i think a lot of people miss the joke about why piketty is so popular. it's not the theorizing about the cause of inequality, which seems fairly obvious if you read financial news and blogs. the "novel" piece - at least in polite conversation - is that his solution to the problem is a wealth tax, which goes after assets instead of income. (i say polite conversation, since wealth taxes normally apply in cases where there is a sovereign liquidity crisis, which is not a polite situation.)<p>so, we think the wealth tax this sounds like a great idea, let's go after the billions that accrued in offshore hedge funds for US citizens and take 30%, sounds fair since it avoided taxes in the first place.<p>of course, when it comes time to implement the tax, that money is gone, perhaps to some other jurisdiction, and they settle for enforcement by having the average joe write a check based on money in your bank or brokerage account, whatever meager amount over $100k you may have. and, probably convert 401ks into a myRA account, which gives the government a new forced buyer of treasury securities, while pretending it was for some other reason.