Wealth and Our Commonwealth: Why America Should Tax Accumulated Fortunes

Wealth and Our Commonwealth: Why America Should Tax Accumulated Fortunes By William H. Gates Sr. and Chuck Collins Beacon Press. 166pages. $15.

There is apparently no limit to how much the rich will spend to convince the rest of us that they don't have enough money. Wealth and Our Commonwealth is the story of the campaign to repeal the estate tax--or the "death tax," as its opponents call it. Framed as a campaign to preserve small family businesses, the effort is funded by some pretty big family businesses, like the $875 million Gallo wineries and the $27 billion Mars candy company.

This book defends the legitimacy of the estate tax. Written by William Gates Sr. (the father of Bill Gates) and Chuck Collins (an heir to Oscar Mayer), the book shows that a pared-down tax on estates worth more than $3.5 million would affect only 6,000 families a year. The book's most refreshing argument is that the tax is not only necessary but good. By checking the growth of inherited economic power, "the estate tax helps make America great," the authors say.

COPYRIGHT 2004 The Progressive, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group