Economist Hits Back at Washington Post Over Billionaire Tax Critique

The proposed measure seeks a one-time 5% levy on the assets of California’s roughly 200 billionaires to recoup $100 billion for essential services. These funds are intended to offset federal budget cuts that have already forced over 400 hospitals to lay off thousands of staff. Saez claims the Post’s opposition is rooted in a fundamental misunderstanding of the tax structure, which he notes is a one-time assessment that does not incentivize relocation, contrary to the paper’s claims of an impending billionaire exodus.

Disputed Figures and Hidden Agendas

Central to the conflict is a study by the California Tax Foundation cited by the Post, which predicts massive losses in tax revenue due to wealthy residents fleeing the state. Saez rejects these calculations as wildly exaggerated, pointing to SEC data showing that tech giants like Sergey Brin, Larry Page, and Mark Zuckerberg paid significantly less in state income taxes than the editorial board assumes. While the Post argues that the wealthy already pay their fair share, data from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy suggests that billionaires paid only 24% of their total income in taxes between 2018 and 2020, compared to the 30% national average.

Critics point to the influence of Jeff Bezos, who has reportedly mandated that the paper’s opinion section prioritize free-market economics, as the driving force behind the editorial’s stance. For supporters of the referendum, the newspaper's coverage is less a neutral policy analysis and more a transparent attempt to shield the ultra-wealthy from contributing proportionally to the state’s collapsing healthcare infrastructure.