More than 80 millionaires urged governments around the world to tax the super rich more to help fund the economic and social recovery from the corona crisis. In an open letter, the group, calling themselves “Millionaires for Humanity”, said they should be taxed higher, “immediately, substantially, permanently”. In their view, the financing of post-Corona reconstruction requires “permanently higher taxes for the richest people on this planet, for people like us”.
We have to raise the taxes of millionaires
“The problems caused by, and revealed by, Covid-19 can’t be solved with charity, no matter how generous. Government leaders must take the responsibility for raising the funds we need and spending them fairly. We can ensure we adequately fund our health systems, schools, and security through a permanent tax increase on the wealthiest people on the planet, people like us.”
The impact of the crisis will last decades, the signers warn. Half a billion more people could end up in poverty because of Corona. “Hundreds of millions of people will lose their jobs as businesses close, some permanently. Already, there are nearly a billion children out of school, many with no access to the resources they need to continue their learning. And of course the absence of hospital beds, protective masks, and ventilators is a painful, daily reminder of the inadequate investment made in public health systems across the world.”
Celebrity signers of the open letter include German start-up investor and philanthropist Dr. Mariana Bozesan, Warehouse Group founder, New Zealander Sir Stephen Tindall, British screenwriter and director Richard Curtis, US filmmaker Abigail Disney and co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s US ice cream brand Jerry Greenfield.
To Our Fellow Global Citizens:
As Covid-19 strikes the world, millionaires like us have a critical role to play in healing our world. No, we are not the ones caring for the sick in intensive care wards. We are not driving the ambulances that will bring the ill to hospitals. We are not restocking grocery store shelves or delivering food door to door. But we do have money, lots of it. Money that is desperately needed now and will continue to be needed in the years ahead, as our world recovers from this crisis.
Today, we, the undersigned millionaires, ask our governments to raise taxes on people like us. Immediately. Substantially. Permanently.
The impact of this crisis will last for decades. It could push half a billion more people into poverty. Hundreds of millions of people will lose their jobs as businesses close, some permanently. Already, there are nearly a billion children out of school, many with no access to the resources they need to continue their learning. And of course the absence of hospital beds, protective masks, and ventilators is a painful, daily reminder of the inadequate investment made in public health systems across the world.
The problems caused by, and revealed by, Covid-19 can’t be solved with charity, no matter how generous. Government leaders must take the responsibility for raising the funds we need and spending them fairly. We can ensure we adequately fund our health systems, schools, and security through a permanent tax increase on the wealthiest people on the planet, people like us.
We owe a huge debt to the people working on the frontlines of this global battle. Most essential workers are grossly underpaid for the burden they carry. At the vanguard of this fight are our health care workers, 70 percent of whom are women. They confront the deadly virus each day at work, while bearing the majority of responsibility for unpaid work at home. The risks these brave people willingly embrace every day in order to care for the rest of us requires us to establish a new, real commitment to each other and to what really matters.
Our interconnectedness has never been more clear. We must rebalance our world before it is too late. There will not be another chance to get this right.
Unlike tens of millions of people around the world, we do not have to worry about losing our jobs, our homes, or our ability to support our families. We are not fighting on the frontlines of this emergency and we are much less likely to be its victims.
So please. Tax us. Tax us. Tax us. It is the right choice. It is the only choice.
Humanity is more important than our money.
The Signers
Frank Arthur (US)
Richard Boberg (US)
Dr. Mariana Bozesan (DE)
Bob Burnett (US)
Ronald Carter (US)
Xandra Coe (US)
James Colen (US)
Cynda Collins Arsenault (US)
Richard Curtis (UK)
Alan S. Davis (US)
Pierce Delahunt (US)
Abigail Disney (US)
Tim Disney (US)
John Driscoll (US)
Karen Edwards (US)
Stephen R. English (US)
Andrew M. Faulk, M.D. (US)
Rick Feldman (US)
Mary Ford (US)
Patricia G. Foschi (US)
Blaine Garst (US)
Molly Gochman (US)
Jerry Greenfield (US)
Karen Grove (US)
Ron Guillot (US)
Catherine Gund (US)
Christina Hansen (DE)
John Michael Hemmer (US)
Wei-Hwa Huang (US)
Diane Isenberg (US)
Ross Jackson (DK)
William H. Janeway (US)
Frank H. Jernigan (US)
Kristina Johansson (UK)
Richard (Ted) LaRoche (US)
David Lee (US)
Kristin Luck (US)
Amy Mandel (US)
Ané Maro (DK)
Patricia Martone (US)
Thomas McDougal (US)
Gemma McGough (UK)
Marie T. McKellar (US)
Judy L. Meath (US)
Terence Meehan (US
Frans Meijer (NL)
Diane Meyer Simon (US)
John O’Farrell (US)
Gary Passon (US)
Morris Pearl (US)
Judy Pigott (US)
Stephen Prince (US)
Sophie Robinson Saltonstall (US)
Bonnie Rothman (US)
Michael Rothman (US)
Guy Saperstein (US)
Cédric Schmidtke (DE)
Eric Schoenberg (US)
Robert Schram (NL)
Antonis Schwarz (DE)
Stephen Segal (US)
Djaffar Shalchi (DK)
Charlie Simmons (US)
Barbara Simons (US)
Gary Stevenson (UK)
Karen Stewart, PhD (US)
Julia Stone (US)
Sandor Straus (US)
Mark Thomas (US)
Arthur Strauss, MD (US)
Ralph Suikat (DE)
Alexandra Theriault, MD (US)
Sir. Stephen Tindall (NZ)
Sidney Topol (US)
Claire Trottier (CA)
Sylvie Trottier (CA)
Dale Walker (US)
Scott Wallace (US)
Diana Wege (US)
Terry Winograd (US)
Carol Winograd (US)
Bennet Yee (US)
Amy Ziering (US)
