It’s Time the Word “Oligarch” Lost Its Russian Veneer
Mother Jones; Getty; Unsplash Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.Back in 2011, the New Yorker published a Charles Barsotti cartoon that I, as a scholar of wealth power in liberal democracies, found brilliant: A rotund executive in a business suit is saying to his C-suite…
Global Millionaires Say Yes to Taxing Extreme Wealth, Poll Finds
German-Austrian millionaire heiress Marlene Engelhorn, part of the effort described below, expresses her views during a rally at the World Economic Forum in Davos.Hannes P Albert/dpa/Zuma Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.Millionaires from around the world support wealth taxes as a way to curb…
The Supreme Court Case That Could Upend a Century of Tax Law
Mother Jones illustration; George Marks/Retrofile RF/Getty Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on Tuesday in Moore v U.S., a case that nominally involves the right of the US government to tax a couple, Charles and Kathleen Moore, on…
Those “Giving Pledge” Billionaires Had Better Pick Up the Pace
Mother Jones; Nati Harnik/AP, Evan Agostini/Invision/AP; Getty Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.As the author of a book about runaway wealth in America, I’ve thought a fair bit about the Giving Pledge, the exclusive do-gooder club Bill and Melinda French Gates launched in 2010…
As Climate Risks Mount, the Insurance Safety Net Is Collapsing
atias J. Ocner/TNS/ZUMA This story is the first in a four-part Grist series examining how climate change is destabilizing the global insurance market. It is published in partnership with the Economic Hardship Reporting Project, and appears here as part of the Climate Desk Partnership. “We’ve got ourselves a little monster out there,” anchorman Jim Cantore warned, facing the camera in…
Rich Americans Are Stiffing the Taxman to the Tune of $66 Billion
Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden.Tom Williams/Congressional Quarterly/Zuma Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.America’s rich deadbeats just won’t stop deadbeating. On Thursday, Senate Finance Committee chair Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) revealed that his committee had IRS data for tax years 2017-2020 showing that more than…