- State & Local
- California
- Economics
- Law & Policy
- Answering Challenges to Advanced Economies
- Empowering State and Local Governance
As America prepares to celebrate its 250th birthday, it’s not so much “taxation without representation” at issue as it is the question of what modern taxation represents – For some, a chance to strike a blow against wealth disparity while pursuing a socialist dream of expansive government. Nowhere is that more evident than in California and a ballot initiative which, if approved by voters in November, would impose a 5% “wealth tax” on the Golden State’s resident billionaires – 90% of the proceeds going to state healthcare programs. Joshua Rauh, the Hoover Institution’s George P. Shultz Senior Fellow in Economics and an expert on California-style taxation, discusses America’s current fascination with socialism and economic class warfare as well as all that’s at stake in the Golden State. Will a voter-approved wealth tax prompt billionaires to flee California for the likes of Austin and Nashville, taking with them needed tax revenue? Would the one-time tax lay waste to Silicon Valley as an incubator of innovation (and revenue stream)? Moreover, if the promised revenue doesn’t materialize, is California likely to apply the tax to millionaires as well (and perhaps expand it beyond a five-year period, as happened a decade ago when the Golden State extended a “temporary tax” on California’s upper earners)?
Recorded on June 29, 2026.
ABOUT THE SPEAKERS
Joshua Rauh, the Hoover Institution’s George P. Shultz Senior Fellow in Economics and Stanford University finance professor, studies corporate and individual taxation, government liabilities, and institutional investing.
Bill Whalen is the Virginia Hobbs Carpenter Distinguished Policy Fellow in Journalism at the Hoover Institution. In addition to serving as the moderator of Goodfellows, he also hosts Hoover’s Matters of Policy & Politics podcast, which spotlights the work of Hoover fellows. Whalen writes and comments on campaigns, elections and governance, with an emphasis of California and America’s political landscapes, and contributes to Hoover’s California on Your Mind and Defining Ideas web channels.
RELATED SOURCES
- The Net Present Value of the Billionaire Tax: An Assessment of the Fiscal Effects of California’s Wealth Tax by Benjamin Jaros, Joshua D. Rauh, Gregory Kearney, John Doran, Matheus Cosso
- Behavioral Responses to State Income Taxation of High Earners: Evidence from California by Joshua D. Rauh and Ryan Shyu
ABOUT THE SERIES
Matters of Policy & Politics, a podcast from the Hoover Institution, examines the direction of federal, state, and local leadership and elections, with an occasional examination of national security and geopolitical concerns, all featuring insightful analysis provided by Hoover Institution scholars and guests.
