 70 still be waiting for his parents to part with their worldly goods?

Johnny Depp's Lost MIllions

In Brewster's Millions, a movie I remember fondly, the hero receives good news and bad news.

The good news: His uncle has left him $8 million.

The bad news: He must spend the first million in two months, without keeping any assets, or lose the entire inheritance. Back in 1945, when the movie was made, spending a whole million quickly wasn't that easy.

If Hollywood plans a new remake, Johnny Depp deserves the starring role. Over the years the gifted actor has made $650 million. But his gifts as a spender – and perhaps his disinterest in wealth management – have left him in a financial crisis.

Chase Manhattan's Recycled Nest Eggs

From late 1966, here's what appears to be one of the last of Chase Manhattan's iconic nest egg ads.

But the ad agency must have had a couple of photos left over. Rejects, perhaps – shots never used because they looked too proletarian.  (Real wealth-holders had gardeners.) 

So here are the leftovers, recycled in the spring of 1967 to promote … savings accounts!

Weird, isn't it? For all those years Chase promoted the idea that wealth is a drag, made tolerable only by the bank's custodial and advisory services. Now Chase wanted ordinary folks to believe that maybe getting richer isn't so bad after all.