A new argument for high rates of taxation on the rich or the yearly confiscation of some portion of their wealth is that such exactions are a political necessity, because the very rich pose a threat to democracy. But the advocates for soaking the very rich or indeed abolishing billionaires offer no realistic mechanism by which the very rich threaten democracy. Nor do they account for the real benefits that the rich provide for democracy—even in additions to the incentives that the prospect of wealth provides for innovation and economic growth.
The very rich, like everyone else, have but one vote. They are a tiny minority whose voting power cannot sway elections. It is true that some minority groups can have more than the influence of their numbers. The most important avenue to wielding disproportionate power is for some relatively small group to have a common interest and a mechanism for avoiding the danger that members of the group will shirk from the common effort. Examples of such groups include unions, which rely on labor law to prevent free riding, and trade associations, which have very strong common material interests and are small enough in number to punish free riding.
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