TY - GEN A1 - Schnellenbach, Jan T1 - The Economics of Taxing Net Wealth: A Survey of the Issues T2 - Public Finance and Management N2 - This paper surveys possible motivations for having a net wealth tax. After giving a short overview over the state of wealth taxation in OECD countries, we discuss both popular arguments for such a tax, as well as economic arguments. It is argued that classical normative principles of taxation known from public economics cannot give a sound justification for a net wealth tax. The efficiency-related effects are also discussed and shown to be theoretically ambiguous, while empirical evidence hints at a negative effect on GDP growth. Finally, it is argued that despite of widespread and persistent lobbying for a revitalization of the net wealth tax, this is unlikely to happen due to political economy constraints. KW - net wealth tax KW - wealth KW - inequality KW - redistribution Y1 - 2012 SN - 1523-9721 VL - 12 IS - 4 SP - 368 EP - 400 ER -